Distillers to donate alcopop tax refund

(AAP) - Distillers have promised to donate any alcopops tax refund received to health advocacy groups and to introduce warning labels on pre-mixed drinks.

The industry campaigned heavily against the 70 per cent tax increase that sank in
the Senate on Wednesday and are in line to receive about $290 million in refunds.
The tax hike bill failed after Family First senator Steve Fielding, who held the
deciding vote, sided with the coalition to kill the measure.
Health Minister Nicola Roxon told parliament on Thursday the Opposition Leader
Malcolm Turnbull would be the toast of the nation's youth when the prices of
pre-mixed drinks fell within weeks.
"Every single one of those teenagers is going to be saying cheers to Malcolm
Turnbull for one of the biggest shouts in the country - all on his ledger," she
said.
"Yesterday the Liberal Party wrote a cheque to the distillers not just for $300
million but for $1.6 billion into the future."
Distilled Spirits Industry Council of Australia (DSICA) chairman Michael McShane
said the nation's largest distillers had committed to donating any tax refund
received to health group DrinkWise Australia.
DrinkWise's mission is to promote a more responsible drinking culture in Australia.
Companies that have promised to donate any tax refunds are: Brown-Forman Australia,
Jim Beam Brands Australia, Bundaberg Distilling Company, Diageo Australia, Maxxium
Australia, Suntory Australia and Foster's Group. Bacardi Lion will also donate
its refund to community causes, including White Ribbon Day, which promotes the
elimination of violence against women.
"As an organisation we have said that all revenue collected from the tax should be
returned to the community for use in alcohol-related harm-minimisation programs," Mr
McShane said.
"The initiatives announced today are the first tranche in what we see as an ongoing
opportunity to bring about real changes in the way alcohol abuse is tackled in this
country."
DSICA released a sample warning label, which reads: "Drink responsibly because your
kids absorb your drinking".
The public will see the warning labels on alcopops within a few months at the
latest, DSICA spokesman Stephen Riden said.
"We will see how they are received and if they are starting to have an effect, we
are amendable to putting them onto bottles of (straight) spirits and extending their
use," he said.
The Australian Greens, who lost $50 million in hard-fought concessions after the
bill went down, said the government should have moved new legislation in the
parliament on Thursday to validate the tax already collected, so it would not be
returned to distillers.
Alcohol Education Rehabilitation Foundation chair Scott Wilson said the defeat of
the alcopops tax increase was a blow to progressive alcohol policy reform.
The foundation released a survey of 1,046 people that found 84 per cent of
respondents wanted the alcopops tax refund spent on education campaigns about the
effects of drinking.
Some 73 per cent believed it should be spent on programs to help people affected by
binge drinking.
The survey, conducted by Galaxy Omnibus, was taken last September.