David Hawker (Wannon, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

As my colleague reminds me, it would dramatically increase the tax on fuel. Then we come back to the whole question of the tax on the ready-to-drink market. I think this is a clear case of utter hypocrisy. It was put forward as a health measure, and yet when we look at it we see that it was all about raising more money. We have seen the reports in the papers and they show quite clearly that, as was predicted and as was reported last week, alcopop drinkers are ‘turning to spirits’. The report says that, while sales of the so-called ‘alcopops plummeted by almost 40 per cent in the fortnight after last month’s lightning tax hike on the drinks, any health gains have been offset by a 20 per cent jump in stronger, straight spirit sales’. Anyone could have told you that that was going to happen, and yet the government was desperate to find the money and then try and clothe it in the guise of a health measure. I cannot see how encouraging people to take stronger alcohol—and maybe or maybe not dilute it to the same amount of alcohol as ready-to-drinks—is in any way contributing to health. I do not deny that there may be a problem, but that is not the way you address it. So that is an issue with health.

I want to turn quickly to two specific things. I mentioned the 5c increase in stamps. Some would argue that basic postage stamps have been 50c for quite a long time, but it just so happens—if you look closely in the budget papers—that Australia Post will pay a special dividend of $150 million to the government in 2008-09, as the Senate estimates were told last week. This, of course, is on top of the $300 million Australia Post already provides to the Commonwealth annually. But how much is the extra 5c going to raise for Australia Post? Guess what.

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