David Batt (Hinkler, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak to the Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025 and the Customs Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025. My electorate of Hinkler is famous all over Australia and indeed the world for producing some of our nation's finest beverages. The iconic Bundaberg rum, Kalki Moon distillery, the Spirit Collective in Hervey Bay, the legendary Bundaberg ginger beer and, of course, many craft breweries are making a name for themselves, such as 384 North Brewing in Bundaberg and Cauldron Brewing in Hervey Bay. The bill to freeze the indexation on draft beer excise for two years is welcome. But, when it comes to tax relief, many of the makers behind the brands that put my region of Hinkler on the map have been left wanting, and they are hurting, under Labor. If those opposite were serious about addressing the cost of living and the deeper issues surrounding the alcohol excise system, they would have delivered more. The Labor government should have advocated for a comprehensive review of the alcohol system. An ice-cold beer is good, but, when there's more froth than there is amber liquid in your schooner, you'd expect better. That's what the industry wants too.

I recently met with the Chair of Diageo, Sir John Manzoni, and his Australasian team when they visited here in Canberra. Diageo is a global leader in premium drinks, and they look after the Bundaberg rum brand and many others. While they are supportive of the tax pause, the freeze applies only to on-premise draught beer, not bottled beer, packaged drinks or wine. So, yes, Diageo, like other industry leaders, support the pause. But Labor should have Treasury conducting a comprehensive review of the alcohol excise system. Extending the draught beer excise freeze to tap spirits is being advocated for by Spirits and Cocktails Australia and supported by the Australian Hotels Association, the Queensland Hotels Association, Clubs Queensland and Clubs Australia and the Night Time Industries Association. Together, they are seeking to extend the two-year freeze on draught beer excise to tap spirits served on premises in hospitality venues. I support that as well. Tap spirits would include bulk containers of spirits and lower-alcohol premixed drinks designed to be connected to pressurised or pump delivery systems. It is not proposed to extend to standard bottles of full-strength spirits or to individual ready-to-drink bottles or cans.

The industry is proposing amending the Customs Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025 to introduce two new subitems to the excise tariff schedule. This is a small increase to the existing draft beer freeze, which the government expects will cost only $95 million over five years. Tap spirits are a growing part of the product mix for pubs, clubs and small bars. Extending the freeze to tap spirits would provide cost-of-living relief beyond customers who choose to drink beer. In my home state of Queensland, the Queensland Hotels Association has thanked us for backing the freeze on draught beer excise. Yes, it is a win for local pubs, hardworking hospitality workers and every Aussie who enjoys a cold one without needing a small loan. Freezing the biannual indexation of alcohol excise for two years from 1 August this year means beer is cheaper. But let's be honest; while a reprieve, it's hardly noticeable. This commitment to freeze the tax was always matched by the coalition, because we know that clubs, pubs and hospitality workers need a break, and hardworking Aussies deserve to be able to afford a cold one. The reality is that this freeze delivers less than 1c of relief per pint.

There's a well-known pub that sits on the Bruce Highway in Childers, in the heart of my electorate of Hinkler. The historic Grand hotel has been owned and run by the Corliss family since the mid-1990s. Dan Corliss, a former police officer, has worked on and off in the family pub over the past 30 years and took on the official role as publican in 2024—something I've always wanted to do. He's quickly taken this country pub in Childers to an international audience, thanks to what's called the Mongrel Menu, featuring some extraordinary food challenges. The widespread interest in these contests is epic. The menu features one-kilogram local steaks and big burgers. Videos of people attempting these challenges generate around 7½ million views on social media every month. Dan has 25 staff, and he's proud of what he's achieved, but clearly Dan and his team need to be creative. While the freeze on tap beer is a reprieve, it's just that. While Dan is grateful, this freeze is only a pause. Publican Dan's family has been in the hospitality game for three decades, and he tells me the one thing that he's always experienced, since the beginning, is the guarantee of rising tax on beer. It's a constant rise, twice a year, year on year—everyone paying more for a beer. It's not good for his family pub and not good for his customers.

Dan knows this freeze is good, but it's not going far enough to absorb the high electricity prices and the ever-increasing costs that the suppliers and brewers are passing on. That's where the Nationals plan for a cheaper, better and fairer energy future comes in. Australians can't afford Labor's net zero. Families are paying too much. Jobs are being lost. Forests and farmland are being destroyed. Labor's net zero has failed. The Nationals energy and climate plan is cheaper. We will lower energy prices first, use all of our resources and abandon the commitment to net zero. All carbon taxes and restrictions should be removed. The Nationals energy and climate plan is better because we will protect our local environment through local community action such as waterway protection, land restoration and soil carbon. We will ensure that our national security is not compromised. The Nationals energy and climate plan is fairer because we will reduce emissions in line with comparable nations, not ahead of them. We will ensure that costs are distributed fairly, not concentrated on regional Australia. We need to bring common sense back to solving climate change.

In a cost-of-living crisis, net zero is adding to power bills and sending Australian jobs overseas. Even worse, it's damaging the natural environment, when there's a fairer way to reduce emissions. We need to take the pressure off family power bills, protect local jobs and do our fair share to reduce emissions. Let's reduce the costs associated with keeping your beer cold. Let's cut the energy expense so that makers of your favourite drop don't have to pass it on.

I don't want to forget the smaller brewers. Power prices are up. Gas prices are sky high. Rent and wages are high. The cost of ingredients to make craft beers is making it tough for these relatively small businesses to make money. The freeze in question is not relevant to most small brewers, as they are already exempt from excise duty on a certain volume of their production through a remission scheme, but these breweries still need more cost relief. They have to compete with the bigger brands, and their overheads, like electricity and wages, are making it very tough.

My electorate of Hinkler's array of award-winning makers, brewers and distillers serve up more than amber ales. When it comes to top-tasing tipples, Hinkler leads the pack. The bill to freeze the indexation of draught beer excise for two years is a good thing, but we must expand the scope and focus beyond the beer and onto spirits. The Nationals Federal Council at the weekend moved a motion supporting an ongoing freeze of the federal alcohol excise tax and a reduction of alcohol tax across the board to a fair and equitable level at licensed venues.

Because of Labor's economic vandalism, households are paying 15 per cent more for food, 15 per cent more for health, 19 per cent more for housing, 37 per cent more for insurance and nearly 40 per cent more for electricity. Mortgage holders are paying $1,800 more a month, with 12 rate rises and only three cuts since Labor came to power. Everyday Australian are footing the bill for Labor's spending spree, in their tax returns, their electricity bills, their mortgage payments and their growing difficulty in finding a job. Labor has no strategy to address the government spending spree fuelling inflation. There is no sign of a broader excise reform conversation, just piecemeal freezes. Labor must reintroduce quantifiable budget rules. Australians deserve better. The government's two strategies, debt and taxes, are not a plan for prosperity. The coalition's priority is clear: stop the spending spree and start growing the economic pie so Australians can get ahead again. The coalition welcomes any relief for pubs, clubs and beer drinkers, but this needs to be more than a patchwork fix in the face of high inflation.

This measure will pause indexation of the beer excise for two years, but it does nothing about inflation in the cost of everything. A 1c cheaper pint is not effective cost-of-living-relief. The Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025 and Customs Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025 are small wins for beer drinkers, brewers and every pub, club and hospitality business across Hinkler and the nation. But more must be done for Australia's hospitality and alcohol industries. This measure is worth just $90 million over the forward estimates. That's tiny compared to the $8 billion collected annually from alcohol taxes by this government. These businesses have gone through COVID, record high inflation and endless cost-of-living pressures.

Let's support the ongoing viability and growth of our local industries and Australian jobs. If Labor is serious about the cost of living, it must stop the spending spree and start growing the economic pie. Let's do more for country publicans like Dan at the Grand Hotel Childers and for the craft breweries in Hervey Bay and Bundy. The people of my electorate of Hinkler, like those all over Australia, deserve to enjoy an affordable drink of their choosing. And the pubs, clubs and hospitality workers—and those right throughout the industry and across the supply chain—need more than a reprieve. They need ongoing support, and I will make sure that they continue to get mine.

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