Colin Boyce (Flynn, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to make a few brief comments on the Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025 and the amendment moved by Mr Joyce, the member for New England. I listened to the member for New England's contribution, and he's absolutely right to refer to the iconic song by Slim Dusty:

…there's-a nothing so lonesome, morbid or drear

Than to stand in the bar of a pub with no beer.

Well, there is; when you go to any of the outback towns where I come from and you walk into the bar, you're the only person there—that's the worst thing. This is what is happening across rural and regional Australia in the small communities where the only focal place in those communities is the local pub. The reality is there's a reason for that; people don't go to the pub anymore, because it costs too much money to have a beer. Whilst I support the intent of the government to address the beer excise and freeze it—I agree with that—it simply does not go far enough. One cent a pint, as many of my colleagues have pointed out, is not cost-of-living relief at all. That is a headline, as one of my colleagues has pointed out. The reality is that we need to get rid of the excise altogether—as suggested in the amendment moved by the member for New England, which I do support. In many of these small communities, people going to the pub and having a couple of beers and saving 2c is nonsense.

So, as I say, we must support our publicans. We must support the brewery industry, the beer industry, our local hotels and clubs and societies, the bowls club, the golf club, everywhere these licensed premises are that sell beer. The reality is the government needs to wake up to itself and go back to its own report, the Henry tax review, which was written more than a decade ago. But the alcohol tax system is broken and needs reform, it certainly does, and that's what I encourage the government to do.

The removal of the excise on beer and alcohol is reported to cost somewhere around $8 billion. Again, as the member for New England has pointed out in his contribution, we're quite happy to subsidise the renewable energy sector to the tune of billions yet we won't remove the beer excise and alcohol tax and help out our small communities, our clubs, our pubs and so forth. The renewable energy sector is driving up the cost of electricity. How can the small pubs and clubs and so forth keep the beer cold? This is another issue that needs to be addressed.

Furthermore, this goes all the way to the tobacco tax excise, and we've seen what's happened there—the loss of some $10 billion on revenue because the old ciggies, the durries, are just too expensive, so that's been taken over by the illegal tobacco trade, by the criminals and so forth. Are we now sending the alcohol industry down the same road?

We need to make significant reforms. I do support the government's intent, but it just simply does not go far enough. Let's support our small communities. Let's support the beer drinkers. That is about all I have to say today.

Debate adjourned.

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