Anne Webster (Mallee, National Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) Share this | Hansard source

I do note the Prime Minister's comments that, as people around Australia raise a glass in a pub, the price won't go up for the next two years. If it were only dependent on this excise freezing, that would be one thing, but we know that wages have gone up. We know that electricity has gone up. We know that the cost of living continues to rise under this government, so beer will go up. It's just the excise that will be frozen for the next two years. We commend this bill. We support this bill, but we think it should go further. We think it should actually include—and I endorse the member for Cowper's amendments that will be asking for or recommending that we also freeze the excise on spirits in pubs, hotels and clubs.

Our pubs and our clubs do incredible work in our community. They really become the beehive, if you like, of social connection for so many people. Whether it's sporting clubs or whether it's families wanting to go out for a cheap meal, it's no longer cheap. I'm just stating the facts. When I take my family out, I can assure you, it costs me well over a hundred and something dollars—sometimes $200—just to go to a pub meal. To pretend that this excise freeze for the next two years is going to solve all the problems is complete and utter rubbish, and every Australian knows it. I think about the cost of coffee. When Labor came to government in 2022, the cost of a cup of coffee or a latte at your favourite cafe, which we all enjoy, was around $4. Now, we're paying $6 for a cup of coffee. 'Nothing to see here,' says the Labor government. 'Nothing to see here,' says the Prime Minister.

Let's just talk about freezing the excise on pouring beer in pubs. Don't get me wrong, I support absolutely that our pubs and clubs need this support. They need more support than that though, and this government is absolutely not supplying it. I don't want to talk about every pub in my electorate, because, believe you me, there are far too many. I'm bound to leave out about, I don't know, 250 or 300, so I'm not going to name any, but I certainly have my and my family's favourite places to go. They are very, very valuable small businesses. Largely, they are small businesses, who are doing it so tough. Whether it's red tape, whether it is the cost of producing anything thanks to energy price rises or whether it's wage increases or regulation more generally, it is tougher to run a small business now. Who do we thank for that? The government of the day. I support this bill and I support the amendments that the member for Cowper is going to make, and I'm going to leave it there.

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