Sam Birrell (Nicholls, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Customs Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025 and the associated bill. From the outset, I make it clear that the beer relief offered by these bills is a bit of a 'Furphy', but it is very important; I'll come back to that shortly. I love a beer, like many Australians. Indeed, I co-chair the Parliamentary Friends of Brewing group with my good friend the member for Cunningham. We co-hosted a Parliamentary Friends of Brewing event this week. But beer isn't all about consumption; beer is good for the economy.

The Australian brewing industry spends around $500 million on domestically sourced agricultural ingredients such as barley and hops. A lot of that barley is grown in my electorate of Nicholls. Some of the hops is grown in Tasmania, and a lot of it's grown in the electorate of Indi, around the Mansfield area. Agriculture is at the heart of the beer supply chain, and around five per cent of all beer is made in Australia for local consumption with wholly Australian beer supply chains.

We did a brewers tour of Nicholls, and I was honoured to have people—among them the member for Casey, the member for Monash and some Victorian parliamentarians—come and visit a barley grower in a place called Dookie, the Shepparton Brewery and, very importantly, J Furphy & Sons, which makes the tanks that a lot of beer is brewed in around Australia. J Furphy & Sons has been manufacturing in Australia since 1864 and is one of Australia's oldest continuously operating family businesses. Furphy water carts are world famous, and the tank ends are highly collectible. Consistently embossed on the tank ends is a little poem:

Good, better, best.

Never let it rest.

Till your good is better

and your better best.

In many ways that reflects the endeavour and entrepreneurial spirit that took root across the region as one of the world's greatest irrigation schemes breathed new life into the Goulburn and Murray valleys.

The Furphy water cart also gave rise to the term 'furphy', which is slang for an erroneous or improbable story that is claimed to be factual. I've heard a few furphies in here very recently! The story goes that, during World War I, soldiers would gather around the Furphy water cart, and it was a place where rumours and tall stories abounded. Then Furphy became a beer, not just any beer but one of Australia's top-selling beers. Little Creatures Brewing built their breweries in Fremantle and Geelong and used stainless steel tanks and fermenters supplied by Furphy Engineering, in Shepparton. When they completed the Geelong brewery, they were keen to make a beer with a local connection to Victoria and approached the Furphy family about adding a new beer to their repertoire—a Furphy refreshing ale. J Furphy & Sons continues to make specialist equipment for the brewing industry, and those vessels will house ingredients grown by farmers in the same district and finish up as a refreshing Furphy ale.

Why is this excise freeze a little bit of a furphy? Well, the government's two-year freeze on draught beer excise indexation sounds great, but there's not a huge amount to celebrate. It will provide modest relief to venues, saving about 18c per keg, or less than 1c per pint, even over two years. The sentiment of this is right, and the coalition supports the freeze to beer excise indexation. We will not stand in the way of a cut to the beer tax, but it is very light relief and it's temporary. Even if a drinker consumed the average of 78 litres a year and it was all draught beer, that would be an annual saving of $3.08. I'm not recommending that people consume 78 litres of beer, although I think some people around this place have attempted it! Something is better than nothing, but, if Labor were serious about alcohol excise reform, they'd have Treasury conduct a comprehensive review of the alcohol excise system.

Beer might be treading water, but we are drowning in increased costs. This measure will pause indexation of the beer excise for two years, but it does nothing about inflation in the cost of everything. Just recently, inflation smashed through the RBA's target band, and that means more expensive mortgages and more expensive groceries. The freeze also only applies to on-premises draught beer, not to bottled beer, packaged drinks or wine. If Labor were serious about the issue, it would be looking at every part of the excise system. A pint that's 1c cheaper is not cost-of-living relief. Households need genuine action on the cost of living. Government spending is running at more than four times the rate of the economy and is at its highest level, outside of recession, in nearly 40 years. This reckless spending is keeping inflation higher for longer, and Australian businesses and households are paying for it.

As we debated during question time, the costs of energy for Australian households and Australian businesses—including brewers and the farmers who need to get the agricultural products such as the hops and the barley to actually make the beer—are going through the roof. Despite significant efforts during question time to ask the minister responsible when prices will come down and what the government's plan is to bring prices down, we couldn't get a straight answer.

This minister has made a big deal of his presidency of COP negotiations, and he's made a big deal of going to Brazil and making agreements that are not necessarily in Australia's best interest when it comes to our fossil fuel exports. But we on this side are very concerned about this minister's focus on bringing the price of energy down for people in industry. Those people include not only the people who make the beer—the brewers across Australia—and the people who grow produce that goes into that beer but also the people who operate the hospitality businesses.

The shadow Attorney-General gave the example of a fish and chip shop in his electorate. I don't know whether they sell beer with their fish and chips, but I do recommend a Furphy Crisp lager to go along with a battered piece of whiting and some chips. He told that story, and the quote that stuck with me when he asked his question was that these increases in energy costs are making this business untenable.

Now, when small-business people who take risk put their personal savings on the line, they don't get paid wages from the government. They have to pay themselves a wage through their toil and their hard work. They have to jump through a lot of red tape to set up a business, and that's getting worse. Small businesses are telling me that the red tape, the bureaucracy and everything you have to do to set up and operate a small business are getting worse and worse. I'll give you the example of a fish and chip shop. They say to me: 'I buy some fillets of fish and some chipped potatoes for X and I want to sell them as a lovely cooked product for Y. But in between X and Y, there is an amount of government bureaucracy, whether it be local, state or federal, that wants to take a cut. When you combine that with the increasing energy cost and it is getting impossible to run a small business.'

More should be done for Australia's hospitality and alcohol industries. This measure is worth just $90 million over the forward estimates. That's a minuscule amount compared to the $8 billion collected annually from alcohol taxes. These businesses have gone through COVID, record high inflation and endless cost-of-living pressures, and we need to do more to support the ongoing viability and growth of our local industries and Australian jobs.

Now, pubs and clubs aren't just places to have a drink and socialise; they are places where great Aussie music is played and created. As a musician, I know pubs and clubs are culturally important places. They foster new and emerging artists, and I've had some great moments at the Aussie hotel—even during my first campaign—playing with the legendary Mick Harrington, who appeared on The Voice. We played some great songs, including Oasis's 'Don't Look Back In Anger'. That might've been picked up by the ABC in relation to national leadership debates, but I won't go there. More recently I had the honour of playing 'Never Tear Us Apart' with my Liberal colleague at the Parliamentary Friends of Brewing.

Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And she goes pretty well!

Sam Birrell (Nicholls, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

She's a wonderful saxophone player, and our coalition will not be torn apart, Member for Wannon.

We need to raise more than just a glass to the brewers. The Australian beer industry generates $16 billion a year for Australia's economy and supports nearly 176,000 jobs. Of those jobs, 126,300 are in hospitality. This bill is important, and we support it, because beer is a good part of Australia's culture. When Mick Dundee was in a bar in New York, an American came up and said, 'Hey, what's going down?' His reply was: 'Oh, yeah, mate. I'm just blowing the froth off a couple.' There are people blowing the froth off a couple all around Australia and, as much as that's a fun thing to do, it generates economic activity for a lot of people and for a lot of industries. But I think we can do more to help industry generally. For the farming industries that supply to the brewing industry, the people who are supplying infrastructure such as Furphy tanks to the industry and the people who are out there marketing and selling the beer, we can do more to help them. We should do that by reviewing how we tax alcohol in general, whether it's fair and whether there are unintended consequences, and what we can do to stimulate Australia's art scene, and get back to more socialisation—from before the pandemic, back in the old days—stimulate the industry and particularly stimulate the hospitality industry, because those jobs, those people and those businesses are hugely important to Australia's economy and culture.

Anne Urquhart (Braddon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak in support of the Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025 and the associated bill—a practical, targeted and responsible measure from the Albanese Labor government, one that backs our pubs, clubs, brewers and hospitality workers right across Australia, including in the electorate of Braddon in regional Tasmania, where I come from. From 1 August 2025 the government will pause indexation on draught beer excise and excise equivalent customs duties for two years. This is a sensible decision that supports small businesses, protects jobs and helps keep the price of a pint stable for everyday Australians.

In towns across the electorate of Braddon, the local pub is more than a business; it's where people gather for sport, celebrations and support in their tough times. It's where locals find work, where small brewers find customers and where regional economies find strength. These venues are the heart of our communities and they deserve our support.

This excise applies to containers between eight and 48 litres, those commonly used in pubs and clubs and larger containers used in hospitality venues. It's tightly targeted. It doesn't apply to bottled or canned beer, spirits or other excisable beverages. That's deliberate. This is about supporting our hospitality operators, not the retailers.

Around 10,000 venues will benefit from this measure, and about 75 per cent of those are small family-run businesses. These are the venues that sponsor the local footy team, host charity raffles and employ young people starting out in the workforce, many of them university students. It also supports our brewers, especially small and independent producers, who rely on keg sales to stay afloat.

(Quorum formed)

Take Communion Brewing in Burnie, in the electorate of Braddon, for example. This family-friendly brewpub is the heart of the CBD. It brews all its beer onsite, with names inspired by local heritage, like the Paper Maker, a nod to Burnie's industrial past. Communion is more than a brewery; it's a community hub, a local employer and a proud contributor to the region's cultural and economic life.

Island State Brewing in Devonport is another fantastic example. Known for its bold, locally crafted beers and its commitment to quality, Island State Brewing supplies venues right across the north-west coast and beyond. It's a growing business that supports local jobs, partners with regional suppliers and brings people together through great Tasmanian beer.

And, of course, we have the renowned and famous James Boag Brewery in Launceston, an iconic institution in Tasmania's cultural and economic landscape. Situated on the banks of the North Esk River, the James Boag Brewery has been a cornerstone of the region since its establishment in 1881. For over 140 years, the brewery has produced beer that embodies the purity and the character of Tasmania, utilising pristine local water, regionally sourced ingredients and a time honoured brewing tradition passed down through generations. Beyond its contribution to Tasmania's brewing heritage, Boag's plays a significant role in the local economy and the local community. It supports employment, it drives tourism and it contributes to regional events. Its presence in Launceston is a source of pride for many residents.

I hosted a 'beers and banter' event at the Beach Hotel in Burnie not that long ago alongside local publican Ben to mark the Albanese Labor government's announcement of a pause in the indexation of draught beer excise. During the event, I spoke with local posties and other community members enjoying their well-earned Friday evening knock-off drinks. The response was overwhelmingly positive. They welcomed the decision as a practical and meaningful measure. They were excited that the price of a pint will remain stable.

This pause in indexation ensures that the price of a pint remains stable. Allowing workers to continue enjoying a social moment at the end of the week without added financial pressure, it also provides tangible benefits to brewers such as Communion, Island State and Boag's brewery, as well as publicans like Ben. By helping them manage costs, plan production and invest in their communities, this policy supports both local industry and the social fabric of all of our towns. Approximately 160,000 Australian workers work in the hospitality and brewing sectors. These are real jobs, they're local jobs, and they rely on venues staying open and profitable. This excise pause will help stabilise the tax component of a pint for two years, reducing pressure on venues to pass rising costs on to customers. For small publicans and family run clubs, this decision offers certainty. It helps them to plan ahead, retain staff and also reinvest in their businesses, which is really important for the future. It's a lifeline during a time of economic pressure.

Across Braddon, the pub is the heart of the community. Keeping those doors open actually matters. This measure reinforces the government's commitment to regional Australia, it helps protect tourism and local hospitality jobs, and it supports Australian brewers, particularly small and independent producers who supply draught beer to local venues. Many of these brewers rely heavily on keg sales to maintain cash flow and jobs.

The benefits of this policy reach beyond pubs and brewers. They flow to farmers, transport operators, equipment suppliers and the thousands of small businesses linked to the hospitality supply chain. This is a cost-of-living measure that also strengthens small-business resilience. It's a clear example of responsible government action, designed to make a difference without driving inflation or compromising fiscal discipline.

The Albanese Labor government has listened to industry feedback from brewers, from publicans and from the small-business groups, who have consistently called for relief from automatic excise increases during a period of high inflation. We've heard them and we've acted on that. Our approach is pragmatic and balanced. It provides targeted support where it's most needed while ensuring excise arrangements return to normal after the pause. It forms part of a broader package of small-business supports that includes extended instant asset write-offs, support for digital transformation and lower energy costs for small operators.

This policy reflects Labor's belief that responsible government can ease pressure on families and businesses while maintaining the economic discipline required to keep the budget sustainable. It's a demonstration of Labor's partnership with the hospitality, tourism and manufacturing sector industries that drive local jobs and form the backbone of many regional economies. The pause ensures that small brewers and publicans can continue competing fairly against large multinational producers, protecting diversity and competition in Australia's beer and hospitality industries.

The government remains committed to evidence based health policy and responsible consumption. The pause does not change the overall structure of alcohol taxation or weaken public health objectives. This measure is time limited, fiscally responsible and carefully calibrated to help small businesses through a challenging period. It is another example of Labor governing with balance and purpose, backing small business, protecting workers and ensuring that Australians can continue to enjoy affordable, responsible hospitality at their local pub or club.

This decision also shows that the Albanese government is in touch with community life. We understand the pressures small businesses face and we act decisively to support them. This is about keeping our local venues open, keeping people in work and keeping communities connected—values that sit at the heart of the Labor tradition. It is good, steady, responsible government in action, targeted relief, real results and a fair go for Australian workers and small-business owners alike.

Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The coalition supports the freeze to beer excise indexation. We support welcome relief for our pubs, clubs and, indeed, all hardworking Australian beer drinkers. We recognise the immense struggle of the hospitality sector and we will not stand between it and a cut to the beer tax in this parliament.

However, we must be upfront about what this legislation achieves and what it leaves completely undone. While we welcome this temporary measure, we must call it out for what it is. It's little more than a political stunt. This minor targeted fix utterly fails to address the deep, systemic and widespread cost-of-living crisis that the Albanese Labor government has created and continues to fuel.

The urgency of providing any measure of relief to the hospitality sector cannot be overstated. The industry that supports local manufacturing, creates jobs, supports hospitality workers and boosts tourism is absolutely essential to communities like mine. In the Yarra Valley and the Dandenong Ranges, we have many local brewers and distillers but also small business owners who run pubs, yet the hospitality sector is being destroyed by the current economic environment.

The figures detailing the devastation wrought by Labor's failures are staggering and heartbreaking. On Labor's watch, 4,000 hospitality businesses have gone out of business nationally. The situation is so desperate that the collapse represents the loss of over 4,000 places of employment for local workers and Australians in the hospitality sector. Statewide in my home state of Victoria alone, we lost 969 businesses in the accommodation and food industry. Even in community of Casey, in the 2024-25 financial year, 17 companies in the accommodation and food industry entered insolvency or administration. We must do more to support this industry to get back on its feet after a few difficult years under the Albanese Labor government.

The fundamental reason these businesses are being crushed is simple—Labor let inflation rage out of control. While Labor allows inflation to get out of control, the twice yearly indexation causes the excise bill for these hospitality venues and brewers and distillers to soar. Increases in excise are not just another tax hike; they constitute a significant burden on distillers and hospitality venues and a cost that simply cannot be absorbed. Every time brewers and distillers are hit with an increased excise bill, they have no choice but to pass this cost on, which hits hospitality venues and local pubs. These local venues, which cannot absorb the cost, then pass it on to consumers. The price of alcoholic beverages has already increased by over 11 per cent since Labor came to office.

The coalition recognises this severe struggle. We had already given this issue serious consideration and took a policy to the election to freeze indexation on the draught beer excise for two years, specifically to support our hospitality sector, which has been hammered by this Labor government. We are supporting the bill now because we recognise the urgent need to pause the increases in the excise. This pause applies specifically to on-premise draught beer, meaning beer served on tap. The intention is to provide businesses that have gone through COVID, record high inflation and the endless cost-of-living pressures with some stability. However, we must be honest about the limitations of this legislation. This is merely a patchwork fix in the face of Labor's systemic economic mismanagement and high inflation.

Firstly, the scope of the measure is far too limited. The freeze applies only to on-premise draught beer. It does absolutely nothing for bottled beer, packaged drinks, wine or spirits. If the government were serious about cost-of-living relief or supporting the entire manufacturing and hospitality supply chain, it would be looking at every part of the excise system. Secondly, the relief delivered to the consumer is negligible. This freeze delivers less than 1c of relief per pint. That's enough to give Labor the headline of the cut to the beer tax, like so many of their policies, but it is just a headline. Households need genuine action on the cost of living, not 1c off beer. The policy will be wholly ineffective in helping everyday Australians.

The alcohol industry directly supports around 176,000 full-time-equivalent jobs. Alcohol related jobs in the hospitality sector alone account for a whopping 126,300 of those positions. These businesses deserve real structural support, not a symbolic one-off, 1c gesture. If Labor were serious about the deeper issues of the alcohol excise system, they would have advocated for a comprehensive review of the alcohol excise system. They have shown no plans to fix the $600 million illicit alcohol tax gap identified by the ATO. Instead, we receive piecemeal freezes. The true obstacle facing the Australian economy and our local small businesses is the government's failure to control its own spending, which has directly resulted in the inflation crisis we are living through today.

Just last week, inflation smashed through the RBA's target band. This proved that Labor's cost-of-living crisis is far from over. The RBA is now in an impossible position, with both inflation and unemployment running higher than forecast. The governor is forced to slam on the brakes while the Treasurer has his foot firmly on the accelerator. The cause of this sustained high inflation is Labor's addiction to reckless government spending. Government spending is running at more than four times the rate of the economy. In fact, it is at the highest level outside of a recession in nearly 40 years. The Treasurer, by his own admission, is forecasting a decade of deficits and a decade of spending more money, driving up debt, resulting in higher inflation and fewer services for the Australian people.

The former head of the RBA, Philip Lowe, has already made clear that inflation has lasted longer in Australia because of Labor's spending addiction. Under Labor, government spending has blown out from 24 to 27 per cent of GDP. The Treasurer threw out the coalition's fiscal rules and gave himself a credit card with no limit, and Australians will be the ones left to foot the bill. His current fiscal strategy doesn't even contain a single number, and the Treasurer is clearly violating whatever can be construed as rules.

This economic vandalism has direct and terrifying consequences for Australia's national finances. In the last three years, this government, under this Prime Minister and Treasurer, has added $100 billion to the national debt. Despite the spin of this Treasurer—which is all this Treasurer is good at—under Labor's watch the national debt will reach $1 trillion this year and $1.2 trillion by the next election. Their reckless spending is keeping inflation higher for longer.

Australians are paying $50,000 every minute in interest on Labor's trillion dollars of debt. Over the last three years, Labor has racked up debt the equivalent of nearly $4,000 for every man, woman and child in this country. Think for a moment about what that $50,000 being racked up every minute in interest could be used for. This could be spent on roads, schools and hospitals, on things that are desperately needed in our country—and economic reform, including reform of the excise system. But, no, that money is going to debt because of this Treasurer and this government.

Labor's spending spree has raised the cost of everything. Those costs are never coming down, and that is why Labor are now looking to hike taxes to pay for their spending spree. It's the ultimate buy-now, pay-later scheme, but with a repayment plan dumped on every Australian household.

Mortgage holders are bearing the brunt of this failure. Since Labor came to power we have seen 12 rate rises and only three cuts. This is forcing mortgage holders to pay $1,800 more a month. Unfortunately, we know it's going to get worse tomorrow, because we saw the Treasurer sheepishly stand up in question time and start to make excuses for the economic numbers we are going to see tomorrow. He knows it's only going to get harder and harder for the Australian people because of his failures.

Every Australian is footing the bill for Labor's spending spree in their tax returns, electricity bills, mortgage statements and growing difficulties in finding a job. Because of Labor's economic vandalism, households are paying 15 per cent more for food; 15 per cent more for health—despite the spin of this government; 19 per cent more for housing—again, despite the spin of the Minister for Housing; 37 per cent more for insurance; and nearly 40 per cent more for electricity. As the member for Wannon knows, that's only going to go up for the Australian people under this minister.

The government's two strategies—debt and taxes—are not a plan for prosperity. The only way to fix the damage caused by Labor's failed economic management is through a comprehensive change in approach. The coalition's priority is clear: we must stop the spending spree and start growing the economic pie. This government never talks about growing the economic pie; instead, it is focused entirely on how to cut it up. Under this government, the pie is growing smaller and smaller. This approach leads to higher taxes and economic stagnation. We must move beyond band-aid solutions like the 1c cheaper pint and adopt strategies that generate real sustainable relief.

Genuine economic leadership requires us to remember that a rising tide lifts all boats. Boosting supply is the closest thing we have to a silver bullet. Growing our economy is a means to an end. Without it, we simply cannot afford the better services that we all want, the services that we need, the services that we deserve. If we want to raise living standards, we can start by clearing away bad policy that is shrinking the pie and replace it with good policy that grows the pie. If we want to do that over and over again across the whole of government over time, Australians will become richer, not poorer. Our economy will grow stronger, not weaker. However, that is hard work. It is determined work, it takes time, it takes turning up every day in a full-time capacity, but we know this government do not like to turn up and do the hard work. They like the headlines and the spin. If Labor were serious about cost of living, they would stop the spending spree and start growing the economic pie, and they would immediately re-introduce quantifiable budget rules to stop this reckless spending.

The coalition will support these bills because we will always support relief for local businesses in my community and across Australia. This measure offers a moderate, targeted respite for two years. It will provide stability by freezing the CPI indexation on draft beer, but we will not allow this minor concession to overshadow the cost-of-living and 'cost of doing business' crisis that the Albanese Labor government created and continues to fuel. We must do more to support this industry to get back on its feet after a few difficult years under this Labor government. Unfortunately, the Australian people and the businesses of Casey know it will get harder and harder because they have a prime minister, a Treasurer and an energy minister focused on their own ambitions, not the ambitions and needs of the Australian people. (Time expired)

Matt Burnell (Spence, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Casey reminds me more of a baker than a brewer, but thank you for that contribution. I wish to speak in the House today on a matter that cuts to the core of Australian identity, not just in culture or economy but in how we relate to one each other. In Australia, when you say, 'Let's have a beer,' what you are really saying is, 'Let's spend time together.' You are saying, 'Let's take a break, let's reconnect, let's share a moment,' with no expectations, no pressure. That sentiment is worth protecting. Across the country from city laneways to outback roadhouses, sports clubs and RSLs, the act of sharing a pint, schooner, pot or middy has remained a deeply Australian gesture. It is a fixture of everyday life, woven into everything from weekend routines, once-in-a-lifetime milestones or even just the fact it is 5pm and you are leaving work. Engagements, wakes, promotions, demotions, cricket wins and footy losses, they all seem to land us at the local with a pint in hand. And the pub itself, that humble institution, is more than just a venue; it is our unofficial community hall, a place where birthdays are celebrated, meat raffles are drawn and people come together not because they must but because they want to. I have been to countless venues across the north from the Gawler Exchange to the Angle Vale Tavern and no matter the size, postcode or whoever is pouring the beers, that sense of belonging is always the same. It is not about the status, income or background. In the pub, you can be a sparky, a student, a senior citizen or a small-business owner, and everyone's just there to unwind and be part of something familiar. That's the magic of the pub—equality over the bar. The price of a pint doesn't vary depending on your politics. It doesn't matter where you went to school or where you're from, and that shared experience, that conversation over a cold one, is part of how we strengthen the social fabric in this country. In fact, when I speak to local veterans at the Salisbury RSL or when I drop by the Playford Bowling Club, I always see the unwritten rule: it's not the beer that matters; it's the mateship. As trivial as that might sound to some, it's in these spaces that you'll find connection, belonging and even mental health support happening informally but powerfully.

Let's not forget, it's also a proud part of our national pastimes. When watching the cricket—our national sport—at any level, it's always a scorching-hot day, but you have a draught beer in hand. There is a long list of things that can be considered Australian, but it's definitely up there. Even our prime ministers have known that feeling—mingling in the stands, sleeves rolled up, beer in hand, watching the game not as a politician but as an Aussie.

These moments matter. They help define who we are. That's why government should never treat communal spaces such as the pub as an afterthought. They're more than bricks and mortar; they're the cornerstone of community. But we must also speak to the economic reality that underpins them. Hospitality is a huge employer in Australia, one of the most diverse and most community-facing sectors in our economy. It includes bar staff, cooks, cleaners, brewery techs, grain producers, logistics teams, refrigeration mechanics and young people on their first job. These are working Australians who often work the late nights on weekends or public holidays to keep the good times rolling for anyone who wants a cold one with their mates.

In South Australia beer production is part of our industrial story. Coopers Brewery is an iconic institution. You would be hard-pressed not to find a Coopers logo on any street in Adelaide. They even sponsor Adelaide United's soccer stadium. West End, too, is another iconic brewery that has woven itself into what it means to be South Australian—and who doesn't love a good red tin? And we're now seeing the rise of dozens of independent brewers who are crafting unique beer while providing local jobs, supporting agriculture and drawing tourists. These are enterprises built from the ground up by risktakers and innovators who are backing locals, and they're all relying on a thriving venue economy, because it's the kegs flowing through pubs and clubs that generate cash flow, enable hiring and keep the lights on.

So, when rising costs—from insurance hikes and energy prices to automatic tax increases—threaten these venues, we must act, and that's exactly what the Albanese Labor government is doing. As of 1 August 2025, we have paused the indexation of draught beer excise and excise-equivalent customs duties for two years. That's a real, meaningful change designed to help local venues remain viable and competitive. This measure is targeted. It applies only to draught beer poured from eight- to 48-litre containers—your typical keg sizes—and to larger containers used in high-volume hospitality settings. It does not apply to packaged beer, spirits or wine. This isn't about retailers or bottle shops. This is for pubs, clubs and hospitality venues.

Recently I had the opportunity to speak with Damian McGee, who runs the Exchange Hotel in Gawler. He told me that he was fully supportive of this bill. It means that patrons get a fair go when they're at the pub and are not hit by an unfair price hike. It also means that business gets retained—a benefit for everyone involved in running a business.

This bill, and the benefits it draws, is a decision grounded in fairness and pragmatism, because small-business owners can't plan properly if they're blindsided by tax rises every six months and patrons shouldn't be priced out of their local by the incremental hikes that compound year after year. There are around 10,000 hospitality venues around the country that will benefit directly from this measure. Roughly 75 per cent of those are small, independent businesses, many of them family run and many employing locals. Altogether, the brewing and hospitality sector supports over 160,000 jobs tied to draught beer. From brewers to truckies, this measure reaches them all and ensures they have certainty. It helps them hold their margins and it gives them the confidence to keep investing in staff, venues and innovation.

Let me be clear, this is also about regional resilience. In the north and in towns right across Australia the pub is often the last true gathering space. When the banks are closed, the post office is gone and the sporting clubs struggle, it's the pub that remains. Lose that and you don't just lose a business; you lose a community anchor. This policy protects that anchor and keeps it firmly grounded. It supports independent brewers and microbrewers, those who don't have the marketing might of multinationals but who live and work in the same towns as the people they serve. For them, keg sales are often the difference between breaking even and shutting the doors. For the wider supply chain—the real grain growers, the forklift drivers, the fitters and turners—this pause keeps production moving. One shift cut at a brewery could mean fewer deliveries, slower distribution or deferred upgrades. It's all connected, and we're acting to protect those connections.

We know the industry has done it tough: COVID lockdowns, staff shortages, delivery delays, rent increases—all of it compounding year after year. This isn't just a tax measure; it's a lifeline. It's a signal that the government understands and is willing to act. That's what good government looks like: listening, not lecturing; partnering, not posturing; delivering relief where it's needed most.

This measure forms part of a broader suite of cost-of-living support delivered by our government. We've raised the minimum wage and award wages by 3½ per cent. We've lifted superannuation contributions to 12 per cent, helping you feel more comfortable in retirement. We're increasing paid parental leave to 24 weeks, ensuring you can spend more time with your family and still feel supported. We've cut 20 per cent from student loan debts for more than three million Australians. We've cut tax for every taxpayer and have legislated more cuts to come. For students in critical sectors like teaching, nursing and social work, we've rolled out Commonwealth practical placement payments, recognising their contribution and easing placement costs. We've delivered long-overdue pay rises for aged-care workers, and we've rolled out relief on emergency bills, health care and essential services, all while keeping inflation heading in the right direction.

Although I could go on about the positive changes this Labor government has ushered in already, it is worth noting it is not all just smart policy. It is steady leadership, all with the plan to try to make life for the average Aussie battler better. We know that inflationary pressures continue to affect families here at home, and we're not immune to global cost increases, but we are responding with discipline, care and action. That's the mark of responsible government—staying focused when the economic pressures are high and delivering relief with actions like this bill.

The draft beer excise pause is part of that same philosophy. We understand the importance of a beer off the tap with your mates, and we want to protect that. This is temporary, targeted and tightly scoped. It doesn't undermine our health commitments, it doesn't rewrite the alcohol tax system, but it does offer relief when it counts and where it counts. Fairness is not just a value; it's what defines the classic pub test. It's fairness for a mum-and-dad operator running the local tavern who are trying to keep staff on, stay competitive and avoid raising prices on their regulars. It's fairness for a casual worker clocking off a late shift who depends on those weekend hours behind the bar or in the kitchen to help pay rent or cover textbooks. It's fairness for a pensioner visiting their favourite club for a midweek meal, relying on those outings not just for sustenance but for social connection and companionship. It's fairness for the brewer in a regional town who is not just making beer but employing locals, sourcing local supplies and maybe even sponsoring the local sports club. This pause in excise helps level the playing field for them too against bigger competitors and unpredictable costs. It means they can plan production runs, stabilise overheads and focus on growth, not just survival.

This measure also supports the hidden workforce, the people you don't always see in the front bar: the truck driver delivering kegs at dawn, the cleaner ensuring the club is spotless before the doors open, the refrigeration technician who fixes the cool room so the beer stays cold even in the middle of the searing South Australian summer. These are not just lines on a budget passed through parliament; they are our neighbours, our family members and our constituents.

This decision aligns with our broader commitment to back in small businesses, not just with words but with tangible support—from digital transformation grants that help venues modernise booking systems and manage inventory to energy efficiency incentives that allow clubs and hostels to cut power bills by upgrading refrigeration or installing solar, from extended instant asset write-offs that allow investment in kitchen upgrades or new tap systems to training support that ensures young workers in the north can develop hospitality skills and advance their careers locally. This is a government that sees value in small business, not only as an engine of the economy but as a cornerstone of national life. When small businesses succeed, communities stay strong. When the local pub thrives, the town thrives. When workers feel supported, everyone benefits.

I'm proud that we're not only listening to brewers, publicans and industry groups but also co-designing solutions with them: practical, responsible and targeted measures that reflect what the industry has asked for and what the moment demands. This is a government acting with care, clarity and confidence in the role that small business plays in shaping the Australia we all share. The support for this measure—from the Brewers Association and the Australian Hotels Association to independent brewers across South Australia—shows we've listened. Every time we support a pub, we support jobs. Every time we ease pressure on a local venue, we make connection more accessible. Every time we stand up for small business, we stand up for our values. This pause on draught beer excise isn't just economic; it's social. It's cultural, it's Australian and it's smart, responsible and timely. That's why I proudly commend this bill to the House.

Alison Penfold (Lyne, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise in solidarity with my hardworking, dedicated and community minded pubs and brewers to speak on this legislation—legislation which does the absolute bare minimum to aid them and their industry and does absolutely nothing to address the significant issues that exist within the alcohol excise system. The Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill could have been a lot more than what it is. This bill could have gone a whole lot further than just implementing an election promise to temporarily halt the twice-yearly increase in excise of draught beer at pubs and clubs. That is all that it does. By 'temporarily' I mean that this measure will pause indexation of the beer excise for just two years—but that's enough to give the Albanese government it's 'cheaper beer' headline.

Should the beer drinkers of Australia rejoice? Well, the actual monetary significance of the measure amounts to just two-fifths of not much. The excise pause will deliver less than 1c per pint of amber fluid. It will not have any meaningful impact on the cost and/or price of draught beer, and it's only on draught beer at the tap. It doesn't apply to microbrewers or retailed packaged beer. The reality is that this bill fails to address the Albanese Labor government's cost-of-living crisis and ignores the deeper issues with the alcohol excise system. What they haven't said is that this hidden tax has gone up every six months for the last 35 years—something like 85 times—and they are not going to look into this whole alcohol excise issue.

Another point is that this intention was announced during the election and was meant to be applied in time for the excise increase on 1 August, but we're only getting to the bill now. Why the hold-up, and why just a pause on tap draught beer? Why not packaged beer, tap spirits and the like? And why not pause the excise on wine or cider or any other alcohol products? Let me tell you why. This measure is worth just $90 million over the forward estimates, which is completely minuscule compared to the $8 billion collected annually from all alcohol taxes. The measure accounts for less than two per cent of the total annual alcohol tax receipts, so they'll just keep on slugging people who like a glass of wine or something stiffer and keep that revenue rolling in. The excise is a lazy hidden tax, and Australians continue to pay the third-highest excise levels in the world, according to the Australian Hotels Association. Clubs and pubs have no control and can only pass the tax on to ordinary Australians. Many of the publicans and staff that I have spoke to in pubs and clubs across my electorate have had no choice but to absorb recent increases in excise or lose punters at the bar. If this government were serious about alcohol tax reform, they would have Treasury conducting a comprehensive review of the system.

The coalition acknowledges that there will be a little relief for pubs, clubs and beer drinkers, and we are certainly not going to stand between a cut to the beer tax and the government. But this could have been much more. It has 'missed opportunity' written all over it, and it's not an inflation buster. Inflation has smashed through the RBA's target band. That means more expensive mortgages and groceries. The cause of high inflation is reckless government spending, which is running at more than four times the rate of the economy. Recent inflation data has highlighted just how ineffective this policy will be at helping everyday Australians. Households need genuine action on the cost of living, not one cent off a schooner. Government spending is running at more than four times the rate of the economy, and it is at its highest level outside of a recession in nearly 40 years. This government's unfettered spending is keeping inflation higher for longer while Australians pay $50,000 every minute in interest on Labor's trillion dollar debt. 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.

The RBA is now in an impossible position, with both inflation and unemployment running higher than forecast. The Treasurer has his foot on the accelerator and an eye out for the headlines while the RBA governor, Michele Bullock, is looking for the handbrake. Mortgage holders are paying $1,800 more a month since the Albanese government came to power, with 12 rate rises and only three cuts. But wait; don't despair—beer will be a tiny bit cheaper! Everyday Australians are footing the bill for this government's spending spree in their tax returns, electricity bills and mortgage statements and in their growing difficulty in finding a job. Government spending has blown out from 24 per cent to 27 per cent of GDP under this government.

A number of inquiries have recommended a review of the beer and alcohol market for anticompetitive practices and the alcohol tax regime over the years, and yet nothing has eventuated. According to the Independent Brewers Association, the representative body for more than 600 microbrewers and their supply chain partners across Australia, beer is becoming unaffordable—$8 for a schooner is a good get these days. Despite the fact that the microbrewery industry experienced extraordinary growth in the decade leading up to 2021—it grew to almost eight per cent of the total Australian beer market in 2021—the sector needs more attention than this government is willing to give it. The RBA says 48 per cent of independent brewing businesses are struggling to maintain profitability, while the foreign owned multinational companies enjoy significant profit margins. While the excise tax on beer has increased every six months, the tax on wine has not. Since February 2020, excise tax on beer has increased by 20 per cent. The tax on the average glass of wine is now eight times cheaper than the tax on an average beer. The RBA also says that two big foreign owned breweries have an 83 per cent share of the Australian beer market. If you add that to the five per cent market share the major retailers have with their home brand beer, the more than 600 Australian owned small businesses are forced to compete for seven per cent of market share.

You'd think that that would be of interest to this government and the Treasury. I know it's of interest to the owners of the Coastal Brewing Company in Foster in the Lyne electorate, David and Helen Black, who just recently won the Champion Lager and Champion Pale Ale at the Sydney Royal Beer and Cider Show along, with two gold medals, five silver medals and a bronze medal. The Coastal Brewing Company focuses on producing high-quality small-batch beers, with distribution largely focused on New South Wales between Canberra and the Queensland border. So does the Tinshed Brewery in Dungog, offering, like the Coastal Brewing Company in Foster, a range of beers from the well known to the eclectic. They're good businesses and good business for our community, as are all of our pubs and clubs, providing social venues and active, generous support and sponsorship for sporting clubs and community groups. They create and provide employment. Many are at the heart of their communities.

The alcohol industry directly supports the employment of around 176,000 full-time equivalent jobs. The alcohol manufacturing industry employs people in around 2,500 jobs. Alcohol related jobs in the retail sector number a further 21,000 jobs. Alcohol related jobs in the hospitality sector number a whopping 126,300.

Again, the coalition acknowledges that there will be a small amount of relief for pubs, clubs and beer drinkers, and we will not stand between a cut to the beer tax and the government. But this could have been much more. It certainly is, as I've said previously, a missed opportunity.

This bill is only a minor fix in the face of high inflation and cost-of-living pressures. There's no sign of a broader excise reform conversation. All we get is just a two-year pause on tap beer indexation. There's no acknowledgement of, nor strategy to address, the alcohol market share, equity and profitability questions. Likewise, there's nothing to address the government's spending spree, which is fuelling inflation and cost-of-living pressures—as is its rush to renewables, which will cost Australian taxpayers $9 trillion, putting Medicare and the NDIS at risk.

What should really be front of mind for the Albanese government is measures that genuinely address cost-of-living pressures, not policies that are putting further pressure on the cost of living. Australia needs genuine economic leadership. We need policies that focus on raising the living standards of Australians. Sadly, we won't get that with this government. We will need the strong economic management of a coalition government for that, something many, many of my constituents are very impatient for.

Ash Ambihaipahar (Barton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today in support of the Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025, which goes right to the centre of communities, jobs, small businesses and Australian social life. This bill reinforces the Albanese Labor government's decision to pause indexation on draught beer excise and excise equivalent customs duties for two years, beginning 1 August 2025.

It is a policy underpinned by fairness, community values and economic responsibility. It is a policy that recognises and supports Australian pubs, clubs, brewers, hospitality workers and the millions of Australians who rely on these venues for work, connection and community life. It is a policy that speaks directly to the people and businesses in my electorate of Barton, from Hurstville to Wolli Creek, Beverly Hills to Clemton Park and Rockdale to Earlwood.

This measure does one simple, clear thing. It pauses automatic inflation-linked increases to draught beer excise for two years. It applies specifically to containers of eight to 48 litres designed for gas or pump systems—our standard kegs in pubs and clubs—and containers over 48 litres, used by larger hospitality venues. This pause does not apply to bottled beer, canned beer, spirits or retail alcohol. This is targeted, disciplined policy designed to support hospitality venues and the sector, not supermarkets, not bottling multinationals, not liquor companies but the pubs, clubs and taverns and small brewers who serve our communities directly from a tap. (Quorum formed)

This policy supports 10,000 hospitality venues across Australia, and about 75 per cent of them are small, family-run businesses. This policy will be supporting approximately 160,000 workers in hospitality and brewing. Further, this will support thousands more in supply chains, like farmers, those in logistics, tradies, cleaners, entertainers and local suppliers. These are the venues that sponsor the local footy club, host family dinners, employ young people, train chefs, host charity events and offer a safe and social space for neighbours to connect.

For two years, this means the tax on a pint stays steady, family-run pubs get certainty, small brewers have breathing room, young workers keep their shifts and venues avoid passing cost increases on to locals. This pause means that, when a family in Barton heads out for a Friday night meal, when a group of mates meets after work in Banksia or Beverly Hills to watch the UFC or when seniors meet for raffles in Hurstville or Earlwood, the cost of connection doesn't climb. This is a cost-of-living measure that also strengthens small-business resilience, regional tourism, jobs and apprenticeships, local manufacturing and community connection. It is cost-of-living relief, economic support and community support rolled into one smart, responsible policy.

In Australia, pubs and licensed venues are not just businesses; they are community institutions. In many places they are the heart of the suburb or the heart of the town. They are where we gather to watch the footy, celebrate a birthday, share a meal, attend a fundraiser or simply sit among neighbours and feel part of something bigger than ourselves.

In Barton we see this every day. We see this at Beverly Hills Hotel, where local families gather after weekend sport. We see it at the Rocksia and at Earlwood-Bardwell Park RSL, where locals build friendships over generations. We see this at the Ritz in Hurstville, buzzing with life, especially on trivia nights; at the Forest Inn in Bexley, with its proud community ties and killer pizzas; and in clubs like St George Leagues Club, Arncliffe Scots Club and Club Central Hurstville, which support sport and charity. Just outside the border but beloved by Barton locals is the local brewery the Social Brewers, a great brewery tucked in the member for Banks's electorate. Thousands of Barton residents work in hospitality as bar staff, cooks, cleaners, security officers, musicians, waitstaff, bottle shop attendants, managers and apprentices. When we keep these venues strong, we keep the community strong, we keep young people employed, we keep families connected and we keep traditions alive.

I want to share why this is important to me. Before entering parliament, I worked supporting the hospitality sector. This included working with the Australian Hotels Association. I stood shoulder to shoulder with venue operators, from suburban pubs to regional institutions, and saw their strong commitment to creating safe and welcoming spaces. I saw the pressure they felt in balancing rising costs with fair pricing for their customers. I saw their pride in employing and training local workers and their generosity in supporting teams, charities and community groups. I've supported business owners who stayed awake at night worrying whether they could afford to keep staff on. I've seen young people transform their lives through their first hospitality jobs, and I want to acknowledge the great work of the mighty United Workers Union in the sector, supporting workers in collaboration with these employers. Hospitality isn't just an industry; it absolutely is a pathway, a community hub and a cultural institution. So, when I say this policy matters, it's not flippant. This is from lived experience supporting the sector.

We've listened, we've consulted, we've acted. This is responsible government. That is the Albanese Labor government. Rather than responding with mantras, we've responded with solutions. We target support where it delivers the most benefit. This industry endured months of pandemic shutdowns, supply chain disruptions, staffing challenges and years of inflation pressures under the opposition, yet these Australians kept going. They adapted and they innovated. They did takeaway and they did home deliveries. They kept food in fridges, beers in kegs and, where they could, they kept staff on the books. They held communities together in some of the hardest times we've known. They deserve support, and we are giving it.

I must also add that this great policy works hand in hand with the New South Wales Minns Labor government and Minister John Graham, who's working hard to boost the New South Wales economy and revive our night-time economy after a decade of lockouts and then lockdowns by the former Liberal state government. This is what a Labor government does; it supports the economy, and it supports small businesses.

This measure also supports independent brewers who rely heavily on draught sales. It helps them manage production, maintain cash flow, retain staff, invest in quality and keep supplying local venues. Local taps in Barton serve beer from passionate independent producers—Sydney brewers who stand for the craft. We are making sure they can keep doing that. By supporting draught production, we protect diversity and fairness in our beer and hospitality markets, not just for the biggest players.

I want to be very clear that this policy is temporary. It is fiscally responsible and it does not change Australia's alcohol taxation system. It does not undermine public health objectives. It ensures that the excise returns to normal after two years. The opposition had an opportunity to listen to some of the speeches, and they sound like they are distorting this, because I recall this also being an election commitment from those across the chamber. It's still on the Liberal Party's website to this day, six months after the election. But the fact remains that this is targeted relief. It does not fuel inflation, it protects jobs and communities, and it maintains our public health settings. This is steady, disciplined economic management—low risk, high benefit and temporary.

This is one part of a very comprehensive cost-of-living agenda. I listened to some of those across the chamber and observed their line of questioning at question time—no rhyme and no thought. They say the government is spending too much, and then they have the hide to say we're not doing enough for the cost of living. Then we hear today, 'It's not enough, but it does a little bit for small businesses.' Choose your side. Let me remind the opposition of what the Albanese Labor government has already delivered: wage rises of a minimum of 3.5 per cent and an award increase; super at 12 per cent; an increase in paid parental leave to 24 weeks with super; 150 bucks more energy relief this year; apprentice payments of $10,000; cheaper home batteries; a 20 per cent cut in student HECS-HELP debt for three million Aussies; Commonwealth prac payments for nursing, teaching, midwifery and social work students; pay rises for aged-care workers; cheaper medicines; and expanded bulk-billing. This is real relief, delivered responsibly. While many major economies are facing recessions and job losses, Australia has strong employment and stable growth, and we are navigating global challenges with competence, steadiness and fairness.

This two-year excise pause is fair, targeted, responsible and deeply needed. It recognises the role hospitality plays in the lives of Australians in our suburbs, in our cities, in our regions and in electorates like mine, the seat of Barton. It supports the places where we gather to celebrate, mourn, reconnect, unwind and belong. It backs the workers pulling pints, washing glasses, scrubbing kitchens, running events, serving meals and keeping our venues safe and welcoming. It helps small businesses breathe, plan, invest and continue supporting our community. It protects local jobs, it lowers cost-of-living pressure, it strengthens local economies, it reflects both economic discipline and social understanding and, most importantly, it reflects the core promise of this Albanese Labor government to look after working Australians, to support small business and to govern responsibly and fairly for every community.

Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025. I have to wonder whether government MPs have genuinely read this legislation when they start talking about how this is going to help small businesses. To be very clear, this Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill is only going to apply to tap beer. So all those small businesses with bottles will not get the benefit of this. So maybe pause and reflect as to why it is that the government is picking and choosing within the same industry. Only the big hotels and associations, like RSLs, and all those that have beer on tap will get a freeze in the excise. Small breweries that bottle will not get this. I am not sure that they are aware of the distinction that is happening.

Right now across Australia, and sharply felt in Warringah, our independent brewing and distilling industry is in the grip of what many describe as a recession. This industry is integral to our small-business ecosystem and yet, like many small businesses, it is being squeezed from every direction—pandemic-era debt, inflation, rising input costs and an increasingly burdensome excise tax. Last September, together with follow crossbench MPs, I wrote to the Treasurer calling for urgent relief for distilleries and breweries, proposing to reduce the impact of the alcohol excise on distilleries. This bill takes a small step in the right direction. It's a welcome pause in draught beer excise indexation, but what about everyone else in this industry? Why is it that only the big players that have access to the tap contracts within the hotels and RSLs are having access to this freeze on excise indexation? It leaves behind distillers and barely touches the structural issues facing small brewers, and the government has not given any explanation as to why. There should be no arbitrary policy divide between breweries and distilleries. They're all small manufacturers. They both employ locally, they both enrich our communities and they all deserve a fair go. The government has decided to pick and choose winners rather than extending this support to the whole industry. I have to ask: why is it that the government is only choosing, essentially, to assist an industry that has lobbying power and access to the doors of ministers?

From my point of view, I care about small business and I care about making reform and making these kinds of support measures fair to ensure all small businesses have access to them. Warringah is home to an incredibly vibrant brewing and distilling community—from Freshwater Brewing, Dad and Dave's, 7th Day Brewery and Broken Bay Brewing to the iconic Manly Spirits and all the creative makers throughout Brookvale's independent precinct. Our independent brewers and distillers bring together the Warringah community. It's because of them that we have community events such as BrookieFest, an annual precinct-wide street party. They employ locals—young people getting their first job, skilled brewers, hospitality workers and delivery drivers. They support local artists, food suppliers and tourism. When one of these businesses closes, the loss ripples far wider than just the venue. And yet those local brewers and distilleries in Warringah have expressed to me that, while they recognise the positive intent of this legislation, it's practical impact on small independent breweries is likely to be minimal to zero unless they change their operations, because it will only apply to tap draught beer. This is because tap access in pubs and clubs is locked up by long-term contracts with multinational brewers.

A 2017 ACCC report confirmed that a significant portion of taps in venues—including many of the venues that I have heard listed by previous speakers, particularly government backbenchers—are tied up by multinational brewers in long-term contracts. The ACCC report confirmed that a significant proportion of taps in venues are tied to exclusive or near-exclusive supply deals. Therefore, many small breweries are unable to benefit from draught-specific-excise relief regardless of this bill's pause on indexation.

Another challenge left completely unaddressed is the competitive barrier affecting growing brewers as they exceed the excise remission cap. Brewing and distillery businesses in Warringah have voiced their frustration at the sharp increase in payable excise as they grow beyond the cap, which erodes profitability. Additionally, the indexation freeze does not extend to bottled or canned alcohol. So, again, we're talking about picking and choosing. One Warringah brewer has already ceased packaged wholesale production because the indexation freeze only applies to draught beer, not cans or bottles. Others tell me they're approaching the excise cap, and they worry about the steep cliff once they pass it.

So how did we get here with such a complex system? Excise on beer and spirits is indexed to the CPI twice a year. Since 2020, excise has risen nearly 20 per cent during the same period. So, thinking about 2020, in five years it's nearly been a 20 per cent increase already. At the same time, for these small businesses, energy prices have surged; hops has increased by more than 50 per cent; malt has risen by nearly 20 per cent in a single year; utility costs have almost doubled; and refrigeration, transport, storage and finance costs have all ballooned. In just two years to April 2025, 51 independent breweries have closed or entered voluntary administration. They are the small businesses you all talk about.

This is a sector worth nearly $2 billion annually to the economy, and, with the right policy settings, distillers could become a $1 billion export industry by 2035. We cannot let short-term piecemeal measures undermine what should be a thriving Australian manufacturing success story. We need a comprehensive strategy. Yes, a pause on draught beer excise indexation is welcome. But it doesn't fix the problem for small business and small breweries. If you really want to give small businesses a fair go, anticompetitive practices in tap contracts need to be looked at, as well as the steep excise cliff once producers exceed the remission cap and the exclusion of distillers.

Again, we have thriving boutique gin distilleries in many areas around the country, yet they don't get any of the assistance that the Hotel Association seems to be able to get for tap beer. We have to look at how we're going to help everyone within this sector—including, in relation to the exclusion of distillers, the rising input costs that continue to outpace revenue. I've already pushed for broader and fairer reforms, including through my letter to the Treasurer, through amendments and through consultation with Warringah's brewing and distilling community. They are pleading for the government to make this fair reform, not just piecemeal and picking at favourites. A thriving brewing and distilling sector should be ambitious, innovative, sustainable and supported by a government that is willing to create conditions for small manufacturers to grow.

The temporary pause in beer excise indexation is a reprieve for some breweries, but it isn't the long-term solution that alcohol producers of all kinds have been calling for since the pandemic. Broader measures should be taken to address the anticompetitive nature of the beer industry and ensure that the long-term sustainability of the brewing and distilling industries is safeguarded. To ensure that these issues are brought to the fore, I move second reading amendments (1) and (2) as circulated in my name:

That all words after "That" be omitted with a view to substituting the following words:

"whilst not declining to give the bill a second reading, the House:

(1) notes that:

(a) our local independent breweries and spirit distilleries are in crisis;

(b) brewers and distilleries carry a huge financial burden, from growing inflationary pressure to the price of energy, and issues around staffing and the rising cost of alcohol excise taxation;

(c) excise on beer and spirits has increased by more than 17 per cent since 2020, adding significant strain on our brewers and the spirits industry;

(d) according to the Independent Brewers Association, at least 51 independent brewing businesses entered voluntary administration or closed in the two years to April 2025, as mounting costs and rising excise made it harder to stay viable;

(e) Australia's spirits tax remains indexed to CPI twice a year and is one of the highest spirits taxes in the world; and

(f) while this Bill provides relief in taxation for draught beer it does not extend this assistance to these other producers; and

(2) calls on the government to:

(a) freeze indexation of all alcohol excise taxes until at least 1 August 2027;

(b) index the excise remission cap annually in line with inflation; and

(c) extend the deadlines for payback of excise debt to the ATO".

I urge government members to have an internal discussion about why you are only picking certain areas of beer to protect or to assist with this excise freeze. The amendments that I propose recognise that the struggling brewing and distilling industries need assistance. They acknowledge the ongoing financial strain. This bill ignores so many distillers entirely.

These amendments call on the government to freeze indexation for all alcohol excise until 1 August 2027, not just those that have the passes to come into parliament to advocate on behalf of their industry. They call to 'index the excise remission cap annually in line with inflation' and 'extend the deadlines for payback of excise debt to the ATO'. We need to be assisting these small businesses rather than taking a stick to them and creating an even more anticompetitive environment by assisting the big players that have access to the on-tap contracts. While I welcome that some measure has been introduced, please do the job properly, make it fair and consistent, create a competitive field for all businesses and, genuinely, put good legislation through this place.

Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the amendment seconded?

Nicolette Boele (Bradfield, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the amendment and reserve my right to speak.

Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It gives me great pleasure to speak on the Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025 and the associated bill. These bills will help pubs, clubs and breweries across our country, across our electorates and across our states, and will deliver a simple, long-overdue measure—that is, pausing the indexation on draught beer excise and excise equivalent customs duty rates for two years. This will be a real relief. This will be a real-money-in-people's-pockets policy. I'm very pleased to be speaking on these bills and supporting them. With bills like these, we are supporting the great pubs, clubs, sporting clubs et cetera of our nation.

Think of your iconic pub. There is nothing more Australiana than a local pub, than being in the front bar with people and talking to them. I've campaigned in plenty of pubs over the years, believe me. I've been a frequent customer in many of them in my electorate because I enjoy them. I feel like it is part of our culture. I enjoy the conversations and I enjoy meeting people. For members of parliament, it is the best place to hear what people have got to say and what the realities of this world are.

When you think of pubs, you also think of the hard work that goes into running a pub. You look at publicans, and a lot of pubs are still run by families, especially in my electorate. I give a shout-out to some of those pubs, and to the Franzon family at the Hilton hotel—and I'm not talking about the Conrad Hiltons and the five-star Hiltons; I'm talking about the workers of the Hilton in the suburb of Hilton in my electorate, run by James Franzon. It was run by his father, Bob Franzon, for many years. Bob was affectionately known as 'Bob the Hat' because he always wore a hat. He passed away a number of years ago but his son James has taken over the business. We talk regularly, when I'm down there with James, about the industry and how hard it is, and the long hours they put into running a successful pub.

The Hilton hotel today has changed completely from the Hilton of many years ago. In fact, it was my first encounter with a pub. As a young schoolboy, I used to sell newspapers outside ETSA, the Electricity Trust of South Australia, which was right opposite the Hilton hotel. The workers would finish at 4 pm and come out. I would sell the papers, and then, with whatever was left, I'd walk into the Hilton hotel, into the front bar and the saloon, and get rid of the rest of the papers. That was my first interaction—and occasionally I'd get a nice tip from someone who'd perhaps had a beer too many!

There is Peter Hurley, of the Hotel Royal and the Arkaba Hotel. They are great businesses that, through hard work, have become successful businesses and community pubs. In my own neighbourhood is the Arab Steed, which I still frequent occasionally on Saturdays; I have a bit of a flutter if I've got nothing to do on a Saturday afternoon, which is very rare. I see the hard work that Shayne White and Jill White put into running the Arab Steed. They've been long-term owners of that pub. It feels like a real family when you walk into that front bar. There are the regulars, the publicans and people that know each other and are friendly.

We have many, many pubs in my electorate—I could name thousands of them—but one that stands out is the Wheatsheaf Hotel in Thebarton, which is run by Jade Flavell. It's known for its significant role in developing the Wheatsheaf's reputation as one of the premier craft beer venues in South Australia. They run a great show down there, with live bands. There are no pokies; they made a decision not to have pokies. This pub was run by the Brown family—Bob Brown and his wife—for many, many years. I used to go to school with Wayne Brown, their son, and many were the days where, when we were kids, we'd be running up and down the stairs of the Wheatsheaf Hotel.

These are real, iconic institutions in the electorate of Adelaide. These are pubs that have been run by families for years and years. This bill, therefore, is a great bill that will relieve some of that pressure. This will help the workers that work in pubs, whether they're in kitchens as a kitchenhand, cook or chef, are the cleaners of pubs or are bar staff. This will help all people connected to bars and pubs around the nation.

As I said, this automatic, twice-yearly increase to duty rates on draught beer every February and August has been a cause of frustration for many years for publicans in hospitality venues and patrons alike, because the end result is the patron pays more. It's something the AHA has been advancing for many years. This has compounded cost for venues and added stress. Industry stakeholders like some of the ones I mentioned earlier have all spoken to me about the excise tax, but they've previously made calls for support and focused on changes to alcohol excise and taxation arrangements.

The AHA of South Australia—David Basheer is the president and also the owner of the Strathmore Hotel and other hotels in my electorate—has said:

This freeze is a win for socialising, your local and most importantly jobs, at a time when cost-of-living is impacting everyone.

That was the AHA of South Australia. The national CEO said:

This is a win for the millions of men and women who like to go down to their local and have a beer. It's a win for common-sense in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis—every little bit makes a difference.

I agree with David Basheer and others who have been calling for this—the other publicans and hotel owners in the industry. We must do all that we can. Rising excise rates through biannual indexation, business costs and cost-of-living impacts have been reported by industry and the media as putting pressure on the survival of businesses in the alcohol industry.

This measure supports around 10,000 hospitality venues across Australia—pubs, bars, taverns and clubs—about 75 per cent of which are small businesses. This freeze will provide crucial breathing space for small hospitality businesses. Not only does this support the venues; it protects the thousands of those hardworking Australians that the pubs employ. Across South Australia alone—in my state—about 60,000 people are employed in accommodation and food services, as bar staff and in hospitality. In my electorate of Adelaide alone, the sector employs 4,461 males and 4,250 females.

The hospitality industry has a large proportion of young workers—especially representing a seat with the CBD in the middle of it. Many of them are uni students and part-time workers, with 2,593 workers between the ages of 25 and 34 years old. Many of these workers are employed part time or gaining experience, often without—

( Q uorum formed) I will kick off where I left off—praising the wonderful workers, the employees, who are dedicated, who are pouring beers, cooking meals and serving guests.

This bill, as I said, acts as a buffer against financial pressure, helping businesses to stay open and keeping young workers employed. I already gave the numbers in my electorate. Around Australia, there are thousands and thousands of young students employed in the pub industry, working part-time, helping to support their studies. This will be a help to them. They will also get their student debt cut this week as well, so it will be a double help for lots of uni students.

The hospitality sector in Adelaide is more than an industry; it is a key connection to our identity. I mentioned some of those iconic pubs in my electorate. The Hilton Hotel that I used to visit quite regularly was a pub where the local Lions Club would meet, the local football club would meet and even our branch of the Labor Party would meet in there on a regular basis. Over many elections, we had election night events in the Hilton Hotel. For those of you hearing 'Hilton Hotel', it is not the Conrad Hilton; this is a Hilton Hotel, named after the suburb called Hilton in a very working-class area of Adelaide.

These pubs are community pubs. Up the road, the Royal Hotel, which was run by Peter Hurley, again, is a great community pub that supports soccer clubs, football clubs, the local dart club and a whole range of other groups that meet there—from Lions Clubs to different community groups. They play an important role, they are a community centre and people gravitate to them. If you are on your own, for example, it is a great place to go and talk to people. They not only provide a wonderful service but, more importantly, they employ so many thousands of people. Therefore, this bill is very important in supporting the pubs and hospitality industry.

The draft beer excise freeze may seem modest but it helps where it matters most—that is, small and local businesses. As I said, I regularly meet with local traders. Many publicans I speak to tell me that the cost-of-living crisis is hurting their business. This freeze will help to alleviate input costs, giving them better stability and certainty, not only helping them keep the doors open but also helping them plan ahead.

The hospitality sector is not just for employment; it represents something bigger. Many of us in our speeches here have tried to explain that bars, pubs and other venues are the heart of local communities. I am sure every member of parliament here speaks to people in pubs. They are the best place to actually gauge what the views are of the public out there. They are places to catch up with your friends, mates, to have a beer, to go to weekly trivia nights, and to celebrate local sporting teams after a game. They bring people together. They connect Australians.

In Adelaide, we're spoiled for choice with such amazing venues. I've mentioned some of them. There are others: Exeter Hotel, the British Hotel, the Strathmore, Cumberland Arms Hotel—great pubs. Currently, I frequent the Arab Steed in my neighbourhood occasionally, as I said, on a Saturday afternoon if I don't have anything on, which is very rare. We may go there with my wife and have lunch and a bit of a flutter on the TAB. It's an outing, it's a great opportunity to talk to people and to meet people, and I see firsthand the hard work of those publicans, who play an important role in our economy, in employing people and in just having a community—like a community centre—there for everyone. At the same time, we want them to flourish and we want their businesses to flourish.

Allegra Spender (Wentworth, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak briefly on the Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025. While I support the bill in its efforts to provide some temporary relief to parts of Australia's hospitality sector, who are really struggling—namely, pubs and clubs—I want to echo many of the concerns expressed by some of my crossbench colleagues, speak briefly on another area of our excise regime and comment on a proposed ATO determination currently under consideration.

My electorate of Wentworth is home to some amazing local institutions, from the Bondi Bowlo and the Diggers to the Paddington RSL. These are just some of the community operated bars, clubs and restaurants that give so much to the culture, atmosphere and events of the eastern suburbs. But these establishments and the rest in the eastern suburbs have navigated a challenging business environment over the past few years. COVID hit these sorts of organisations really hard, and the long tail of the cost-of-living crisis has dried up consumer demand in what should have been their recovery phase and has made it harder to keep their doors open.

Across Australia, hospitality venues are falling at a faster rate than almost any other sector in the economy, beaten only by construction. In 2023-24, we lost 1,667 such businesses across Australia. This bill offers some welcome reprieve. This bill amends the Excise Tariff Act and the Customs Tariff Act to pause indexation of the excise and customs duty rates on draught beer—beer poured from taps—for two years.

Wentworth also hosts some amazing craft breweries, including Bondi Brewing and Curly Lewis, as well as Australia's leading independent Seltzer company, FELLR. These independent brewers also add so much to my local community, creating new venues and products and the taste of the eastern suburbs, consumed all over Australia. These institutions face considerable challenges of their own. Not only is indexation pushing up the price of their products twice a year; they face an incredibly concentrated market dominated by two large multinational companies. The Independent Brewers Association reports that, after you take out foreign owned businesses and home-brand products, some 670-odd independent brewers are left to compete for around seven per cent of the remaining market share.

Last year, as part of the Standing Committee on Economics, I investigated the beer market as part of the Bettercompetition, better prices report. We heard that the beer market has become pay to play, where the large companies can undercut local competitors through promotional marketing, discounts and even tap contracts that mean independents might either have no taps in a pub or a club or jostle amongst each other for a single tap. This makes it hard for independent brewers to get their brands out into public consumption outside of their own premises. They often rely on the sale of bottled or canned beer, sold in traditional liquor stores or at their own storefronts. For brewers with this business model, this excise will provide very limited relief.

While I acknowledge the announcement by the government to lift the remission cap from $350,000 to $400,000 from 1 July next year, I will also be supporting the member for Bradfield's amendment to increase the scope of the excise to include local, independent craft beer sold in bottles and cans.

Local independent brewers face another potential challenge in the coming months because of a recently announced draft guidance known as ED 2024/D2. Based on the draft determination, the ATO appears to be moving away from an objective determination of what constitutes beer to favour a more subjective one. Instead of determining beer based on its fermentation process, the ATO, it appears, will look at the final product to see if it fits within a conventional understanding of beer. This has potentially significant consequences for beverage producers whose product is no longer considered to fit within the conventional understanding of beer now or in the future. These products would be subject to a new excise rate of $105.98 per litre of alcohol compared to beer, which attracts an excise rate of $62.56, putting them at a significant cost disadvantage compared to beer.

With the nature of beer evolving per different preferences and tastes to include a broader palette including sour beer and even seltzers, I ask the questions: Is it really the role of the ATO to determine what is and isn't a beer now based on how beer is conventionally understood? Aren't other people concerned about this in this chamber? I make light of it, but I'm sincere. I do wonder if this is the role of the ATO, to determine what is a beer and what isn't a beer. It does seem to be some sort of overreach of the Taxation Office.

While I have been reassured and received assurances that this will not be targeting craft brewers exploring different types of sour beers, for example, I'm concerned about the ambiguity of the determination in a market that is reliant on innovation to challenge the status quo. As I've already mentioned, Australia's beer market is already dominated by an offshore duopoly that holds more than 80 per cent of the Australian beer market. I'm concerned that imposing further restrictive definitions on beer based on convention serves to protect existing products and will limit the ability for new local brewers to compete with established brands on the basis of the innovation in the product market, which they have done to date. I understand that draft determination ED 2024/D2 is due to be finalised by the end of 2025—but no longer consulting with stakeholders. I urge the Assistant Treasurer to consider advising the ATO to revise ED 2024/D2 in favour of rules that are clear, well designed and easy to follow. This is important for business to continue to innovate and invest, confident that they know how their product will ultimately be classified.

Finally, returning to the issue of excise, I'd like to use this opportunity to draw the parliament's attention to another issue we have in Australia's excise regime: illegal tobacco. This is a social problem that is hiding in plain sight. After successfully slashing the proportion of Australians smoking daily from 25 per cent in 1991 to eight per cent in 2023, we are seeing tobacconists now popping up like mushrooms across our community, selling illegal tobacco and vapes and capitalising on cheap illegal tobacco. There are now around 20,000 tobacconists in Australia—about 60 tobacconists for every McDonald's. The term, 'Do you have the cheap ones?' is becoming a thinly veiled codename for illicit cigarettes costing about one-third of the price of legal cigarettes.

There is a perfectly sound reason for having a tobacco excise tax, as my economics 101 lecturer would tell me. We want price externalities and to discourage harmful behaviours. For the most part, our tobacco policy has served public health and public finance well. But we've hit an inflection point. The growing disparity between the prices of legal and illegal cigarettes has created a lucrative and largely unenforced black market, which is proving counterproductive to both health and the budget, not to mention the impact it is having on driving organised crime.

The consumption of legal tobacco apparently fell by 22 per cent last year. That is frankly unbelievable and is in contradiction to wastewater testing. What that shows is that the consumption of legal tobacco fell 22 per cent, with wastewater indicating that this is just moving straight out of the legal tobacco and into illegal tobacco, which means that we are now missing around potentially up to one-fifth of our tobacco excise and we are fuelling, through this change, organised crime that is facilitating this trade in illegal tobacco. Consequently cigarette excise is in freefall, with economist Chris Richardson estimating that untaxed illegal cigarettes are costing the budget around $10 billion. Organised crime has grabbed the opportunity presented by illegal tobacco leading to a surge in arson attacks and violence for the control of a growing and highly lucrative market. Across Australia we've had more than 200 attacks since 2023, but the police tell me that they are simply not resourced to deal with this growing threat.

I acknowledge that the government has already made some contributions to the issue, including contributions both this year and last year to step up funding for the Federal Police and the Australian Border Force. But the government is losing the war on this, and much more needs to be done. At the very minimum, I think the government needs to have an urgent parliamentary inquiry into what is needed to actually solve this issue. We should think about having three priorities for excise policy—public health and collecting revenue but also minimising criminal activity associated. At this stage, the current tobacco excise is failing at least two of these measures. It needs to be reviewed, and the question of how we manage what has now turned into an enormous problem which is going to be extremely difficult and complicated to reverse—this is where this growth in excise has left us. I draw the government's attention to this in particular. They should be taking urgent action on this issue. Frankly, they have not done anywhere near enough.

Matt Smith (Leichhardt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Beer is something I'm excited to talk about. I rise today to speak on the Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025 and the Customs Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025. Beer has a rich history dating back to Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt some 5,000 years BC, where it was actually safer to drink beer than water and it was even used as a form of currency. My own father experimented with brewing and tried to make a Cherry Ripe based beer, which was not flash. You should leave that to the professionals. And, as of now, we are making it easier for the professionals.

Having a beer after a week at work is an Australian tradition—heading to the local with your mates, having a chat, unwinding for the week and, particularly in Far North Queensland, bringing your own stubby holder because the schooner is going to get warm before you finish it. As I travel up and down the cape through my immense electorate, I run community offices during the day, but I know that I'm going to get most of the engagement that night at the local pub, pulling beers and chatting to the road crews, the public servants who are done for the day and the FIFO workers. Everybody congregates at the local, be it the Bamaga Tavern on the very edge of the northern Australian tip, the Wongai pub on Horn Island, the Grand on Thursday Island or the Exchange Hotel in Coen. All of them are the heart of Australia. All of them are places where Australians gather to tell stories, have a great time and, yes, have an ice-cold beer. Knowing that beer is frozen and that it is cheaper brings more people to those environments. It helps our social cohesion and keeps that great Australian tradition of the Friday afternoon beer or the Thursday afternoon beer continuing.

I am very much looking forward to getting home at the end of this week and going to my local, the Trinity Beach pub, looking out over palm lined beaches to the Coral Sea. It's beautiful. My mates are going to gather around, and we are going to have a few beers to celebrate Christmas, to celebrate being together and to celebrate mateship. We've known each other forever. That has been the common denominator: we meet for beers at the pub. It has become a quintessential part of the Australian identity.

But it is about more than supporting the Australian identity and more than a cost-of-living process; it is bringing support to small businesses. We know that it was hard during COVID. Cairns is a service-industry city. You remove the service industry and it makes things very difficult. We need to bring people back into our clubs and pubs, particularly those supporting independent brewers like Copperlode brewery, up my way, who have honoured the member for Kennedy with the Patriot pale ale. I am waiting for mine, but I'm told I have to have been 50 years in the House—at which point I will be 96 or dead! It's testament to what a cold beer means that we have someone like the member for Kennedy held up, placed on a beer and celebrated not just in his community but right across the country. It is a truly special thing. People went to that pub for that beer, supporting that local business. Macalister Brewing, a little bit further north, looks out over the canefields of the western arterial. It has a fantastic array of beer. People go there for the experience—the taps, the kegs and the whole thing. It is part of a North Queensland afternoon. We have so many great breweries and so many great little country pubs dotting the area. We are bringing people back to them.

This is how a lot of people get their first start while at university—getting their RSA, pulling beers and making a dollar. It's their first bit of real responsibility in the workplace. It's how I hope my children will work their way through university, the same way my sister did. It says something about the Australian identity, and I couldn't be prouder to get behind it.

Now I will get to the nitty-gritty of the whole thing. This is a 2025-26 budget measure to pause the automatic CPI increase which used to be every six months. So every six months there would be an increase, two per year et cetera—in February and August. That's a day not necessarily circled in anyone's calendar but a day that rolled around nonetheless. Without these excise increases occurring it will provide the stability that business needs for forward planning and for consumers. Stability is the No. 1 goal that you need to provide for any kind of economic development. People need to know what is coming and how to react accordingly. This freeze gives pub owners and club owners throughout Australia that surety. Be they small businesses, larger pubs or the little country town ones, they'll know what is coming next.

This is obviously a targeted measure. It is specifically for tap beer, for draught beer. That is because that is where our people are. It is holistic approach to cost of living and to encouraging small businesses. It is to get people into the pubs again, to chat again, to make sure that we have that social cohesion, to relearn what it's like to be with each other. The kids that are coming of age now, 17 and 18 years old—like my own daughter, who is 17—will start hitting the pubs in a couple of months. She went through COVID. She missed a large part of her development socially. My youngest daughter missed more. My nephews missed more again. They will rediscover humanity in the pub with a nice cold beer. I am very, very excited for them to do so—responsibly, of course.

This is a cost-of-living measure. It is supporting a lot of people at a lot of places. I know that pubs and brewers in my electorate are welcoming this with open arms. Tap beer, draught beer, is the best beer. It tastes the freshest. It gives you the most bubbles, the best head. I'm sure the consumers will love being able to go down without an excise going up.

This supports jobs. It is the jobs that I want to talk about now. Because of the Albanese Labor government, people in the pubs and clubs pulling beers are now going to have more work because we're bringing more people into the pubs. Their penalty rates are now enshrined. So when they work on Saturday nights and Sundays, when the rest of us are taking our time with our family and friends, they know that they are going to get paid accordingly. They are going to get paid for the time that they are putting in and the time that they are giving up.

As I said earlier, a lot of people use the pubs and clubs as a stepping stone to somewhere else. Fee-free TAFE is available. One of the local guys at the place where I drink wants to be a chippie. He's going to go to fee-free TAFE. He's pulling beers in the meantime to save up for a car. Once he's saved up for a car, you know what he can get? He can get a house. There are five per cent deposits now. We have given an actual pathway. This whole thing is a holistic approach to everything we are doing. It's targeted, but it's so much bigger than that. It's giving people hope for the future. It's giving people industry. It's giving small business surety. It's giving families a place to be. It's giving friends a chance to get together and enjoy themselves. It's something so simple and so well supported that it's still on the Liberal Party's website! That's fantastic. It is great to get bipartisan support on something as important as family and friends getting together.

There are approximately 160,000 workers employed in the hospitality sector—a large chunk of them in the Far North—and I'm proud that we've got behind them. I'm proud of the small brewers that are putting beers on the table every day and of the people that run the clubs and the pubs, particularly those small country pubs that make such a difference in community, and what they mean and what they stand for. I'm super proud to be able to support them. I just say to all of the brewers out there: do not ever put Cherry Ripe into a beer. I commend these bills to the House.

Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I certainly will not be having a Cherry Ripe beer in the near future, that's for sure.

(Quorum formed)

Leon Rebello (McPherson, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025 and the Customs Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025. I'll start by saying that the coalition supports these bills, but we do want to make a few points. We support the freeze to the beer excise indexation, and we will not stand between a cut to the beer tax and the government, but we must be upfront and honest with Australians—this freeze delivers less than 1c of relief per pint.

I'll come back to the merits of the bill and where we're at as a country, but I will say that, in my electorate of McPherson, we have some incredible breweries and some incredible venues that serve beer. I'm very fortunate in my electorate to have Black Hops Brewing in Burleigh as well as the Burleigh Brewing Company, which is very well known. I've had the opportunity to take the Leader of the Opposition to visit Peta and the team at the Burleigh Brewing Company in the past. We also have the very well-known Balter Brewing Company in Currumbin.

Absolutely, member for Grey. We also have Currumbin Valley Brewing. We have some incredible surf lifesaving clubs, bowls clubs, golf clubs and other clubs that serve beer.

I will say that what we're seeing from the government is only a patchwork fix in the face of high inflation. It is being sold as a government measure designed to ease the cost of living. We're not seeing the bold structural reform that is needed, we are not seeing the changes that are needed and that so many Australians are crying out for. While this will provide that less than 1c of relief per pint, in the context of this government, I'm sure we will take anything we can get right now. There is a long way further that we need to go.

Recent inflation data has highlighted just how ineffective this policy will actually be in helping everyday Australians. Those of us who are out in our communities speaking to members of our community, to small businesses and to families hear every day the real effects of this cost-of-living crisis, with the government's reckless spending keeping inflation higher for longer. We have seen Australian taxpayers paying $50,000 every single minute just on the interest on Labor's trillion-dollar debt. Because of this economic vandalism, we are seeing households paying more: 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, of course, nearly 40 per cent more for electricity.

There is nothing in this bill that resembles anything such as a strategy to address the government's spending spree, which is fuelling inflation. There is no plan to fix the $600 million illicit alcohol tax which has been previously identified by the Australian tax office. There is no sign of a broader excise reform conversation. These are just piecemeal freezes. It is great to give the government their headline that we are 'axing a beer tax' but it is not even that. The measure is worth just $90 million over the forward estimates. That is tiny—very, very small—compared to the $8 billion that is collected annually from alcohol taxes.

More should be done for Australia's hospitality and alcohol industries. These are businesses who have gone through COVID, have gone through record high inflation and incredible cost-of-living pressures. As governments and as members of parliament, we must do our part. If Labor is serious about cost of living, it must stop the spending spree and it must start growing the economic pie. This is something that I have spoken about on numerous occasions in this place. We are seeing a crisis of short-term governance. We need to think long-term. One of the things we need to think about long-term in this place is intergenerational debt, to which Labor has added $100 billion just in the last three years.

Australia's alcohol taxes raise about $8 million per year and, as I said, the freeze will cost $90 million a year, which is only two per cent of the annual alcohol tax receipts, with excise on alcohol indexed to CPI twice a year. This freeze also only applies to draught beer served on tap. As I said, it amounts to a cent per pint, so most people watching this will not actually notice much of a price difference.

The alcohol industry is an industry which supports so many people across my community on the southern Gold Coast. It directly supports the employment of 176,000 full-time equivalent jobs. The alcohol manufacturing industry employs around 22,500 people, the alcohol-related retail sector employs a further 21,000 and the hospitality sector employs a whopping 126,300 people. In my electorate of MacPherson on the Gold Coast, we have an incredible, vibrant entertainment culture. We are one of the centre points of tourism, not only in Queensland but across the nation. This bill should go even further for the people in my electorate—the small business owners, the individuals and the people visiting—to actually see the benefit.

As I said when I started this speech, as a coalition, we do support this bill. However, it doesn't go far enough and it doesn't do anything to address the structural problems that we are seeing in Australia in relation to our government expenditure and to ease cost of living. We must act now and we must act effectively because small government announcements here and there are not going to work. The time is now to address overdue reforms and overdue tax reforms. On the coalition side, we're more than happy to be constructive and to work with the government. But let's be realistic about the results and let's be realistic about the effect that tokenistic measures could have. We support this bill, but we look forward to seeing a lot more addressed that is currently overdue.

Kristy McBain (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to speak on this legislation today, which amends the Excise Tariff Act and the Customs Tariff Act to support a pause on indexation of the excise of duty rates and customs duties on draught beer for two years. The amendments to the Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025 will take pressure off business when it comes to the price of beer poured in pubs, clubs and other venues and will support small businesses and regional tourism across the country. This is a measured, temporary pause that will help keep operating costs stable for small venues while maintaining the integrity of the broader alcohol excise framework.

The measure applies to containers between eight and 48 litres, which are commonly used in pubs and clubs, and containers over 48 litres used in larger hospitality venues. It doesn't apply to bottled or canned beer, spirits or other excisable beverages, which ensures that the policy remains tightly targeted to hospitality operators rather than retailers. Around 75 per cent of those venues are small, family-run businesses that employ local people and support community events, sporting clubs and local charities. This is a cost-of-living measure that will help take pressure off at a really critical time. Cost-of-living pressures have affected pubs, clubs and other licensed venues as they have for the rest of us. These amendments will reduce the pressure for businesses on the price of beer at pubs, clubs and other licensed venues. The venues, in turn, will support other businesses and regional tourism across the country.

This is a practical, targeted and responsible measure that supports small business. It helps to protect jobs and it keeps the price of a pint stable for everyday Australians. This decision recognises that local pubs, clubs and breweries are not just businesses but community institutions that bring people together. They provide employment and help regional communities remain strong. I visited a number of pubs and clubs around Eden-Monaro, and it is true of my community like it is true for many of the other speakers that have spoken on this debate that pubs, clubs and breweries are the lifeblood of small towns. Everyone can come together at the local pub or hotel and support the community that supports them right back.

I recently dropped into the Delegate Hotel to check out their fantastic renovations. The hotel is under new management and is looking fresh and welcoming, which is perfect for locals and visitors. I was also recently at the Bemboka Hotel, which had only just reopened in the small town of Bemboka—which is great news for that local community. Karen and Rowan at the Bemboka Hotel have done a magnificent job at bringing it back to life, and it now includes a cafe too. It's the people in regional towns like Delegate and Bemboka who will benefit from this pause in indexation. Our government is focused on what they can do to keep local venues open, to keep people in work and to keep communities connected.

Importantly, this measure provides breathing space to a sector that has faced successive economic challenges, including pandemic lockdowns, supply chain disruptions and rising input costs. COVID was tough for a lot of towns, but across Eden-Monaro our regional communities had already suffered through the Black Summer bushfires and floods before COVID hit us. These clubs and pubs were more than just places where people gathered. They became evacuation centres. They were evacuation centres that kept people and animals safe as a bushfire raged around them for more than six weeks. It's been a long road to recovery in Eden-Monaro, but this small measure makes sure that community clubs and pubs in our small communities stay open, stay active and stay there for community connection.

As I said, these clubs became evacuation centres, so I do want to give a shout-out to Club Narooma, Club Sapphire, the Bermagui Country Club, the Eden Fishermen's Club, Tathra Beach Country Club, Tura Beach Country Club and the many, many more up and down the east coast who acted as evacuation centres. Earlier this year, when I was in the Mid North Coast, following their dramatic floods, clubs were again opening their doors to be evacuation centres in our local communities.

Recovery, we know, is a long road, but the best thing we can do for people, particularly in regional Australia, is to make sure that tourism remains at the top of these communities and a way for people come together. Every summer in Eden-Monaro, we welcome many holidaymakers, particularly to our coastal towns. All across the Eden-Monaro, it's great to have more people coming into towns to stay in our pubs, to stay in our hotels and motels and our caravan parks, to eat in our restaurants, our cafes and our pubs, and, of course, this is great for local business. This measure reinforces the government's commitment to regional Australia, helping to protect tourism and local hospitality jobs.

While I'm at it, I want to mention how fantastic it is that we've now got a buyer for our regional airline Rex. Regional towns rely on strong regional airlines and aviation, and our government has been strident in our support for the regional aviation sector, because we know how important it is right across the country. Ensuring that there is access to our regions via air is vital to keeping our local economies going. This bill also supports Australian brewers, particularly small and independent producers who supply draught beer to local venues. Many of these brewers rely heavily on keg sales to maintain cash flow and jobs, and we've got some great local breweries in Eden-Monaro. There's Dalgety Brewing Co. and Jindabyne Brewing in the Snowy Mountains, Breakwall Brewing in Narooma, Longstocking Brewery in Pambula and the list goes on and on.

Pausing indexation will help local brewers manage costs too. It will help them plan production and continue investing in local communities and regional economies. But the benefits of this policy reach far beyond pubs and brewers. They flow through to farmers, transport operators, equipment suppliers and the thousands of small businesses linked to the hospitality supply chain. Businesses, particularly small businesses, really are the backbone of regional communities. It's a cost-of-living measure that also strengthens small-business resilience. When you're running a small business, every little bit helps, and this legislation is part of the government's targeted cost-of-living relief.

The Albanese government has listened to industry feedback from brewers, from publicans and from small-business groups, who have consistently called for relief from automatic excise increases during a period of high inflation, and this is a clear example of a responsible government acting, designed to make a difference without driving inflation or compromising fiscal discipline.

Alongside this measure, the Albanese government is delivering real, practical and ongoing help with the cost of living for Australians. We are delivering what we said we would at the election, including new measures that started on 1 July, including the national minimum wage and award wage increase by 3.5 per cent; the superannuation guarantee increase to 12 per cent; paid parental leave increase to 24 per cent; super now being paid on all government paid parental leave; another $150 in energy bill relief before the end of the year; $10,000 incentive payments for new housing apprentices; cheaper home batteries; cutting 20 per cent of student loan debts for three million Australians; and Commonwealth prac payments for nursing, midwifery, teaching and social work students. And hardworking aged-care nurses will receive the next instalment of their pay rise in October, following the first instalment in March this year. More meaningful, responsible cost-of-living relief will continue rolling out throughout the remainder of 2025. Tax cuts for every taxpayer kicked in last year, with two more tax cuts to come—next year and the year after. Another 50 Medicare urgent care clinics will open throughout the rest of the year, and, of course, we are now seeing bulk-billing expanding at GP clinics across the country.

This excise pause is an example of good, steady, responsible government in action. There will be targeted relief, real results and a fair go for Australian workers and small business owners alike. I'm proud to be part of a government that is delivering real cost-of-living relief to Australians, including those in my electorate, and I want to thank all those hospitality workers, small-business owners, pubs and clubs, and boards of directors who have spoken with me about what a difference this pause in excise will make for their businesses over the next two years.

Julian Hill (Bruce, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Citizenship, Customs and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Member for Eden-Monaro, you had five minutes to go. You could've gone over the highlights and the best-ofs in that wonderful 10-minute contribution.

Melissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And talked about beer!

Kristy McBain (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I wanted to give you more of a chance.

Julian Hill (Bruce, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Citizenship, Customs and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Well, I enjoyed what I heard of your contribution, particularly as you put it in the context of the government's cost-of-living measures, of which this is one—not perhaps the major one, not the only one, but certainly one. But I find it telling, having sat through a few of the speeches from our colleagues opposite, that every time you talk about a cost-of-living measure they arc up.

But we may have found a unicorn in this bill. We may actually have found a cost-of-living measure that the opposition will support.

Melissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Just.

Julian Hill (Bruce, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Citizenship, Customs and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Just. Exactly! Just—I'll take the interjection. It's a cost-of-living measure that the opposition might just support, because, having listened over the last few days of the last sitting week to a whole bunch of those speeches—we'll call them speeches—about this bill to freeze the excise on draught beer and excise-equivalent customs duties, you wouldn't actually be clear whether they're going to vote for the bill, because the speeches are couched in negativity and division. There's no joy; it's all division.

Anyway, my deeply considered and thoroughly original speech will start with a quote. I want to quote the member for Paterson:

We all know Australians have endless names for beer—a frothy, a cold one, a schooner, a pint, a middy, a jug, a stubby, a tinny, a longneck, a pony, a coldie, a bevvy or a brew.

Whatever you call it—and it does vary—it was one of those things that, when I first started travelling interstate as a young adult, was deeply confusing. When I'd go to the pub in New South Wales, I'd order one thing and get another. Then I'd go back to my home state of Victoria and order the same thing I'd learned about and I'd get a different thing. But wherever you are in Australia and whatever you call it, this bill is good news for beer drinkers, and it's good news for the hospitality venues, the brewers and the hundreds of thousands of Australians who work in the industries—be they supply chains, farming, agriculture, transport industries and so on—that support these venues.

There will be a two-year pause on the indexation of draught beer excise and excise-equivalent customs duties. The government is standing up for pubs, clubs, brewers and hospitality workers through pausing this beer excise. It's a practical, targeted and responsible cost-of-living measure. It supports small businesses. It protects jobs. It keeps the price of a pint stable for everyday Australians, and that's important. We inherited record inflation. Inflation has more than halved since its peak when we came to government, but this is one of a whole series of measures that the government has been taking to take the pressure off everyday Australians whilst inflation comes down.

There are still a lot of people doing it tough, but we have made significant progress. This decision recognises that local pubs, clubs and breweries are not just businesses. As we heard from the former speaker, it's critically important that the pub, as the centre of community life, often, in regional areas and small towns, is able to survive and thrive, even for those who don't necessarily drink alcohol. And those who don't drink beer can have a zero beer—they're everywhere now. So often it's the local hospitality venues and the pubs where the community gathers. They might have their meetings there. I know a lot of our ALP branches meet in the rooms out the back of the pub, after gathering for a meal beforehand. It's really important that these community institutions and commercial hospitality venues—they have both personalities—are able to survive and thrive.

The measure applies to containers between eight and 48 litres, commonly used in these pubs and clubs, and also containers over 48 litres. That sounds like a lot of beer, and it is a lot of beer, but, in the large hospitality venues, that's the size of the beer. That's right.

The policy remains tightly targeted to hospitality operators rather than retailers, so it doesn't apply to off-the-shelf purchases in bottle shops and so on, because it is both a cost-of-living measure and a measure to support small business and to support those hospitality venues. It's a measured, temporary pause that will help keep operating costs stable.

If you're a small-business person and you're looking at your balance sheet and your cost inputs, any opportunity and any line that you can see where you can budget with certainty and go, 'Well, that one's not going to go up for the next few years. I can plan with certainty and give myself a little bit of breathing space and take a little bit of pressure off,' is a good thing. It keeps operating costs stable for small venues whilst still maintaining the integrity of the broader alcohol excise framework.

The Assistant Treasurer, in his second reading speech in introducing this bill, wins the award for best dad joke—or worst dad joke, depending on your perspective so far—where he said he sees it as 'a key part of his role to support liquid markets'. Well, here we are. He's one of the cleverest people in this parliament. He's got a PhD in economics, and that's probably very, very funny, in the economic world, indeed.

There are around 10,000 hospitality venues across Australia which will directly benefit, including pubs, bars, taverns and clubs. I recall fondly my visit to Newcastle where you and I sat on a little stage out the back of a lovely pub in your beautiful electorate and ran a trivia night. I think people bought us beers in jugs, which we drank moderately and sensibly, of course.

Around 75 per cent of those venues are small, family run businesses employing local people and supporting community events, sporting clubs and local charities. As I said, they're not just employers in their own right, not just hubs of community life and not just small businesses making a profit and a livelihood for those who run them; but also, so often, it's that venue that sponsors the local footy team and that will help out in times of need and support the broader community.

This is an anti-inflationary measure, and, Deputy Speaker Freelander, you would have had this in your own community. As we helped Australians through the cost-of-living pressures and the global inflationary crisis over the last few years and worked to get inflation down whilst actually helping people through it, there was a recurrent theme—whatever measure the government put in place was simultaneously opposed by those opposite but not enough. They did this whatever it was, whether it was the cheaper medicines policy or the power bill rebates, which they consistently voted against but also said were not enough The cheaper medicines policy—I think the maximum cost of a PBS script will soon fall to $25. The last time that the cost of a PBS script was $25 was back in 2004. If we hadn't have acted, the cost of a PBS script today would be over $50 for an average family. The energy rebates; the cheaper medicines policy; free TAFE; extending the GP bulk-billing incentive to all Australians, which kicked in on 1 November; as well as the tax cuts—it all adds up.

Those opposite have criticised those policies for never being enough and for not going far enough, yet they went to the last election—this is pretty astounding, actually, for the party that claims to be the party of lower taxes—promising to raise taxes. They opposed Labor's tax cuts. I am pleased—as I said earlier, I think they're going to support this bill, so we have found a cost-of-living measure which the opposition are going to support. But it does give breathing space to a hospitality sector that faced successive economic challenges.

In my home state of Victoria, pandemic lockdowns as well as the supply chain disruptions coming out of the pandemic as borders reopened, a global phenomenon; rising input costs; and so on—as I said, even for non-beer-drinkers, this is good; it helps the community and businesses that sponsor footy and so on. It also supports Australian brewers, particularly those small and independent producers who supply the draught beer to the local venues. Many of these brewers rely heavily on their keg sales to maintain cash flow and jobs, so pausing indexation will be of great benefit to help to those brewers plan their production and manage their costs—the same logic as I referred to before in relation to a hospitality venue. If you can see that one of your cost line items is not going to go up, you can plan and operate with certainty. Pensioners and those with chronic health conditions can also plan ahead; they can get 60-day scripts and know that the maximum cost of a PBS script for a pensioner in this country—because of the Labor government's budget—is now frozen until 2029 at $7.70. It's the same logic. People can plan around those medicine costs not going up. Brewers can plan around the excise charges on draught beer not going up.

The benefits of this policy, as I touched on earlier, reach well beyond pubs, hospitality venues and brewers. They flow on to the transport operators, equipment suppliers, farmers and thousands of small businesses linked to the hospitality supply chain. The bill also forms part of the government's broader package of small-business support, which included—they're all sitting down, so I'm going to say it—extended instant asset write-offs. These ones are well trained! In question time, or when there are a few more of them, if you say 'instant asset write-off', they kind of lose their minds. They say, 'That was us!' They forget the history of the instant asset write-off. It was the Gillard government that introduced it, and then the Abbott government got elected and wiped it out. Then, under pressure, out of embarrassment and shame, they brought it back. Now we've extended it as a Labor government. It was a Labor initiative originally, and they don't like to be reminded of that.

The pause ensures that small brewers and publicans can continue competing fairly against large multinational producers, which is important to protect diversity and competition in Australia's beer and hospitality industries. This measure is fiscally responsible. It is a pause. It's not some fundamental undoing or undermining of the alcohol excise regime. It's carefully calibrated to be time-limited to help small businesses through this particularly challenging period. The decision shows, as we've heard from many government speakers, that the government is listening and in touch with community life. It understands and appreciates the pressures that small businesses face, and it acts. It doesn't just talk about it; it actually acts to support them. It will help keep local venues open, keep people in work and keep communities connected. Those are values that sit at the heart of the Labor tradition.

I'll finish where I started: around the cost of living. This is, some would say, a modest measure. It's an important measure for the reasons we've outlined in speeches today. It sits alongside practical and ongoing help that the government is continuing to deliver on the cost of living. When you go doorknocking, the cost of living is still the number-one issue. Even though inflation has more than halved, even though we've had three interest rate cuts already this year, even though real wages are growing—we had that data confirmed last week: two years of real wages growth. It's such a contrast with the previous government, where suppressing wages—wages going backwards—was, to quote the former finance minister, a deliberate design feature of their economic management. They actually changed the law before the 2022 to election to cover up the power price rises that were coming down the pipe from the former energy minister, Angus Taylor.

But there's more to be done. I am proud that the national minimum wage and award wages have increased by 3½ per cent. The cost-of-living equation, of course, has two sides: it's money into your bank and money out. Real wages growing, which is a deliberate design feature of our economic management, is helping Australians. Increasing the super guarantee to 12 per cent and increasing the paid parental leave scheme to 24 weeks is making it fairer for families, including fathers. Another $150 in energy bill relief before the end of the year, $10,000 in incentive payments for housing apprentices, and cheaper home batteries are measures that those opposite oppose. I think we heard today that we're up to 136,000 cheaper home batteries, as Australians continue to be world leaders in the uptake of rooftop solar at home and battery storage.

I had the Prime Minister down to my electorate a few weeks ago, in Narre Warren, and we visited a wonderful young family with two cute kids and a dog. They had just installed—a few months ago, in the first possible week, actually—one of the Cheaper Home Batteries. They showed us their electricity bills. They'd basically paid nothing except the supply cost towards electricity, saving hundreds of dollars. They also had a fully electric vehicle sitting alongside a hybrid vehicle. They hadn't even had to put petrol in the hybrid vehicle for three months and they had managed to run both cars off the solar with the cheaper home battery, so Australians are getting cost savings from that program.

I commend the bill to the House. I thank the Assistant Treasurer for introducing it and I thank all of the speakers. I do hope, as I said, despite all of the noise and division and negativity, that we have found a cost-of-living measure that the opposition will bring themselves to support.

Julie-Ann Campbell (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Bruce is right; this bill is all about cost of living. It doesn't matter whether we're talking about medicines, it doesn't matter whether we're talking about child care, it doesn't matter whether we are talking about student debt, it doesn't matter whether we are talking about medical bills, and it doesn't matter whether we're talking about beer. This is an Albanese Labor government with its eye fixed, with its clear focus, on making sure that cost of living is the thing we address every day, not through talk but through delivery of key initiatives that make life cheaper and easier for everyday Australians.

In recent years, my community, like many others around the country, has benefited from independent breweries setting up shop. In Moreton, the names Ballistic, Hiker, Slipstream, Helios and Blind Boy are synonymous with quality, synonymous with unique flavours, synonymous with craftsmanship. In fact, I have had that great pleasure of visiting Slipstream on a number of occasions recently, first with the member for Fremantle and second with Senator Farrell to enjoy a good brew in a Queensland beer, sometimes on a hot summer day. It doesn't really matter what the season is; it is always good. I want to take the opportunity to congratulate Slipstream, who were awarded the best beer in Queensland right there on Brisbane's southside.

These breweries are also absolutely loved for being relaxed, casual and enjoyable venues for all the family. They are social hubs and they host a variety of community events. They are so much more, too. Independent breweries are an important part of the local economy. They source ingredients and services from local suppliers and engage food trucks for family nights. They employ local people and they offer pathways to good jobs. In fact, the Independent Brewers Association states that independent breweries employ 51 per cent of all people directly working in Australia's brewery industry despite holding less than eight per cent of market share. 'We contribute 40,400 jobs and total wages of $1.88 billion each year,' is what they have said.

Independent breweries and the industry at large have been doing it tough. The average price for a 425 millilitre glass of beer at a venue has increased by 6.2 per cent in the 12 months to February 2025. Since the start of 2022, beer prices have increased by 10.5 per cent. We know that it is not just these breweries that are doing it tough; Australians are doing it tough, too. Now is the time that we need to do something about that.

The Customs Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill, which accompanies the Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025 is good news for our independent breweries and it is good news for Australia's pubs, clubs and hospitality workers as well. Labor's 2025-26 budget included a measure to press pause on the automatic CPI indexation of excise and customs duty on draught beer for two years. Beginning on 1 August this year, these duty rates currently increment based on inflation two times a year—in February and in August. As I said, the Labor government understand that these times are tough and, from the very start, this is a government that has talked about being focused on delivery, and we have seen it. We have seen it with 20 per cent off student debt, and many Australians are about to receive a text message to confirm that that has been done. We've seen it with free TAFE being introduced to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to upskill in a TAFE setting with absolutely no money to pay, and we know that that's already happening. We've seen it with cheaper medicines, and on 1 January people will never have to pay more than $25 for a PBS medicine. We know that is happening.

This is another notch in the belt of making sure that life can be a bit cheaper for every Australian. This freeze on indexation applies to beer in kegs, specifically to those individual containers of between eight and 48 litres that hook up to gas or pump systems like the ones used in pubs and in clubs. It also applies to larger containers of over 48 litres that are used in commercial hospitality. The freeze does not apply to bottled beer, spirits or other excisable drinks, ensuring that the benefit flows to hospitality operators as opposed to retailers.

What I'm incredibly pleased about with this bill is its recognition of the importance of our local pubs and clubs in the Australian way of life. Like so many things we've talked about today, these are part of who we are. They're part of our culture. They're part of what makes us us. As mentioned, these places are more than just venues; they are part of the social fabric of towns and suburbs. We gather at them for birthday parties, to have fierce trivia contests, to mark the passing of a family member or to simply spend time with our mates. In short, pubs and clubs are places of community connection and places of belonging.

I always appreciate the very warm welcome I'm given at the Salisbury Community Sports Club; at WestsideHQ in Corinda, just down the road from my home; at the Sunnybank Community & Sports Club; and at so many more across Brisbane's south side. These are not just clubs; as I said, these are places and venues that host things so important to our community. They commemorate Anzac Day, when people come to play a bit of two-up. Recently, at Sunnybank Community & Sports Club, I went to a rugby match celebrating the Pasifika community. They host events with many different multicultural community groups across the breadth and depth of my electorate.

These places also contribute to our economy. They drive local economic growth. They employ approximately 160,000 people across the country. That's 160,000 workers who rely on these venues to stay open and sustainable every day so that they can afford their mortgage, their rent and their groceries. That's why the Albanese Labor government is taking real action to support these community institutions. At its core, this bill is designed to support small businesses. Small businesses are, in so many ways, the beating heart of our economy. They employ so many Australians. They are in every nook and cranny of our community. They protect jobs. It also works to ease the cost-of-living pressures without compromising public health goals or the integrity of our alcohol taxation system.

Around 10,000 venues across this country will benefit directly from this decision from this bill. That includes pubs, bars, taverns and clubs, many of which are small, family-run businesses. In fact, about 75 per cent of these venues are operated by local families who employ local people, sponsor local community events supporting local sporting clubs and contribute to local charity. These are local hubs. These are businesses that have faced wave after wave of economic pressure, from lockdowns during COVID-19 to supply chain challenges, rising import costs and inflation. This measure gives them some breathing space. It's breathing space that they really need, and it reduces the pressure on venue managers and owners to pass on rising costs to customers. It helps them to plan ahead. It helps them to retain staff. It helps them to reinvest in their businesses, because, much like a household and much like any business, planning is what allows local business owners to keep their businesses sustainable for our community. In short, it's a lifeline for small publicans and club managers who have been doing it tough. It means more affordable nights out for families, friends and communities.

Returning to our brewers, and particularly small and independent producers who supply draught beer to local venues, many of them depend on keg sales as a vital source of income. It helps them maintain steady cashflow and keep their teams employed. By pausing indexation, the government is giving these producers the time they need to control expenses, to plan their brewing schedules with confidence and to continue contributing to the economic and social strength of the local communities. And the benefits don't stop there. Farmers, transport operators, equipment suppliers and thousands of small businesses linked to the hospitality supply chain will also feel the positive impact. The aftermarket in this space is absolutely enormous.

This is a cost-of-living measure, and it strengthens small business resilience and supports regional tourism as well. Labor has listened to industry voices. We've listened to brewers, we've listened to publicans, we've listened to small business groups, and we've listened to the public. They've consistently called for relief from automatic excise increases during this period of inflation. The government has responded with a balanced time limited policy that delivers real results without driving up inflation or compromising fiscal discipline. It's about doing this responsibly but also giving people the relief to their hip pocket that they need right here and right now. It's also part of the wider package of support for small business, including extended instant-asset write-offs, help with digital transformation and lower energy costs for small operators.

Julian Hill (Bruce, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Citizenship, Customs and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's a big package.

Julie-Ann Campbell (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Bruce is right that it is a big package, and we like a big package. Because, when it comes to a big package, cost of living is where it's at. Cost of living is something that we're focused on every day. The package is big because it includes so many different things. We've talked about health, we've talked about medicines, we've talked about student debt, we've talked about free TAFE, and we're talking about beer. All of these things will give people the relief that they need. Importantly, the pause that we're talking about in this bill today ensures that small brewers and publicans can continue competing fairly against large multinational producers. It protects diversity in the market and competition in Australia's beer and hospitality industries, and it offers that direct cost-of-living support that we keep talking about. In the six months since the election, Labor has delivered on a host of its campaign commitments, with a range of new measures which kicked in on 1 July.

So let's talk about this big package of cost-of-living measures that Labor is putting in place. Workers are seeing real benefits, including a 3.5 per cent increase to the national minimum wage and award wages, and the increase of the superannuation guarantee has now risen to 12 per cent. Families are also gaining more support, with paid parental leave extended to 24 weeks and superannuation now included in all government funded parental leave payments. Australians will receive an additional $150 in energy bill relief before the end of the year, and we are making home energy more affordable through cheaper battery options. They are battery options that we know Australians are taking up over and over again. We are up to over 130,000 batteries from the 30 per cent off battery package.

Jerome Laxale (Bennelong, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That's a big number.

Julie-Ann Campbell (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is a big number. Recently the Minister for Climate Change and Energy announced a new regulated energy retail offer, the Solar Sharer Offer. This will give households in New South Wales, South-East Queensland—my neck of the woods—and South Australia access to free electricity during the middle of the day. It's all about maximising the use of Australia's abundant and cheap solar power, and it will assist with lower costs for customers by lowering peak prices. Students with student debts will have seen real change too, with the 20 per cent reduction we have also talked about.

Looking ahead, more targeted and responsible cost-of-living support will continue. And the tax cuts that kicked in last year are already benefiting every single taxpayer in this nation. This bill implements more responsible and more targeted reforms which back small businesses, which protect workers and which ensure that Australians can continue to enjoy affordable, responsible hospitality at their local pub or club. It shows that the Albanese Labor government is in touch with and values community life. While each of our communities in this place might be different, we all share a few things: we enjoy being with family, we enjoy coming together and most of us enjoy a cold brew.

They say there's nothing better than a cold beer on a hot summer's day in Queensland. But I think there is; it's a cold beer on a hot summer's day in Queensland with a freeze on the beer tax that you have to pay, so that every single person can have their XXXX—because I'm a Queenslander!

Jerome Laxale (Bennelong, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise in strong support of these bills, the Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025 and the associated bill. For so many Australians, including my community of Bennelong, the local pub or club isn't just a business; it's a place where people gather after work, it's where communities come together, it's where members of parliament like myself hold our events, it's where families meet, it's where sporting teams celebrate or commiserate and it's where local musicians get their start. In many suburban pockets across the country and in regional towns as well, the pub is the social anchor for communities right across Australia. It keeps people connected, it provides jobs for local hospo workers, it supports local charities and it sponsors local sporting clubs. And when local venues are under pressure, as they have been for a while now, the community feels it. That's why this legislation matters. It's not just economic policy; it's community policy.

Our hospitality sector has been riding wave after wave of pressure and a pandemic that hit venues harder than almost any other industry. They had supply chain shocks. They had rising input costs, from energy to transport to ingredients to labour, during the pandemic. Today, an automatic excise indexation that exists in high-inflation years hits small businesses right in the margins. For a small pub or club, another automatic jump in the excise can mean the difference between that little bit of extra margin in hiring another worker or cutting back their hours, and between keeping the price of a pint stable and having to raise prices again on customers who are already feeling it. These aren't abstract pressures; these are day-to-day realities for thousands of family owned venues across the country. We heard this, we listened and we acted, because publicans, brewers and small businesses that operate at these venues asked for relief—and this is precisely what these bills deliver.

The bills will pause the automatic increase in excise on draught beer for two years, starting 1 August 2025. It will apply to kegs and containers used in pubs and clubs that are between eight and 48 litres. This is targeted and is designed to support venues where people go out and recreate, venues that support draught beer, helping to manage their costs and facilitate jobs in our local communities, all while keeping prices steady. It's a practical step to help local venues stay successful and be the place, and continue to be the place, where communities come together. There are around 10,000 hospitality venues that stand to benefit from this two-year pause.

About 75 per cent of those hotels and clubs are small family-run businesses. As someone who comes from a small-business background—not in the pub or club sector—I'm proud that this government is making this part of our policy offering to them. It is support for small businesses right across the country. Small businesses employ local people. They support local footy clubs, they host charity days and they give young people their first job. In total, 160,000 Australians work in hospo and brewing sectors—and that is all connected to beer. This measure gives those small venues a bit of breathing space to stabilise, to plan, to reinvest and to keep their staff on.

In Bennelong, where many hospitality businesses operate on tight margins, certainty matters. It matters to the workers behind the bar, to the chefs in the kitchen and to the restaurants that are also businesses within businesses that operate out of these clubs. The more people who come to these pubs and clubs the better it is for them. Just to show how connected to our community these pubs and clubs are, I'd like to give a shout-out to some of the amazing venues in Bennelong: the Eastwood Hotel, who have recently signed up to sponsor the Eastwood Rugby Club down the road; the Bizzo, which hosts the Eastwood Chamber of Commerce; and Moko Eastwood, which runs a great trivia night.

Phillip Thompson (Herbert, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And an election party!

Jerome Laxale (Bennelong, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And, yes, I have had an election party there, too! I'll take that interjection. We've got Ryedales Tavern in West Ryde, right opposite the station, where I know people drop in to have a beer after work and meet with their mates. We've got West Ryde Hotel. It used to be called Mary's. They do a great job. They've got a great venue out the back that community groups can hire for free at their local pub. We've got the Royal Hotel in Ryde, right in the centre near the bus stop. I know that a lot of tradies go there after work to catch up with their mates and have a cold beer. We've got the Ubar at the university. I'm way too old to go to the Ubar now. That's one that I absolutely avoid, but I'm sure they do a great business.

We've got the people at the Ranch, who do a great job supporting local sporting clubs. They've hosted a function or two of mine, bringing our community together. They do a fantastic job. The Governor recently hosted a great forum for Labor for Housing actually as well as one of the candidate forms run by the local business chamber. They provide a community service as well. North Ryde RSL do great things. They host sporting clubs up there—a lot of sporting clubs are run under the North Ryde RSL banner. You've got the Sawdust Hotel in Gladesville. The Hunters Hill Hotel is a real meeting point for the local community, and it was only a few days ago that the local community from Hunters Hill and nearby St Joseph's College met there after a really tragic event. They went to the Hunters Hill Hotel to celebrate the life of a young man who lost his life too soon. They were able to gather there and commemorate together. There is the Bayview in Gladesville. I was there the other week playing trivia and came third. It's a great local venue to connect with local communities. We've got the Woolwich Pier Hotel—a great place to have a lunch and meet with mates.

I'm going to go through each one here, so I have a few minutes left. I'm going to go through each one, and I have a few more minutes to go before the member for Hunter. We've got the Longueville Hotel, a really great establishment in the middle of Lane Cove. The Diddy hosts great trivia as well—a shout-out to Thomas Shanahan who used to run the trivia up there—and you can get a good meal. I know a lot of locals from Longueville who go up there and have a great time. Gladesville RSL have just done a big renovation and support the local gymnastics club over there. We've got the Alcott and the Deckhouse down on Woolwich Pier.

These are businesses connected to our community, and this bill is about supporting them. It is helping our local pubs and clubs—

Julian Hill (Bruce, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Citizenship, Customs and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Under standing order 66A, I was wondering if I could make a brief intervention and ask the member for Bennelong to repeat the list of local venues, so we've got them clearly fixed in our head.

Jerome Laxale (Bennelong, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am happy to. We've got the Eastwood Hotel, the Bizzo, Moko, Ryedales Tavern, West Ryde Hotel and the Royal Hotel in Ryde. We've got Club Ryde, the Ubar, the Ranch, the Governor, North Ryde RSL, the Sawdust Hotel, Hunters Hill Hotel, Bayview Gladesville, the Woolwich Pier Hotel, the Longueville Hotel, the Diddy, Gladesville RSL, the Lane Cove Bowling and Recreational Club—I missed that one, but it's just in the list there for you, Assistant Minister—the Alcott and the Deckhouse.

This is good policy for good local businesses. I'd encourage all in this House to support this bill. Then, once that excise freeze comes through, from 1 August 2025, go and celebrate with your community down at your local pub and club.

Dan Repacholi (Hunter, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There's one thing you learn quickly as the member for Hunter: it's that a good conversation usually starts over a beer. Not in the office, not in a formal meeting—you're standing at the bar of one of our fantastic pubs and clubs right here in the Hunter. Whether it's the Bellbird Hotel, the Aussie in Cessnock, the Horse and Jockey in Singo, the Morisset Hotel down in Lake Mac, the Kurri Kurri Bowling Club or the Western Workers—that's where you hear what people are really thinking.

I've had hundreds of chats in those places, with publicans, bar staff, brewers and locals just trying to relax after a good long week at work. One thing that comes up time and time again is that the cost of everything just keeps going up. That includes the cost of pulling a beautiful beer. When I talk to the publicans and club managers, they tell me the same thing: the twice-yearly indexation on beer excise is killing them. Every February and every August, prices go up and they have to make a call. Either they absorb it and cop the hit, or they pass it on and risk losing the punters. That's why the Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025 matters. It's not about fancy economics or Canberra jargon. It's about keeping the doors open in pubs, keeping people in jobs and giving locals a fair go.

When you live in the Hunter, you know how important the local pub is. It's more than just a place to go grab a cold one. It's where fundraisers are held, where footy teams celebrate, where mates catch up after a shift and where communities come together. In Branxton I've been to raffles that have raised thousands and thousands of dollars for local kids. In Kurri I've seen the pubs chip in to sporting clubs when the season's gone a fraction over budget. In Toronto I've met the bar staff who know every customer by name and know who's doing it tough. But running a pub or club isn't easy.

Costs are going up everywhere: power, wages, insurance, supply. Every six months the tax on beer quietly ticks up again because of automatic indexation. I don't know too many small-business owners who can plan properly when government keeps moving the goalposts twice a year. It's very hard to plan around. That's why I lobbied the Treasurer hard to take a good look at this. I said, 'Mate, it's time to give our pubs, clubs, breweries and other locals a bit of certainty.'

Having a beer in the Hunter is something most of us enjoy responsibly. This twice-yearly automatic tax hike just isn't working. It's time we find a better way of doing things. The Customs Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025 and the Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025 do something simple but really, really important. They pause the automatic CPI indexation of excise and excise-equivalent customs duty rates on draught beer for two years, straight away, from 1 August 2025. It's already happened. We've already been seeing this in the Hunter. The punters have been enjoying it and saving a little bit on their beer as well.

Here's what that means in plain English for people all around the country. Right now, beer tax automatically goes up twice a year, in February and August, in line with inflation. That's what's called indexation. When inflation goes up, so does the tax. Under this bill, we hit pause on that process for two whole years, so the scheduled increases in August 2025, February 2026, August 2026 and February 2027 will not happen. The rates stay the same through the whole period. When indexation resumes in August 2027, it doesn't jump to where it would have been if those hikes had continued. It starts from the frozen rate that we're on right now. That means a permanent reduction in the tax path—a long-term benefit, not just a short-term fix.

This measure is targeted and sensible. It applies to beer being poured from kegs, the eight-litre to 48-litre containers connected to taps in pubs, clubs and bars. It also applies to the big-boy kegs: the 50-litre kegs rolled into hotels and hospitality venues every single day of the week. It doesn't apply to bottled or canned beer. This is all about draught beer that's served over the counter in your local. That's the beer that supports around 10,000 hospitality venues across this beautiful country of ours. About three-quarters of them are small businesses—family run and community backed—and roughly 160,000 workers depend on those venues, from bar staff and cleaners to suppliers and delivery drivers. These are real people and real jobs in every community across the country. By freezing indexation, we're keeping the tax component of a pint, a schooie and, if you're in Victoria, a pot or maybe a little seven—you get them in Victoria as well—stable for two years.

I'll just grab a couple of other pages here. We've got a bit more time going on here.

Phillip Thompson (Herbert, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You going alright?

Dan Repacholi (Hunter, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We're going good. We're going very well.

Julian Hill (Bruce, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Citizenship, Customs and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Go over some of those excellent points you made.

Dan Repacholi (Hunter, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I've got a few more to run in for the member for Bruce.

This bill gives pubs breathing room, it helps them manage costs and it makes it less likely that price rises get passed on to customers. That's good for small business, good for workers and good for anyone who enjoys an affordable drink at their local.

This is what good government looks like: listening, understanding and acting. When I first raised this issue with the Treasurer, I told him what I was hearing on the ground from everyday Aussies around the Hunter and around the pubs in Cessnock, Singleton and Greta. I said: 'Mate, when I walk into one of those pubs in Cessnock, Toronto, Morisset, Greta, Lake Macquarie or Weston—there are so many to choose from because we do have a few pubs—I see the same thing. Small-business owners are doing everything they can to keep the prices fair, to keep locals coming through the doors and to keep staff in work. But, every time that indexation clock ticks over, they're the ones paying the price.' I said: 'Let's take a bit of pressure off. Let's show some common sense.' And he listened, which is good.

Earlier this year, the Assistant Treasurer moved a motion in this House to freeze beer tax. I do like a nice, ice-cold beer, but I can tell you that the one I had in August when this freeze came in was one of the coldest beers I've had, cause I knew—do you know what it was? It was a Stone & Wood and it was delicious. I really enjoyed it. I followed it up with a Carlton Draught and had a good, enjoyable time with a few of my mates knowing that that price was not going to go up with indexation for two years.

Motions like that are great for signalling intent, but, to make it law, you need legislation. That's why we're here today—to make sure we're getting this legislation right. And that's why we're talking about this. This is a government putting action behind the chat and behind the talk. Some people might ask, 'Why not just cut the beer tax permanently?' I definitely get where they're coming from, but there has to be a balance, and that's why we've designed these measures very carefully. They're targeted at draught beer because we know pubs and clubs are at the heart of our local communities, and that's why we're supporting them so much in this space. This bill gives our pubs, our clubs and our breweries two years of stability to make sure that they are looked after. It supports regional economies, strengthens tourism and recognises the cultural and social importance of a beer at a local pub. It's good for business, it's good for jobs and, I can tell you, it's bloody good for communities as well. Sorry, Deputy Speaker Claydon—it's very good for communities as well.

Having a beer in the Hunter or anywhere else in Australia shouldn't be something that we can't enjoy without worrying about the taxman taking a bigger sip every six months. We get to keep that sip for ourselves now. This bill shows that we're listening, it shows that we understand the pressures on small businesses and it shows that government can act with common sense and compassion along the way.

I'd like to go through a few more of the fantastic venues in the Hunter where I really enjoy having a beer: the Aussie in Cessnock, the Hotel Cessnock, Harrigan's, Peden's, the Valley Brewhouse, Wollombi Tavern—Dr Jurd's Jungle Juice at Wollombi Tavern is famous, Deputy Speaker Claydon, and I'm sure you've heard of it as well. It is a great place to go. There's also the Horse & Jockey in Singleton, the Singleton Diggers, Club Singleton—it's a good place to be—the Lake Macquarie Hotel. There are so many great pubs all around the fantastic Hunter. The Toronto Hotel has one of the best views that you'll see. It looks over beautiful Lake Macquarie, the largest saltwater lake in the Southern Hemisphere. It is an absolute pleasure to have a beer there with a view like that. I have many more pubs to go through. But, honestly, this is great for the community, great for the Hunter and great for Australia. So I proudly support this bill. I know the people of the Hunter will raise a glass to this. I look forward to raising a glass with you all in the near future. Cheers!