Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

As I indicated in my answer to your first supplementary question, for any matters that I have not addressed in the broad, I will seek further information from the minister to see what we can make available. However, the third part really supports what they have been saying about alcohol measures to date. An independent report was commissioned by the then Howard government. I know it is not since the introduction but it is what I have available at this time. David Collins and Helen Lapsley, in The costs of tobacco, alcohol and illicit drug abuse to Australian society, found:

There would appear to be strong justification for the April 2008 increase in the Australian tax on pre-mixed drinks (alcopops) by 70 per cent.

What they said in that report—and I think it is still true today—is:

... alcohol excise taxes are capable of being designed explicitly to target the types of alcohol known to be the subject of abuse (for example, high strength beer and alcopops) ...

…         …         …

For example, studies show that young people are more influenced—

(Time expired)