Drinking slur unwarranted

April 27, 2008, 4:30pm,  169 views

I’m not surprised Brendan Nelson has come out of his cave to defend the former Government against allegations it is partly responsible for teenage binge drinking.

Health Minister Nicola Roxon made the claim in relation to a decision eight years ago which cut the excise on pre-mixed alcoholic drinks.

She slammed the former government for cutting the excise, making pre-mixed drinks cheaper than bottled spirits.

“I think the previous government is partly responsible. I think they made a mistake. We’re going to turn that around,” Ms Roxon said.

If Labor wants to blame John Howard for teenage binge drinking and inflation they should also give him credit for the mining boom and low unemployment.

If the decision in 2000 can possibly be the cause of young girls drinking vodka and lemonade instead of whiskey, then it’s appropriate to review the policy.

It’s a bit rich though to say the Coalition intended that consequence. Chances are they would have reviewed it themselves anyway.

I’d like Ms Roxon to point to Hansard where Labor raised this argument while it was in opposition.

“It is an outrageous slur on the previous government for anybody to suggest that by not further increasing the excise or tax on these alcoholic drinks, that in some way has led to their abuse,” Dr Nelson told reporters in Sydney.

“The government, in fact, over the last 10 years responsibly put excise and taxes into alcoholic drinks to make sure that they did not, under any circumstances, reduce in price which the GST would have otherwise done.”