Topics: Beer excise; inflation; Labor’s cost of living crisis; interest rates

E&OE

DITTS: 

Hey Roo, I want to you about this being the publican you are. We mentioned yesterday, please explain. Is it twice a year that beer prices go up automatically.

ROO:

Yep. It is. And the cost of having alcohol in pubs now is getting so expensive that it’s driving people to drink at home which is a bad thing for a lot of things. Culture for one. People love going to the pub and having fun with their mates. But also, the jobs that it creates is a massive loss as well if profitability of pubs dies off.

DITTS:

We were told a rough figure yesterday. A carton of beer $55. You’ll pay $25 in tax. That is outrageous.

LOZ:

Yeah.

DITTS:

The Shadow Treasurer is on the line. Angus Taylor. Angus, good morning. How on earth can this be automatic that beer, just bad luck to beer drinkers, this goes up twice a year and just cop it?

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Yeah, and worse than that, with high inflation, it goes up more because it tracks inflation. Look, this has long been an issue for me. I actually wrote my postgraduate economics thesis in 1992 on the price of beer.

HOSTS:

(Laugh) You’re kidding! Damn right!

LOZ:

Goodness me! I love it.

ANGUS TAYLOR:  

I like my beer. So I always have. Actually it was the only economics thesis that anyone was ever interested in talking about.

HOSTS:

(Laugh) You should be Prime Minister. 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

But look, you know, it's a big deal. It tracks inflation. It goes up with inflation and so when inflation goes up, up goes the beer tax and that's why we're paying so much now. I should say, just to help out those publicans out there, you do pay less tax if you go to the pub and that's a good reason to go to the pub and we should support our local pubs. They're hugely important in our communities and we want we want them to be prosperous and successful.

ROO:

Is there a better way of taxing? Someone was speaking about this yesterday, we know petrol about 48 cents in every litre of petrol goes to tax. Cigarettes is 65. I think we can all understand cigarettes a little bit more. But there's a hell of a lot of money that goes to tax, isn't there? Is there a different system that you think would work better? Or are you comfortable with the way we're doing it?

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well, I'd say a couple of things. The first is we want lower inflation. I mean if you’ve got lower inflation, you don't get these hits to the price of beer and everything else we’re buying. It's not just beer, it's the snags and the steaks, it’s the bread, it’s the milk – you name it. So, you know, lower inflation is the answer. But I think it is important to support our hard-working players in the beer industry and that's why we pushed through tax relief for small brewers and distillers when we were in government but the biggest thing is just get inflation down.

DITTS:

You talk about inflation but if inflation comes down, they're not gonna lower beer prices all of a sudden and it's mandated that twice a year there will be an increase in the excise on beer, and it's just wrong. And I want to ask you, why are we targeting beer or alcohol? Why is that the thing that is singled out? I know that as Roo mentioned, there’s petrol prices too and cigarettes but for the common man and I really feel part B of this question is, I feel for young lads who are tradies and go to the pub after work and right here in Adelaide now it's at least 10 bucks a pint. So four young lads sitting there, 40 bucks a round, a shout is outrageous.

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Yeah it’s a big number isn’t it? 10 bucks a pint …

DITTS:

Why beer as opposed to everything else?

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well beer is hit, as is all alcohol and the logic for it historically was that it's a health issue, just like cigarettes. Now, you know, our concern when we were in government was that this was hitting, particularly our small brewers and distillers who are trying to get their products out into the market and that's why we provided tax relief. But look, it's a very complex tax and the truth of the matter is, it could do with some simplification. It's something we're always open to.

ROO:

What about interest rates? Great news yesterday that they didn't raise rates again, and hopefully they’re not going to raise them again, at all. But it's been a traumatic last 15 months for Australia. Where do you see the interest rate position at the moment?

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Yeah, it's really tough. I mean, interest rates have gone up 11 times since the election, and people are really feeling the pain. And the bad news is, no one expects interest rates to fall much from here. They're going to be somewhere in this vicinity now for an extended period of time and there are lots of people out there who are flipping from fixed rate mortgages to floating rate mortgages. And the point that the Reserve Bank made yesterday is there could be further tightening and it's a tough time and it's not just the price of beer. I mean, obviously, that's one big factor but right across the board, we're seeing higher prices and we're conscious of just how much pain there is. There's a lot the government can do to bring down inflation and we're going to keep fighting to make sure they do everything that they should be doing to try and get it under control.

DITTS:

Angus, thanks so much for joining us and you’ve gone up in our estimation. A Treasurer who did a beer thesis. That’s fantastic. 

LOZ:

Unbelievable.

DITTS:

Magnificent. Good on you, Angus. Thanks for joining us.

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Thanks for having me.

DITTS:

There he is. Angus Taylor, Shadow Treasurer.

ENDS.