Just regarding the Alco-Pop Tax, (I believe it was introduced nationally by a Rudd government which is slowly shooting off toes one at a time)....

The Stats are in;
30% drop in Alco-Pop Sales
13% jump in spirits
1.7% jump in beer
2.2% jump in wine

I did some calcs based on my rough guess of bulk overall sales, assumed Beer was 45% overall, 40% was wine, 8% was spirits, and 7% was Alco-Pops, to make up 100% of alcohol sales.

When we add the new weightings, total alcohol sales are approx 46% Beer, 41% wine, 9% Spirits, and 5% Alco-Pops, and a total of 101% allowing a 1% growth in sales, growing population, etc.

So doesn't it just show that people just changed what they drink, based on price.... I doubt it reduced overall consumption, or turned youths away from booze. Plus, wouldn't some of the youths go towards "mix your own spirits", which is surely far more dangerous for everyone concerned, than pre-mixed drinks.... ???

Anyway, I thought it was another case of "Bureaucracy gone wrong" !! A government wasting it's energy....

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www.theage.com.au/national/party-animals-turn-to-spirits-20100527-whh2.html

Party animals turn to spirits
May 28, 2010
The controversial tax on pre-mixed alcoholic drinks has killed sales and nudged party animals towards drinking spirits, official data shows.

The federal government says the sales plunge in "alcopops" is a win against teenage binge drinking, though the data says nothing about the age of drinkers.

But the opposition and the distilling industry say younger drinkers are switching to dangerous, full-strength spirits.

To combat under-age drinking, health experts want taxes raised on stronger alcoholic products.

Pre-mixed drink consumption fell by 30.2 per cent during the previous financial year, coinciding with a 13.4 per cent jump in sales of pure spirits.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics data was collected after the government hiked by 70 per cent the tax on alcopops in 2008.

That tax increase also coincides with a 1.7 per cent jump in beer sales and a 2.2 per cent increase in wine consumption.

Health Minister Nicola Roxon admitted the figures showed a shift from ready-to-drink (RTD) alcohol to straight spirits, beer and wine.

"We're not making any secret of that but you need to be able to say, 'Look across the board and see whether there's a reduction in consumption' and it is a staggering one," she told reporters.

Overall alcohol consumption fell by just 0.14 per cent in 2008/09, but the minister said this was still "a lot of alcohol".

Ms Roxon hailed the drop in pre-mixed drinks as a sign of a delay in the starting age of drinkers.

But she admitted the data did not indicate the age or gender of drinkers.

"It's not a survey of personal consumption so it can't give you that information," the minister said.

Her opposition counterpart, Peter Dutton, said the figures vindicated the coalition's earlier warning about drinkers switching from pre-mixed products to spirits.

"Increased consumption of full-strength spirits rose significantly, which indicates RTD drinkers turned to mixing their own - a worrying outcome where younger people are concerned," he told AAP.

The Alcohol Policy Coalition wants taxes raised on more harmful alcoholic products to discourage would-be drinkers aged 12 to 15.

"There needs to be a uniform approach whereby alcohol is taxed on the volume of alcohol in the product, because we know this move will produce significant health benefit," spokesman Todd Harper said.

The Distilled Spirits Industry Council of Australia, which opposed the tax, said no one should use the data to claim a drop in underage drinking.

"The tax could only ever have been successful if there are underage drinkers who blankly refuse to drink any other type of alcohol product, including ones they mix themselves from bottled spirits," spokesman Stephen Riden said.

"Those underage drinkers simply do not exist, no matter how much supporters of the tax might wish."

The alcopops tax was made permanent in August 2009 after the coalition and Family First senator Steve Fielding reversed their previous opposition to the levy.

AAP

At the federal election, does the party you give your "1" vote to get $1 from each person, via the Government ???

Yeah, we live in the lucky country still. More or less "same same" no matter who is in power....

I've always liked Midnight Oils' line, "Where The Gecko's are Paid to Live in The Sun" !!!!

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Lucky Country by Midnight Oil

Speed and this there's a feeling I get when I look to the sun
Love it's so tough 'cos it raises your hopes and then it makes you run

We're all looking for a shorter day
We're all looking for an easy way
Even when the debts are dead and gone

Down the stairs and an eight mile drive waits for you to turn on
Hear the time clock sing and the smoke in the distance reaches the eye line

We're all working on a shorter day
We're all looking for an easy way
Even when the debts are dead and gone

No conversation as you got there's so much space the heat moves you
Terracotta homes - backyard bar-b-q and eucalyptus smell
It's fine on the clothes line, it's fast food and slow life and red
roof My silence - comic interruptions
Surely there's some relief from atomic art and the fragile state of world
Events with clowns who love the kings and power and the mutant media babes
Working on dreams and fashions and toilet paper flowers
Don't talk to me in this backyard - it's clandestine, it's nuclear.
Smell of space and now forever I wanna go straight down the exit
eight mile
Attraction u-turn is up and the time clock sings let's go

Lucky country where the geckos are paid to live in the sun
On and on there's a ribbon of road and a mile to spare
Lucky country, lucky country

The tax didn't bother me.... I was really saying, most youths are resourceful enough, and will find a way...... and the tax probably just alters their thinking a little..... I wouldn't expect it to stop a teenage drinking problem..... example, let's get some Fanta and Vodka and mix our own !! Isn't that worse ???

A fair bit of responsibility sits with the parents too....

Yes Exactly log man. Now the 12 (or was it 11 in my case) year olds will have to go back to even cheaper bottles of Passion Pop and casks of goon like we did at that age.

C'mon, be realistic here, do kids that want to get drunk not do it now because they can't afford it pre-mixed in a nice red bottle?

If you're gonna get on it, you're gonna get on it. You put your movie money (where you told you parents you were going) and put it together with a few mates, head to Cooly and wait for a local surfer to go to the bottle-o or get your 13 y.o hairy man child mate to buy it for you.

Aaaaaah, those were the days. Didn't need no alcopops then to do it and they certainly won't need them now no matter the price.

Simondo said...

Thanks CMC !! The reality of life !!

get your 13 y.o hairy man child mate to buy it for you !
- laugh out loud funny !!

Funny thing is we did have one of these. 13 yo already balding, hairy chest and shoulders. He was a great bloke, looks the same now mid 30's. His Sister was a good sort too.

He looked older than most blokes that worked at the Bottle-o. Never, ever got asked age once ever. He bought our booze the whole way through high school.

Simondo, I'm not sure the stats as quoted actually add up to the conclusion. For example the alcopop total drop does not necessarily transfer to the other groups of spirits and beer. So it's possible but unlikely that all of the alcopop drinkers gave up drinking but the rest of the Australian population increased their intake overall. Yes!! I know this is very unlikely but these are very raw figures and more digging into the age groups and types of drink categories would be helpfull. log

Logman, you do raise some valid points, thanks for that. The rough numbers do roughly translate to people moving onto other forms of booze. I'm glad the government tried to educate, etc, also.

CMC - I would love to see a pic of the hairy man child at 13 and mid 30's !! Too funny !

ALL - have a cracker of a weekend, get wet and have some waves !
- There's a ribbon of road and a mile to spare, lucky country!