Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025

Monique Ryan

by leave—I move:

(1) Schedule 1, heading, page 3 (line 1), omit "Temporary", substitute "Indefinite".

(2) Schedule 1, item 1, page 3 (line 7), omit "Temporary", substitute "Indefinite".

(3) Schedule 1, item 1, page 3 (lines 8 to 19), omit subsection 6L(1), substitute:

(1) Despite any other provision of this Act, subsection 6A(1) applies in relation to each CPI indexed draught beer rate as if the indexation factor were 1 for 1 August 2025 or a later indexation day.

Note: This means the rates as they are on 31 July 2025 will be unchanged indefinitely.

I propose amendments to the Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025 and Customs Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025. The rising cost of living has challenged millions of Australian families for several years now, with inflation rising sharply since our economy bounced back after COVID. The government has a hand in setting the price of relatively few grocery items, but one of them is the cost of beer. The average price of draught beer has gone up by over 30 per cent in the last three years, an increase which is considerably higher than the rate of inflation. This has, at least in part, been driven by the automatic indexation of the beer excise every six months which has forced price increases above their annual CPI. This indexation is yet another typical anomaly in our unnecessarily complex tax system.

It's pleasing to see the government's commitment to freezing indexation on draught beer for two years, but indexation of the excise over recent years has left those draught beer prices already too high. Indexation of the beer excise needs to stop, and that's why I'm moving that this freeze should be permanent. A permanent cap on the draught beer excise would help millions of Australians with cost-of-living pressures. It would also help support Australia's emerging craft beer industry. Despite rapid growth of small independent brewers, 85 per cent of Australia's beer market is controlled by two foreign owned multinationals. Our craft beer industry supports local workers and economies. The independent beer sector employs over 8,000 people directly, with many brewers also contributing to local hospitality and to tourism. Independent brewers face challenges with the rising cost of ingredients and energy, softening consumer demand and stiff competition from large retailers like Coles which are increasingly selling home brand beers and mimicking craft styles. Many small brewers deferred excise increases during COVID and are now struggling with that debt in a persistently tough economic climate.

Alcohol taxation in Australia does not make a whole lot of sense. The wine equalisation tax taxes wine and other fruit based alcohol products based on their wholesale price, not their alcohol content. That has led to an oversupply of cheap wine products in Australia. It's decreased tax income, but it's also increased consumption of fruit based alcoholic products, flavoured ciders and cleanskins. The WET should be abolished. We should tax all alcohol products consistently with a volume metric tax based upon their alcohol content. That has been recommended by several independent reviews.

There is a lot more that we could and should do to responsibly tax the alcohol industry. In fact, there is plenty that we could do and should do to reform our tax system overall. We could derive fairer income from fossil fuel and mineral exports by more effectively taxing resources that are owned by all Australians. We could get reasonable income from our digital services. We could stop subsidising fossil fuels by means of the diesel fuel rebate for mining companies. We could tax labour less and income from passive sources such as rent, interest, super and capital gains more. We could take a good hard look at every part of our tax system, and we could have the courage to tackle housing affordability as well as the significant challenges associated with the funding of health, education and aged care.

But to do that, we would need to have a government which had both courage and vision. For the moment, those of us who do care about tax reform in this country have to push this government—bit by bit, issue by issue—to make things fairer and more equitable, and to restore some sense to a system which really does not make a whole lot of sense. And so I've moved this amendment to permanently freeze indexation of the draft beer excise to help thousands of Australian craft brew workers and to offer some cost-of-living relief to the millions of Australians who simply want to be able to afford one of the simpler pleasures of life.

Question negatived.

Andrew Gee

I move:

(1) Schedule 1, page 3 (line 1) to page 3 (line 23), omit the Schedule, substitute:

Schedule 1 — Removal of excise for draught beer

Excise Tariff Act 1921

1 Subitems 1.2, 1.6 and 1.11 of the Schedule

Repeal the items.

I'm moving this amendment because while freezing the beer excise for a couple of years is better than nothing, the reality is that it just locks in sky-high schooner prices. After that, we're just going to be back in this place arguing about it all over again. I believe it is time to axe the tax, and that's what this amendment does. We need to implement a fairer system of alcohol taxation that helps ensure the long-term viability of our hospitality sector and doesn't keep stinging consumers year in, year out. That's what this amendment does.

I've heard opposition members complain that this bill only freezes excise for two years, notwithstanding that it was the policy they took to the last election. The crossbench is here to help. We know things are very chaotic on the opposition benches at the moment. We know that every day brings a new episode of the soap opera—it's like Days of Our Lives. They seem very distracted, and things just aren't very happy in the happy kingdom anymore. But we are here to help, so we've drafted this amendment to give all members of this House, but in particular Nationals and Liberal Party members, the chance to vote to axe the tax.

Now, they could have drafted this amendment themselves, but I'm very happy to assist them and do the heavy lifting for them. In my electorate of Calare, there are more than 400 licenced venues that employ around 1,300 people and service countless residents and visitors each year. These venues are often key employers in our smaller towns and villages—and in our larger ones as well! Our country pubs and hospitality venues don't just serve drinks; they support our local farmers, entertainers, local community groups. They keep people connected. Our country pubs and clubs want the tax axed.

The Hotel Orange is one of our iconic heritage pubs. Vijay is the publican and says that the hospitality industry is one of the hardest hit when it comes to taxes. Coupled with high operating costs, it's not an easy gig. He says that freezing the tax would be good but if it were completely scrapped, that would be better. It would make business more sustainable and be good for the hip pockets of his customers.

Peter Sargent, the chief executive officer of Bathurst RSL club, says:

The cost-of-living crisis is about managing the basics and being able to go out and have a beer. But as the excise creeps up, this simple activity becomes unaffordable.

Bathurst RSL try to keep their prices as low as possible, but with each and every excise increase it becomes harder and harder to do that. Peter is concerned that, if they keep being taxed like this, being able to go to the pub for a beer and a schnitty—that small enjoyment, that simple pleasure that a lot of everyday Australians like to experience; I love it too—will become out of reach. While the freeze on excise for two years means that the club will be able to keep prices of products lower for longer, Peter says a permanent fix would go a long way to help.

That's why we need to axe the tax. This amendment is our opportunity to not only axe the tax but update, overhaul and reform the whole tax regime around beer, wine and spirits. We all know it's long overdue. The current system is no longer fit for purpose to support our local hospitality and tourism sectors. At the last election, I stood at polling booths and I heard National Party members and their Plymouth Brethren proxies constantly tell voters they were for cheaper beer. Well, this is their chance to prove it. Come in and vote for this amendment. Show us that you actually support cheaper beer. Don't just lock in sky-high schooner prices. Put aside the daily drama, the daily soap opera with multiple episodes going live in Parliament House every day. Come in here and actually do something for your constituents instead of talking about yourselves. Come into this chamber and axe the tax. I commend this amendment to the House.

Daniel Mulino

Since I didn't refer to the member for Calare's amendment explicitly in my summing up, I thought I would just briefly acknowledge the amendment and, as with the other amendments, acknowledge the intentions behind it. But I will just again say that the government believes that the bill as drafted strikes the right balance between supporting our pubs and clubs and maintaining budget sustainability. For that reason, we won't be supporting this amendment.

Milton Dick

The question is that the amendment be agreed to.

A division having been called and the bells having been rung—

As there are fewer than seven members on the side of the ayes in this division, I declare the question negatived in accordance with standing order 127. The names of those members who are in the minority will be recorded in the Votes and Proceedings.

Question negatived.

Long debate text truncated.