Alcohol price hike won’t stop harmful drinking

16 August 2018

Hiking the price of alcohol to account for harmful drinking will just load more cost onto reasonable drinkers while having little effect on those making poor drinking choices, says the New Zealand Alcohol Beverages Association.

“The call at an anti-alcohol conference yesterday to increase excise tax on alcohol demonstrates how selective or simply how out of touch they are with the evidence around price and drinking,” says NZABC Executive Director Nick Leggett.

“What we know from international evidence is that those who drink the most are the least sensitive to price increases. This means that any tax increase on alcohol will have an impact on the vast majority of drinkers who are sensible with their consumption but will have little impact on those who don’t.

“The $5 billion per annum quoted as being the harm from alcohol has previously been thoroughly and completely debunked, and it’s irresponsible to continue to quote it.

“That flawed figure is often used as an estimate of social cost, but it doesn’t take account of the benefits of enjoying a drink, and even adds in the taxes collected on alcohol products!

“This just shows how out of step the thinking is of this group of academics. Most people who a drink enjoy benefit from doing so ¬– that is never counted in these harm figures.”

Nick Leggett says alcohol excise and duties are already fair and increase annually, collecting more than $1 billion in revenue for the Government.

“We would certainly support a more directed and coordinated approach to targeting harm and increasing education using excise revenue, but that is a choice for the Government.

“We also support encouraging people to be responsible for their own choices and health, because at the end of the day they decide what they consume.”

ENDS

© Scoop Media