Of course it is entirely possible to enjoy a nice cold beer whilst only paying GST for it and saving yourself - and the government - all that alcohol excise: home brew.

It's extremely easy and I find it a pleasant hobby. Your beer is a lot cheaper and you get the added satisfaction of denying the Government the excise they try to gouge out of you just because they can. And for those of you who care about such things, home brew has a much smaller carbon footprint than commercial beer. It even has plain packaging which should keep the teetotalers happy.

Cheers,

Tony

DM, if you look at my posts, I clearly state that a couple of LIGHT BEERS A DAY, and by the way, I dont smoke.

Now you go to say that an increase in alcohol prices will fix the problem, um, it didnt work last time, so what makes you think it will this time?

I can remember a day, not that long ago, when a carton of gold stubbies was just over 20 bucks. Today, try just under 40 bucks.

Mixers were under 10 bucks for a four pack, today, just under 20 bucks.

A goon bag was around 6 bucks, I'm only guessing now that they are around 12 to 15$

So this proves your theory to be wrong I would suggest.

I domt drink to excess, in fact, tonight, when I drove my 5 hr tip home, I sat on the deck with my wife and watched the sun set over buitiful moreten bay and had two rums.

I don't think these have caused me any harm. But two is enough, as I know when to stop, which is exactly why I don't think I should pay extra just because some looser can't stop.

Another problem DM is that most people with an addiction, whether it be alcohol, cigs, gambling, drugs, what ever, usually forego what normal people consider as, essentials, in order to feed their addiction.

Now whie I accept they have a problem, why should I be paying more for my alcohol, in an attempt to curb their usage, god knows I already subsidize their medical bills and other things, as most of the money spent on addicts comes from evryones taxes, theirs included, assuming they hold a full time job.

Rehctub - I see you did write earlier you generally enjoy a couple of LIGHT beers or glass of wine.

However you posted more recently: "... just one fag a day is harmful, whereas a few drinks a day is not" - a misleading statement and what I responded to. A "few drinks" is usually one or more too many.

Two standard drinks a day for males, one for females is the generally accepted limit. A standard drink is a 375ml bottle of mid strength beer, a 100ml glass of red or 110ml of white wine (average alcohol %)or 30ml of spirits. Share (and polish off) a standard 750 bottle of wine with the good woman over dinner? That's 6 to 8 standard drinks between you. Fine on the odd occasion but not every night. Also many experts recommend at least 1 alcohol free day per week.

If people understand what IS a STANDARD DRINK and adhere, fine, but how many do? In my experience not a lot of awareness and often deliberate ignorance. Example: Good many years ago now ... Colleague obtaining medical history from a middle-aged man being admitted for cardiac problem. Dr:"Do you drink alcohol" "Yes" Dr: "How much?" "Aww, I usually have a couple of rums after work ..." "OK ..." 48hrs later bloke is in the DTs ... His "couple of rums"? 2 or 3 water glasses full weekdays, more on weekends ... (Sloppy work by Dr followed by reprimand but get my point?)


You ask why should we pay more for alcohol when we are responsible consumers? Short answer is "For the common good". Just as all who pay tax fund education whether we have children at school or not or the home owners rates funds the swim centre, though no-one in the household ever used it ...

Benefits to society in curbing abuse of alcohol and, or at very least, deriving more tax out of its sales will offset any extra expense you or I and maybe the majority of users will incur and all in very short time.

divine and others, I guess we will agree to disagree on this one.

...Well I’ll sum-up my point. The big-stick should be used against the “Alcohol Industry” as it was used against the Tobacco Industry for example. Swat teams flying into central Australia to harass Aboriginal communities is “Force” at the wrong end of the problem! I totally agree with Bob Katter on this one!

...It smacks of a “Cop-Out” punishing any community member for Alcohol abuse when grog flows down the gutters of our towns and cities. Too much of it and far to available, is the problem which only Governments can fix; but the worsening problem of Alcohol abuse needs urgent attention!