The Australian Government Preventative Health Taskforce credits the cigarette tax (CT) with reducing the incidence of smoking.

What works for cigarettes should work for junk food. Here is how the taskforce puts it:

"Commission a review of economic policies and taxation systems, and develop methods forusing (sic) taxation, grants, pricing, incentives and/or subsidies to promote production, access to and consumption of healthier foods"

http://www.preventativehealth.org.au/internet/preventativehealth/publishing.nsf/Content/AEC223A781D64FF0CA2575FD00075DD0/$File/nphs-overview.pdf (p15)

In other words, the taskforce recommends a Big Mac Tax (BMT)

But, as the taskforce acknowledges, the biggest problem affecting the health of Australians is a sedentary lifestyle. Too much time spent watching TV, playing computer games and reading books and not enough spent walking or running.

If there is a problem it stands to reason there must exist a tax that can fix it. It's the Australian way. Anything from excessive greenhouse gas emissions to smoking can be fixed with the right tax. In this case what we need is a "No Walk Tax" or NWT.

Here's how the NWT works.

--You start every day owing the government $100

--Every step you take as measured on your government-issue pedometer reduces your debt by 1 cent. You can expunge the debt entirely by taking 10 thousand or more steps.

--The government pedometer is attached to your person with an ankle band

--The pedometer is GPS equipped. Only steps that result in actual movement at walking pace are counted. You can't fool it by sitting in a rocking chair or driving in a car with a bad suspension.

--The pedometer is also hooked up to the mobile phone network. It is remotely interrogated overnight. Any amount owing from the previous day is automatically deducted from your bank account.

A side benefit is that this will enable the government to find out where we are every moment of the day.

Dear Steven,

It could work if we are willing to accept a central
government, computer-operated Big Brother police
state.

I doubt whether many Aussies would be willing to
subject themselves to such a "healthy" life-style.

Perhaps a better alternative would be to locate all
fast-food stores on top of high buildings with no
lift access - thus forcing people to climb stairs.

Or to locate these fast-food stores
in zones a minimum of one km.
from any streets, roads, or parking lots forcing
people to walk or ride bicycles.

Doorways to these establishments could be reduced
so that only the thinner people could fit through.
So that you can get in - but you can't get out
after you've eaten.

Does that sound like a healthy solution instead of
taxes that people abhor?

Dear Foxy,

No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No!

And NO!

In case you haven't got the message: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

All your suggestions are sensible. I support every one of them.

But Foxy, you don’t get it!

IT'S NOT THE AUSTRALIAN WAY

The Australian way is to devise a new tax.

Period!

Example.

Back in 2000 the government discovered that some petrol retailers were diluting their fuel with toluene. There is an obvious and sensible solution to this problem.

Name and shame.

The aforementioned retailers would, deservedly, be driven out of business. That should be enough of a deterrent to stop anyone else embarking on a similar scam.

What did the Howard Government decide to do.

Devise a new tax of course.

See:

http://www.aaa.asn.au/publications/media_releases.php?action=view&media_releaseId=204

Foxy I suspect that like me you are an immigrant who is not properly acculturated to the Australian way of doing things. You need to be careful. If you carry on denying the need for new taxes they may revoke your citizenship and deport you.

For your own good, Foxy, GET WITH THE PROGRAMME

Dear Steve,

I'm not an immigrant (born here), but my parents
were refugees - does that count?

Anyway, they always regarded me as their "Princess,"
which I didn't ask to be - but if the crown fits ...

I always thought that taxation was a form of
theft permitting the government to bludge on our
earnings. The amount and the forms of taxation
reflect the socio-political prejudices of the party
in power.

What else would you expect from John Howard - he promised
he wouldn't bring in the GST - but the law of obfuscation
or "that wasn't what I said," allows politicians to
extract the opposite meaning from any of their statements.
Therefore the hidden agenda of a simple statement that
Tony Abbott makes - like,
"We shall abolish the carbon emissions tax"
reads as follows,
"We shall abolish the carbon emissions tax
sometime in the future, subject to the state of the economy.
If the Senate lets us,
if we haven't got more important things to do, if it suits
the polluters (big business) - and if there is
no more important measure necessary to win the next
election."

Dennis Pryor summed things up rather
well when he wrote:

"Dedicated to Canberra
Where bureaucrats parasitical
And parties political
And Ministers hypocritical
Steal the money of the nation
Through what they call taxation!"

Oh for goodness sake, do either of you understand the concepts of social wage, social services, governments services etc.in accordance with the Constitution 1901 . Or concepts like community responsibility the purpose of society ?
How else, in the name of all that is sensible can a government raise the funds to pay for them without taxes?

Steven, you clearly have a lot to read about Australia, Constitution Industrial relations and the way it is ingrained in Australia Law. Particularly the judgments on living and social wage concepts etc. 1904 I think ...it was a long time ago and my failing forgettery is in full swing.

foxy, I'm shocked! you, a right money grabbing conservative. I thought you had better perspective....that's it! I'll have to open a bottle of Columbard/Chardonnay (unwooded of course) and console my self. ;-)

Dear Examinator,

Can I tempt you with a De Bortoli
Old Boys 21 years Old Tawny (Barrel Aged)
instead?