Joint Press Conference with
The Hon Nicola Roxon MP
Minister for Health
Parliament House, Canberra
15 April 2009
SUBJECTS: Alcopops Legislation; Opposition Obstruction
ROXON:
Thank you everyone for coming. Wayne and I have got an announcement to make about the Government's approach to alcopops and the taxation into the future.
As you would be aware, a few weeks ago the Rudd Government's alcopops measure – which was universally backed by health experts where the data was showing that the measure had been effective – was voted down by the Liberal Party. A typically irresponsible approach – opposition for opposition sake – which we've seen in so many areas.
As many of you who've covered this issue would know, we are very confident that this measure was a successful one; that closing the tax loophole led to a dramatic drop of 35 per cent in alcopop sales. Spirit sales fell and overall alcohol sales fell. We had public health experts around the country backing this measure for one simple reason – and that was because it worked.
The Government isn't prepared to abandon these gains in a vital area of public health, despite Malcolm Turnbull's efforts to obstruct this measure and protect the alcopops industry.
Malcolm Turnbull decided to vote against this measure because he likes to play politics. We've seen that pure and simple. And there isn't a shred of evidence that backs Mr Turnbull's decision to block this measure, yet he persisted with the opposition. We think that the community expects more of their leaders than playing politics on these sorts of issues. It's a vital part of our government strategy and our broader health strategy in terms of prevention, but also importantly to tackle teenage binge drinking which, as you're aware, involves advertisements, grassroots initiatives, and an unprecedented investment in preventative health negotiated through COAG last year.
Therefore, the Government intends to take two steps when Parliament resumes in May. Firstly, we will introduce legislation to validate the revenue collected between the 27th April 2008 and the 13th May 2009. Secondly, we intend to introduce a new tariff proposal with effect from the 14th May 2009 ensuring that the alcopops measure remains in place into the future. The Government will then introduce legislation to confirm this measure in the same session of Parliament.
We believe the alcopops measure is an effective public health measure and we know that public health experts around the country agree. We saw police, we saw parents, we saw hospital administrators and frontline paramedics calling for this measure to be supported. We believe it should be supported, and the actions that we will take when Parliament resumes will ensure that we have that opportunity.
I'll hand over to Wayne for a few comments and then we'll take questions.
TREASURER:
Thanks very much, Nicola. I've just come from back-to-back Budget meetings. It's that time of the year. But there's a real irony in the fact that almost 12 months on, a key Budget measure from last year remains unpassed. Mr Turnbull and the Liberals have been negative, they've been obstructionist, and I think that is demonstrated by their failure to support such a sensible public health measure.
So, I think the Government is dealing with an Opposition that is prepared to say anything and do anything, an Opposition that's not prepared to put the national interest before its own political self-interest.
I think it just pays to go through the approach of the Opposition in a variety of areas. There's a very, very long list. There's the alcopop measure here. You've got the National Broadband Network that they're opposed to. You've got their opposition to economic stimulus – essentially now, both packages. You've got their opposition to the biggest school modernisation program in Australian history. Opposition to additional investment in hospitals through COAG. And opposition to payments to pensioners and to carers.
Now opposition for opposition sake is potentially destructive, and I'd call on Mr Turnbull to think again. I'd call on Mr Turnbull to put the national interest before his political self-interest and support this bill when it comes before the Parliament – a very sensible measure, a measure from last year's Budget. Mr Turnbull goes on about big budget deficits but he's prepared to contribute to them through his stance in the House. The Government has a very sensible proposition. I think the Australian public want to see an Opposition that acts in the national interest, not an Opposition which is constantly opportunistic and destructive and negative in its approach.
JOURNALIST:
Aren't you the one playing politics? I mean, you've put your legislation up – and it's not just the Opposition, it's Steve Fielding as well – they've knocked you back. Why don't you just accept the numbers? But instead, you come here to attribute health…they're not (inaudible) interested in health, and you're going to put up exactly the same thing again in a different form. It's you who are playing politics.
TREASURER:
Not at all. The Government is determined to govern. This is unfinished business from the last Budget. And what we are now seeing from the Opposition is an Opposition stance which is entirely negative. Nothing the Government says that it will do is now supported by this Opposition. I went through the list – alcopops, National Broadband Network, economic stimulus, school modernisation – the list goes on and on. The Government is determined to pass its legislation.
JOURNALIST:
But the other key figure is Steve Fielding. Are you, if you genuinely want to get this legislation through, are you offering him anything fresh on his demands?
TREASURER:
Steve Fielding's vote only becomes important here directly because the Liberal Party have opposed this measure in total. That's why Steve Fielding's vote is important. The Minister has dealt extensively with the minor parties here. The Government has put enormous resources behind prevention and measures to do with teenage binge drinking, but the key blocking negative factor here is Mr Turnbull and the Liberal Party Opposition.
JOURNALIST:
But he had pointed to what is an anomaly in the advertising legislation.
TREASURER:
Well, he has an agenda there. The Government has put forward positive proposals. But when this Bill goes back to the Senate we would like to see the support of the Liberal Party and the minor parties in the Senate.
JOURNALIST:
But why does he have a right to have a position but the Opposition doesn't, in your eyes?
TREASURER:
Bear this in mind: we are in the middle of a global recession. It's vital in these circumstances that the Government has the capacity to pass its program, and we are determined to pass our program.
JOURNALIST:
Are there two pieces of legislation here, I didn't quite understand…
TREASURER:
There's a regulation and two pieces of legislation.
JOURNALIST:
The Liberals have already offered to allow the Government to keep the revenue, providing it's spent on alcoholic rehabilitation. Is your bill going to be the same as that, or is it going to be different?
ROXON:
As I mentioned, there are two pieces of legislation, two actions that will be taken on the 13th of May when Parliament resumes. One is, there will be a piece of legislation validating the revenue already collected. We would expect that the Liberal Party and the minor parties, given the views that they've expressed, would support that legislation. We will introduce a new tariff proposal, which you will recall from the measure from last year allows 12 months to collect the revenue and for legislation then to be validated. We are committing to introducing that in the next session of Parliament. There will then be an opportunity for the Liberal Party and the minor parties to reassess their position. The Government, as the Treasurer has made clear, is absolutely determined that this should be an ongoing measure. We are comfortable to introduce two pieces of legislation. We know, given the timing, that the matter will need to be before the House and the Senate on the 13th of May. We hope it will be passed. That will mean that the revenue that's collected will be able to be put towards those measures that tackle alcohol and binge drinking and prevention.
JOURNALIST:
All of it or just some of it?
ROXON:
We've already made commitments in this area far in excess of the money that has been collected to date. We want this measure to continue into the future. We're going to seek that again in the Parliament and it will be a matter for the House and Senate to assess again the merits of this measure. We're absolutely convinced that it's a successful one. We think there's an opportunity for the Liberal Party to reassess their constant opposition to these sorts of measures. And I have already had discussions with the minor parties. I will continue to over the coming weeks, and obviously we are very keen for this measure, both of these measures, to be passed.
JOURNALIST:
The Liberals did, on the day this went down, offer you the opportunity to hold on to that money on a plate. They said no strings attached, you can hold on to the money. And you guys didn't support it. So, why the change?
ROXON:
Well, the Liberal Party, as we know, were trying to just walk both sides of the street with this. We know that they should have supported this measure in whole. We're going to give them the opportunity to do that by introducing both of these measures. They were simply playing politics, wanting to pretend that they could both oppose and support this measure, which was just not possible. They will have the opportunity to vote for the validating legislation and they will have the opportunity to vote for this ongoing, important public health measure.
TREASURER:
Let's be very clear. The Liberal Party left open a tax loophole that encouraged teenage binge drinking. The Government did the right thing by acting when we did almost one year ago, and it's the right thing to move it again, because we believe in this measure. The other side just want to be opportunistic and play politics with a serious measure that deals with a serious public health problem. And I say that demonstrates just how negative they have become.
JOURNALIST:
With the second bit of legislation, can I just ask a very specific question here? Is it going to be relating just to alcopops or will you also put in that legislation some measures that might stop some of the loopholes, some of which that have existed for 60 years. For example, the brandy concession which has existed before the Second World War, as you know, Treasurer?
TREASURER:
No. The answer to all of that is no.
JOURNALIST:
But that's alcohol. It's bad for you.
TREASURER:
That's a question of policy, and if we have further proposals we would bring them before the Parliament. But this is a Budget and we don't speculate about what may be in or out of a Budget.
JOURNALIST:
What are your…
TREASURER:
We're trying to get something from last year's Budget through.
JOURNALIST:
Will this be a double dissolution trigger?
TREASURER:
Well look, Malcolm Turnbull might load the gun, but we certainly have no intention of firing it. What we want to do is put our legislation up into the Senate and have it passed. And that is what we are doing, as we should do. This measure was correct when we put it into the Parliament and it remains correct. What has changed is how negative Mr Turnbull and the Liberal Party have become.
JOURNALIST:
It couldn't be a double dissolution trigger, though, could it because it would be different legislation than the first time? And secondly, could you give us the most up-to-date revenue figures for this – what you estimate it's worth over the forward estimates and also (inaudible).
ROXON:
Sure. The latest figures that we have of the revenue collected to date is $365 million. We have, in the forward estimates, the estimate of $1.6 billion. You will recall that that has been adjusted from the original Budget measure because it was so successful. In fact we collected far less revenue than was originally anticipated. So, that could vary in the future because, of course, it affects patterns of drinking. We would hope that it does continue to affect patterns of drinking and we see consumption reducing. That is the purpose of the measure. But our current estimates, unless the Treasurer wants to add anything, is the $1.6 billion.
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible) whether it's the same or not?
ROXON:
Yes, look the same legislation, which is the legislation which confirms the tariff proposal, which is – I know people are confused because there are lots of different mechanisms here. You will have a piece of legislation to validate monies collected. You will have a new tariff proposal which lasts for 12 months. We've committed to bringing the legislation that would mean that tax change into the future continues to the Parliament in the next session, and that will be the same piece of legislation that was previously rejected by the…
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible)
TREASURER:
(inaudible) leave that up to the constitutional lawyers.
ROXON:
Thank you.
