Alison Penfold
Lyne · National Party · Australia
“I rise to speak on the Universities Accord (Opening the Doors of Opportunity) Bill 2026. I acknowledge the member for Moore and his time he spent in the wonderful community of Dungog. It is a terrific place and I know that the teachers and educators in that town do a wonderful job. Well done.”
“They can often live with their families while they study. For a young person growing up in Dungog, Taree, Wingham, Gloucester, Harrington, Tea Gardens, Bulahdelah, Forster, Tuncurry or the Manning Valley or the many other small towns and hamlets in my electorate—”
“My question is to the Prime Minister. Isn't it true that the Albanese Labor government's 70c-a-day tax cut has already been eaten up by inflation, unlike the coalition's tax-back guarantee, which is protected from inflation and would provide a typical Australian worker a far bigger, $400 tax cut this year?”
“My question is to the Treasurer. Yesterday the Treasurer was asked about his plan to force thousands of widows and divorcees to pay more tax by removing their access to grandfathering for capital gains tax and negative gearing.”
“My question is to the Prime Minister. A new report shows the Prime Minister saved around $200,000 on the sale of three investment properties under existing capital gains tax rules. In last month's budget, the Prime Minister broke his promise and changed those rules.”
“My question is to the Prime Minister. A new report shows the Prime Minister saved around $200,000 on the sale of three investment properties under existing capital gains tax rules. In last month's budget, the Prime Minister broke his promise and changed those rules.”
The complete record
Every one of 616 lines we hold for Alison Penfold, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 8 of 13.
“CSPs are the language of universities and having them allows TUC to engage as a credible partner. CSPs open doors to new partnerships, offering and delivering benefits well beyond the original allocation. CSPs underpin TUC's independence and long-term financial sustainability. Importantly, under the current 2023-27 funding agreement, the department sets clear expectations that regional university study hubs will engage in widening participation activities and assist in addressing regional skills shortages. However, the agreement also specifies that departmental funding is limited to student support only and that these broader activities must be funded from other sources. CSPs are, in practice, the key funding mechanism that enables TUC to meet these expanded expectations.”
“It provides a diversification of income streams and flexibility in how funds can be applied to locally designed programs that support current and future students. Unlike tied grant funding, CSP derived income is not restricted to specific deliverables, allowing TUC to respond directly to regional community and industry needs. CSPs also strengthen value proposition and deepen partnerships with universities. In summary, CSPs are far more valuable than their direct monetary contributions alone. Specifically, CSPs are leveraged by TUC and its university partners, particularly when combined with student contributions. Funds returned to TUC are untied, enabling locally relevant programs and student support models. CSPs function as TUC's primary bargaining tool with universities and form the basis of partnerships.”
“This government cannot spare $100,000, a drop in the ocean in the scheme of Labor's spending, to help an invaluable community education facility rebuild following a catastrophic flood, but they can spend $54 million on another questionable layer of bureaucracy. This bill also fails to address one of the sector's leading preoccupations, funding for Commonwealth supported places. The Taree Universities Campus was established in cohort 2 of the Regional University Study Hubs program. There have been five cohorts of study hubs announced under the program. Those in cohorts 1 and 2 receive CSPs as the funding stream. Later streams receive direct grant funding. TUC greatly values and supports the CSP model as a funding stream for two reasons.”
“However, despite these attempts to overcome the flood's impact and get the campus back to normal operating conditions and capability, the number of students using the facility has fallen down from something like 400 per week to around 100 per week because of the impact on the facilities. Because of its location, TUC was not able to acquire insurance against floods. The resources and funds of MidCoast Council are near exhausted, and the community is dispirited and suffering from flood fatigue. TUC simply requires one-off, special funding of $100,000 to enable the refit and refurbishment to get it back on its feet and provide the wonderful services that it has done for several years now.”
“The Taree Universities Campus is part of the Regional University Study Hubs initiative. It was established in 2020 as a community led initiative to help students across the Manning and Great Lakes areas undertake higher education without having to leave their communities. I want to take this moment to acknowledge the work of the former member for Lyne, the Hon. Dr David Gillespie, in leading this initiative. In May 2025, the Taree Universities Campus was inundated with floodwaters, with the lower levels of the building submerged, causing extensive internal and external damage, including mud deposits, and rendering the campus's elevator inoperable. With a huge community effort, a temporary study space was opened on level 2 of the building, pending continuing efforts to refit and reinstate level 1.”
“There is also broad agreement that ATEC must play a stronger role in VET higher education alignment, with submissions warning that TAFEs risk being marginalised unless their role is explicitly embedded in ATEC's design and operations, including on credit transfer, curriculum alignment and workforce development. In yet another injudicious use of Australians' taxpayer dollars, Labor has committed $54 million over 10 years to support ATEC's establishment and operations, and yet, when I applied to the Minister for Education to allocate just $100,000 towards the Taree Universities Campus to help them rebuild and refurbish their study hub after it was smashed and devastated by the May 2025 floods, I was told that the department did not have any funds and, therefore, could not and would not assist.”
“Concerns were raised that managed growth and equity weighted funding could incentivise metropolitan universities to ramp up recruitment of regional and equity students, hollowing out the enrolment base and financial viability of regional tertiary education providers, and also hurting the workforces needed to sustain these regional communities. Submissions also stress that the bill underplays regional research and innovation, regional infrastructure and the realities of tertiary education delivery, which often happens across state jurisdictions.”
“Submissions note there is no legislative mandated regional expertise among ATEC commissioners, no distinct regional advisory committee and a reliance on general stakeholder consultation processes that could give metropolitan institutions agenda-setting power. Regional universities and regional development bodies were broadly supportive of managed growth and mission based compacts in principle. However, some issues were raised around ATEC's powers to suspend mission based compacts and ministerial influence. Regional stakeholders expressed a need for safeguards to avoid standard compacts embedding metropolitan priorities.”
“Do they not want ATEC to consider the particular challenges of delivering tertiary education in the country? It goes further. The bills have been referred to the Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee, which is not due to report until 26 February 2026. A number of regional university stakeholders, however, have already raised, in their submissions, various issues with these bills. Regional development bodies and regional universities, though supportive of the bills' recognition of the need for change in the university sector, argue that this recognition of regional Australia is not matched by the bills.”
“The Albanese government's apparent deep regard and commitment to the interests of regional Australia is noticeably absent in this legislation, which deliberately rejects the universities accord report and recommendation to establish a regional education commissioner to represent regional and rural students in educational institutions. Such an omission is an undeniable affront to regional Australia. There is a regional education commissioner, originally appointed under a coalition government, and one that we are grateful the current government has continued to support. But why ignore this recommendation? There's no explanation, and it's an odd omission. Do the government not value the views and perspectives of the regional tertiary education sector?”
“It was recommended that a regional education commissioner be created to reflect the goals and aspirations of regional students and regional tertiary education. Instead, in these bills, Labor has ignored that recommendation and is not going to appoint a commissioner to represent regional interests but, instead, will appoint one based on ethnicity, so that, among three commissioners, one must be a First Nations commissioner. In a MPI debate last week, the Minister for Emergency Management, responding on behalf of the government, repeatedly argued that the Albanese government is a better friend to regional Australia than the National Party, that the Albanese government prioritises outcomes for regional Australia. These bills prove exactly the opposite.”
“Secondly, the bills omit certain components of the ATEC recommendations by the accord report. As I noted earlier, despite my concerns I acknowledge that the establishment of ATEC is a recommendation of the Australian Universities Accord review and report. The minister has himself championed the recommendations of the report, yet he has chosen not to champion all the recommendations in it. Recommendation 30g says: The Australian Tertiary Education Commission should be governed by a Board comprising the Chief Commissioner as Chair, 2 Deputy Commissioners, the TEQSA Chief Commissioner, the ARC Board Chair, a First Nations Commissioner, an Equity Commissioner and the Regional Education Commissioner.”
“I cannot support such a vague objective being institutionalised and bureaucratised in Australia. I take issue with the proposal on a number of levels. Firstly, it will add another layer of education bureaucracy at significant cost, which will not take our universities forward. Here we have yet another attempt by this Labor government to shift responsibility and, in turn, accountability to yet another bureaucratic, expensive, red-tape-laden authority, which I seriously doubt is being done according to the will of Australians. Whenever I talk to constituents, not one has ever voiced to me their desire to see the creation and maintenance of additional bureaucratic layers at the taxpayer's expense. Furthermore, ATEC will be assisted by the Department of Education—as if that department doesn't already have enough on its plate.”
“The first was my late aunt, as a mature age student pursuing a fine arts degree at Macquarie University, for which she received a university medal. I myself am a graduate of the Australian National University, with a degree in Korean language. I'm grateful for my education and proud to have attended the ANU and Burgmann College for three of the four years of my degree. During it, I was privileged to receive an Australian government Asian languages scholarship to study in South Korea, which I did for a year at Sogang University. I say all this to demonstrate that I am a supporter of tertiary education and a beneficiary of it—of its role in the development of our national intellectual capital, innovation and cultural growth. But I cannot support these bills.”
“This bill seeks to establish an ATEC with the following objectives: to promote a strong, equitable and resilient democracy and to drive national economic and social development and environmental sustainability. How this objective can even go close to fixing the serious problems in the tertiary sector is, frankly, beyond me. This bill is about a solution looking for a problem—and it's a costly solution, at a time when the government should be looking for prudence in expenditure, not a bureaucratic pool party on taxpayers. I'm one of the few Australians who've been fortunate to receive a university education. The last census shows that just under a quarter of Australians have had a tertiary education. I'm only the second in my family to attend university.”
“I rise to speak on the Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) Bill 2025. I appreciate that legislating to establish an Australian tertiary education commission is a recommendation of the report stemming from the review of Australia's higher education sector. Such recommendations must be seriously considered and are not easily dismissed. Stewardship in and of the university sector is more critical than ever at present. Rising antisemitism on campuses across the country, the challenge of AI on academic oversight and student learning and assessment, changing enrolment patterns and the alignment of courses to business needs are just some of the challenges the sector faces.”
“This is a grinding existence created by this government, a government that have completely and utterly insulated themselves from the economic hardship they are inflicting upon Australians. Australian taxpayers work hard for their money. It's absolutely galling for them to see it being spent so recklessly, so indiscriminately, by politicians that have never had a real job, that have never had to go without just to get by. This is not your money; it's the Australian taxpayers'. Start spending it accordingly—considerately, frugally, carefully. The 'Lucky Country' is now experiencing the largest decline in living standards in the developed world. Under this government, with this treasurer making the big financial calls, Australia increasingly does not feel like the lucky country.”
“Instead, Australians are paying around $1,300 more. In my own electorate, manufacturer Jamestrong Packaging have seen their energy bills increase by 65 per cent, insurance by 76 per cent and rates and taxes by 75 per cent. The cost of Labor is now showing up everywhere, in higher taxes, more debt and a budget so stretched that the government is spending $50,000 every minute on interest payments alone. Whilst the Prime Minister enjoys a day at the tennis, with the travel no doubt being billed to the taxpayer, Australians are working just to get by. They can't afford to go to the tennis. They can't afford to go out for dinner or take their kids to the movies. I've got people in my electorate who are still not back in their homes after the floods of May last year. This is not living.”
“This too, has been exacerbated by Labor and its migration policy. They brought in a million migrants in their first two years—70 per cent higher than in any previous two-year period. Someone is arriving to live in Australia every 52 seconds. Based on Labor's own population statement, a further 1.8 million people will arrive over the next five years, with no plan for where they will live. Another driver of Labor's economic crisis is their reckless pursuit of a renewables-only energy policy. Australians need affordable base-load power, not expensive, taxpayer subsidised, intermittent and unreliable energy—affordable power coupled with responsible action on climate. But, under Labor's renewables-only fiasco, factories are closing, business investment is stalling, and emissions have not moved. The government promised a $275 cut to power.”
“Add to this the car insurance, which comes in at $277.51 a month for just two cars—that doesn't include registration or green slip, by the way—plus home and contents insurance, which comes in at $278.83 per month; private health insurance for a family of four at $498 a month; and council rates, water access and sewerage connection at $3,481.10 a year. Very little is left over. This is one of the poorest electorates in the country, where the pay cheques are neither large nor flexible enough to accommodate cost increases without sacrifice. The average mortgage holder was already paying around $21,000 more per year in interest than they were under the coalition. That burden rises again due to the latest rate hike. For most young Australians, the great Australian dream of homeownership has become exactly that—just a dream.”
“This is not sensible governing; this is reckless maladministration. Frankly, the Treasurer's attitude, his blame shifting, his aloofness towards the situation, is an absolute affront to Australians. It's a kick in the guts. Does he not realise that he's the sole individual in charge? He has the power to change this. After all of the essential bills are paid and a small grocery shop is done—and I mean small, because just two bags is over $100—hardworking Australians have very little of their own money left. In my electorate, a constituent from Nabiac shared that, on Christmas Eve, they bought just 36 items at a cost of $199.61.”
“After nearly four years of Labor, the cold, stark reality is that Australians are paying more for everything. It doesn't matter what the Treasurer wants to believe or what he wants to spruik. He cannot hide the truth, because Australians are living it. Australia is the only developed country where interest rates are rising. Why is that? Because of Labor's out-of-control spending. While the Treasurer is desperate to shift the blame, attributing his own fiscal failures to foreign wars and other global pressures, there is no doubt that this 'Jimflation' crisis is homegrown, with ABS data revealing that inflation is being driven by government policy. Under this government, spending is growing 13 times faster than what the coalition budgeted for and has reached its highest level outside a recession in 40 years.”
“So whilst this is something that speaks to the tradies and to many people across the electorate, to be quite frank, women tend to drink more tap spirits. Certainly, there are some local producers in my electorate looking at tap spirits and low-carb options as well for those of us very conscious of our diets. We need to do something that's far more comprehensive, far more far reaching, far more inclusive of all Australians and their preferences when it comes to having a drink at a pub or a club. I thank the member for Cowper. We share a border and we share people. Many of my people enjoy the pubs and clubs in the member for Cowper's electorate, so I'm pleased to be able to speak in favour of this amendment.”
“I appreciate that this bill intends to make a small change, but the fact of the matter is we have a significant issue with our alcohol excise system, one that has not been properly reviewed really since it was first implemented. I know the Henry tax review some 10 years ago acknowledged that the system was broken and in need of reform. Well, we need to do that work now. It's time to do a full review and have it report back to Treasury with recommendations. I might just say something a little bit controversial here, which is not going to be about Taree and the Urgent Care Clinic, I'm sorry to disappoint. Look, I'm not a big beer drinker and, frankly, a lot of women are not big beer drinkers.”
“When I spoke to the pubs and clubs in my electorate during the election last year about this bill and about the policy commitment, many of them said to me, 'Well, look, it's really not going to make that much difference because we've actually been subsidising the excise increase for years.' They simply have not been able to afford to put up the price of beer because they then wouldn't get the patrons in the pub. As many, many speakers on all sides of the parliament have said, we value the work that our pubs and clubs do. They support the local footy teams. They do amazing fundraisers. I was at a fantastic one on Saturday night supported by Club Old Bar where we raised $16,000 to build a permanent cenotaph for the Old Bar's RSL sub branch.”
“I rise to support this important amendment, this sensible amendment to the Customs Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025. It will ensure that Australia has an alcohol tax system that is modern, consistent and delivers the sort of reform that Australians deserve. I support the bill that is before the House. I spoke on the bill last year and I agree that we should not let perfection get in the way of good. But the reality is that the bill will deliver only a very small change. What is it—1c a pint?”
“The curtailing to Hamas propaganda, which saw the government grant its wish of the recognition of a Palestinian state, has consequences in fermenting antisemitism. This parliament cannot just spend two days dealing with this. The passage of legislation is not enough. We must come together to formulate an informed and collaborative approach that will see hatred of Jewish Australians and hatred of all that our nation stands for stamped out forever. We must find a pathway back to a familiar Australia where all are safe. To the victims: may you rest in peace.”
“I have been shocked and saddened by this conflation of faith and politics. How did this become so normalised? These people have written to me pleading that I oppose the Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism's recommendations, uncontroversial recommendations designed to protect Jewish Australians. They don't want them. I've had people writing to me unbelievably attempting to rationalise the slaughter of innocents at Bondi as a consequence of Israel's purported genocide in Gaza. Let me be clear to anyone who has written to me with this line of reasoning: you can find no refuge in me. This subtle but sure strain of antisemitism cannot be tolerated, along with the more overt displays of antisemitism. This parliament needs to realise that the words and deeds of those who govern have consequences beyond those of everyday Australians.”
“For many Australians, Australia is no longer a country they recognise. For many Australians its face changed long ago, but this attack brought home the stark reality that our nation's spirit and founding values of tolerance, liberty and justice are disintegrating in front of our very eyes. I have seen in my own electorate a burgeoning antisemitism, not among people that you would consider Islamic extremists nor amongst people you would consider neo-Nazis, but rather amongst everyday citizenry. What, in the past, has been disagreement with the Israeli government has now become something far more insidious, something sickening and something that has led to incredibly vile messages—hate towards me for my position on Israel and hate towards Jewish Australians because of the actions of the Israeli government.”
“You are the shining reminders of what Australia should be. Most of the victims were at Bondi to celebrate Hanukkah, an important celebration on the Jewish calendar and the festival of lights. Others were merely out enjoying an Aussie summer day with family, living their life as the gunmen planned to snatch it away from them. And for what? The 'what' and the 'why'—we must deliberate on these two words without equivocation or political motivation. As legislators, we have a duty to ensure that the mechanisms that put the Bondi massacre in motion can never happen again. As Australians, we must look ourselves squarely in the eye and question the cultural changes and norms that allowed this to occur. Families of the victims and Jewish Australians living in fear do not just want to hear our sympathies and our hollow words.”
“Surely not at our iconic Bondi. But as we watched the news unfold that evening, it was clear that terrorism had struck at home. The years of rising antisemitism and the radicalisation of weak minds by fundamentalist Islamic hate preachers operating on our own soil had reached a momentary crescendo, and 15 beautiful, innocent lives had been taken—intentionally, callously, mockingly. That Sunday in Bondi was a day of extremes. We saw complete and utter evil, but, at the same time, we saw the best of humanity and its most noble traits. We saw unflinching bravery and self-sacrificing compassion. To the police, first responders, surf lifesavers, medical practitioners and ordinary Australians that, in the face of darkness and terror, shone courage and grace: I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
“Matilda Britvan, Rabbi Eli Schlanger, Rabbi Yaakov Levitan, Edith Brutman, Boris Tetleroyd, Boris and Sofia Gurman, Reuven Morrison, Marika Pogany, Tibor Weitzen, Alexander Kleytman, Adam Smyth, Peter Meagher, Dan Elkayam and Tania Tretiak—taken by terror, but you will forever light our nation's path forward to fight evil. To the family and friends of the victims, to the injured and to the Australian Jewish community, I extend on behalf of myself and the people of the Lyne electorate our heartfelt and deepest condolences. Few of us will forget that Sunday. The tragedy stung and hung in the air. It still does. But few of us are living with the day-to-day grief, the unimaginable loss. 'How could this event be, an act of cold-blooded, hate-filled evil and terror?' people are asking. Surely not in Australia. Surely not in Sydney.”
“It's just a very tragic circumstance on the eve of the holiday season. Crowdy Bay is a very busy beach; it's closed at the moment. It's very sad for the entire community. I thank you for this opportunity to extend my condolences to everyone involved in the families who've lost a loved one.”
“I would like to extend my condolences to the families and loved ones of the young woman taken today at Crowdy Bay in a fatal shark attack. Crowdy Bay is in my electorate, and, indeed, it's a beach that I know well. I spent many years there as a child. It's a tragic circumstance. This was at an unpatrolled beach at quite a remote part of the bay. It happened very early this morning. Details are scant, but I understand that it was a tourist with her partner, both in their 20s. Unfortunately, she died at the beach. A heroic passerby managed to put a tourniquet on the man who tried to save the lady. He's now in John Hunter Hospital. I've spoken to the president of the Crowdy Head Surf Life Saving Club. Some of their members were called out this morning to assist, and I know the ambulance and other people were also called.”
“I would like to acknowledge the work of locals John Caldron, Secretary Kelly Anderson, the Wingham Anglican church, Reverend Brian Ford and Don Smith, who are playing an instrumental role in the club's development. With the recent floods that caused substantial damage throughout Wingham, the need for a positive, inclusive community facility whereby fitness, health, safety and mentorship are prioritised cannot be overstated. I therefore congratulate all involved in its establishment and extend my full support.”
“Participation in fitness or boxing classes is not mandatory, and all are welcome to use the facilities to observe, study, complete homework and generally socialise in a safe, strictly alcohol- and drug-free environment. I recently visited the club and can tell you that the feedback around town is extremely positive, with many teenagers and their families excited about a local, free boxing club and the many social, physical and mental benefits such an organisation can have and is having. This opportunity would not be possible without generous donations from the community, who have already provided boxing rings, bags, gloves, beanbags, lounge chairs and study tables.”
“Gary was approached by Wingham locals inquiring if he would be interested in starting a boxing club in Wingham with a focus on local youth. Gary agreed, but with the proviso that the service would be free. Gary's partner in this venture, Mick Downs, spent over 20 years in the Australian Army. He has various qualifications in fitness and combative training, obtained while in the ADF, and has experience working with youth through the Australian Army Cadets scheme. Seeing a community need for afterschool and weekend activities for local youth, Gary and Mick decided to establish the club with the aim of providing free fitness and boxing training—tailored to varying individual skill, experience, dedication and confidence levels—as well as a communal safe space for local youth.”
“I rise to acknowledge the work of Gary Crawford and Mick Downs, who have been instrumental in envisioning and establishing the Wingham Amateur Boxing Club. The club is a small, volunteer, not-for-profit organisation. It was conceived by Gary and Mick, two ex-Australian Defence Force veterans, with the intent of providing free boxing and coaching fitness to young people aged 13 to 18 in Wingham and surrounding areas. Gary, who will be the primary instructor, has been involved in amateur boxing since the age of eight. After serving in the Australian Army for five years, Gary began coaching as a way of finding purpose. Gary was a boxing coach for six years at the PCYC in Taree. He trained local youth weekly, often taking competitors to Dubbo, Cobar, Parkes and various locations interstate to participate in organised bouts and championships.”
“Likewise, there's nothing to address the government's spending spree, which is fuelling inflation and cost-of-living pressures—as is its rush to renewables, which will cost Australian taxpayers $9 trillion, putting Medicare and the NDIS at risk. What should really be front of mind for the Albanese government is measures that genuinely address cost-of-living pressures, not policies that are putting further pressure on the cost of living. Australia needs genuine economic leadership. We need policies that focus on raising the living standards of Australians. Sadly, we won't get that with this government. We will need the strong economic management of a coalition government for that, something many, many of my constituents are very impatient for.”
“Again, the coalition acknowledges that there will be a small amount of relief for pubs, clubs and beer drinkers, and we will not stand between a cut to the beer tax and the government. But this could have been much more. It certainly is, as I've said previously, a missed opportunity. This bill is only a minor fix in the face of high inflation and cost-of-living pressures. There's no sign of a broader excise reform conversation. All we get is just a two-year pause on tap beer indexation. There's no acknowledgement of, nor strategy to address, the alcohol market share, equity and profitability questions.”
“So does the Tinshed Brewery in Dungog, offering, like the Coastal Brewing Company in Foster, a range of beers from the well known to the eclectic. They're good businesses and good business for our community, as are all of our pubs and clubs, providing social venues and active, generous support and sponsorship for sporting clubs and community groups. They create and provide employment. Many are at the heart of their communities. The alcohol industry directly supports the employment of around 176,000 full-time equivalent jobs. The alcohol manufacturing industry employs people in around 2,500 jobs. Alcohol related jobs in the retail sector number a further 21,000 jobs. Alcohol related jobs in the hospitality sector number a whopping 126,300.”
“If you add that to the five per cent market share the major retailers have with their home brand beer, the more than 600 Australian owned small businesses are forced to compete for seven per cent of market share. You'd think that that would be of interest to this government and the Treasury. I know it's of interest to the owners of the Coastal Brewing Company in Foster in the Lyne electorate, David and Helen Black, who just recently won the Champion Lager and Champion Pale Ale at the Sydney Royal Beer and Cider Show along, with two gold medals, five silver medals and a bronze medal. The Coastal Brewing Company focuses on producing high-quality small-batch beers, with distribution largely focused on New South Wales between Canberra and the Queensland border.”
“Despite the fact that the microbrewery industry experienced extraordinary growth in the decade leading up to 2021—it grew to almost eight per cent of the total Australian beer market in 2021—the sector needs more attention than this government is willing to give it. The RBA says 48 per cent of independent brewing businesses are struggling to maintain profitability, while the foreign owned multinational companies enjoy significant profit margins. While the excise tax on beer has increased every six months, the tax on wine has not. Since February 2020, excise tax on beer has increased by 20 per cent. The tax on the average glass of wine is now eight times cheaper than the tax on an average beer. The RBA also says that two big foreign owned breweries have an 83 per cent share of the Australian beer market.”
“Everyday Australians are footing the bill for this government's spending spree in their tax returns, electricity bills and mortgage statements and in their growing difficulty in finding a job. Government spending has blown out from 24 per cent to 27 per cent of GDP under this government. A number of inquiries have recommended a review of the beer and alcohol market for anticompetitive practices and the alcohol tax regime over the years, and yet nothing has eventuated. According to the Independent Brewers Association, the representative body for more than 600 microbrewers and their supply chain partners across Australia, beer is becoming unaffordable—$8 for a schooner is a good get these days.”
“Because of Labor's economic vandalism, households are paying 15 per cent more for food, 15 per cent more for health, 19 per cent more for housing, 37 per cent more for insurance and nearly 40 per cent more for electricity. The RBA is now in an impossible position, with both inflation and unemployment running higher than forecast. The Treasurer has his foot on the accelerator and an eye out for the headlines while the RBA governor, Michele Bullock, is looking for the handbrake. Mortgage holders are paying $1,800 more a month since the Albanese government came to power, with 12 rate rises and only three cuts. But wait; don't despair—beer will be a tiny bit cheaper!”
“It has 'missed opportunity' written all over it, and it's not an inflation buster. Inflation has smashed through the RBA's target band. That means more expensive mortgages and groceries. The cause of high inflation is reckless government spending, which is running at more than four times the rate of the economy. Recent inflation data has highlighted just how ineffective this policy will be at helping everyday Australians. Households need genuine action on the cost of living, not one cent off a schooner. Government spending is running at more than four times the rate of the economy, and it is at its highest level outside of a recession in nearly 40 years. This government's unfettered spending is keeping inflation higher for longer while Australians pay $50,000 every minute in interest on Labor's trillion dollar debt.”
“The excise is a lazy hidden tax, and Australians continue to pay the third-highest excise levels in the world, according to the Australian Hotels Association. Clubs and pubs have no control and can only pass the tax on to ordinary Australians. Many of the publicans and staff that I have spoke to in pubs and clubs across my electorate have had no choice but to absorb recent increases in excise or lose punters at the bar. If this government were serious about alcohol tax reform, they would have Treasury conducting a comprehensive review of the system. The coalition acknowledges that there will be a little relief for pubs, clubs and beer drinkers, and we are certainly not going to stand between a cut to the beer tax and the government. But this could have been much more.”
“Another point is that this intention was announced during the election and was meant to be applied in time for the excise increase on 1 August, but we're only getting to the bill now. Why the hold-up, and why just a pause on tap draught beer? Why not packaged beer, tap spirits and the like? And why not pause the excise on wine or cider or any other alcohol products? Let me tell you why. This measure is worth just $90 million over the forward estimates, which is completely minuscule compared to the $8 billion collected annually from all alcohol taxes. The measure accounts for less than two per cent of the total annual alcohol tax receipts, so they'll just keep on slugging people who like a glass of wine or something stiffer and keep that revenue rolling in.”
“Well, the actual monetary significance of the measure amounts to just two-fifths of not much. The excise pause will deliver less than 1c per pint of amber fluid. It will not have any meaningful impact on the cost and/or price of draught beer, and it's only on draught beer at the tap. It doesn't apply to microbrewers or retailed packaged beer. The reality is that this bill fails to address the Albanese Labor government's cost-of-living crisis and ignores the deeper issues with the alcohol excise system. What they haven't said is that this hidden tax has gone up every six months for the last 35 years—something like 85 times—and they are not going to look into this whole alcohol excise issue.”
“I rise in solidarity with my hardworking, dedicated and community minded pubs and brewers to speak on this legislation—legislation which does the absolute bare minimum to aid them and their industry and does absolutely nothing to address the significant issues that exist within the alcohol excise system. The Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill could have been a lot more than what it is. This bill could have gone a whole lot further than just implementing an election promise to temporarily halt the twice-yearly increase in excise of draught beer at pubs and clubs. That is all that it does. By 'temporarily' I mean that this measure will pause indexation of the beer excise for just two years—but that's enough to give the Albanese government it's 'cheaper beer' headline. Should the beer drinkers of Australia rejoice?”