Push for cut to beer tax as 40 million fewer pints sold over 3-month period

With Omicron belting beer sales in pubs and clubs this summer, hoteliers are begging the federal government to cut taxes on beer sold in licensed premises.

The federal government is being urged to cut taxes on beer sold in licensed premises after data revealed pubs and clubs across Australia sold 40 million fewer pints of beer in July to September 2021 than they did in the same period in 2019.

With the Omicron wave belting beer sales in pubs this summer, Australian ­Taxation Office data shows 903,982 litres of alcohol were served in beers over the counter in July-September 2021 ­compared to 1,993,027 litres during the same period in the year before the pandemic began.

Pub owner Joel Taylor says sales are down even on last year’s numbers, when capacity restrictions were in place. Picture: Mike Dugdale

The drop is equivalent to roughly 80 million pots or 53.5 million schooners in the three-month period.

Brewers Association of Australia said the figures showed venues’ losses in 2021 could be even bigger than the horror year of 2020, in which beer sales dropped by more than $1 billion.

Association chief executive John Preston said the figures revealed that the damage for pubs and clubs had “actually worsened last year”, with beer sales ­making up around 70 per cent of alcohol sales volumes in licensed premises.

“We are very concerned that on February 1 the Australian government will hit Australian beer drinkers with one of the biggest beer tax increases in more than a decade — it’s not right and it’s not sustainable,” Mr Preston said, adding that “other countries have been reducing their tax on draught beer to give pubs and beer ­drinkers a break”.

“We are calling for the federal government to use the forthcoming federal budget to reduce Australia’s highest beer tax in the world to give pubs and clubs a fighting chance.”

Commercial Hospitality Sam Tresise fears many smaller operators will go out of business. Picture: Mark Stewart

Joel Taylor, owner of Victorian coastal pubs Barwon Heads Hotel and Torquay Hotel, said Boxing Day to Australia Day was usually peak season, but “so far we’ve seen sales down 50-60 per cent from last year, when we were dealing with capacity restrictions”.

He said last week the staffing crisis had forced the Barwon Heads hotel to close for four days and the Torquay Hotel for two at a time, when he would expect to have between 600 and 900 customers through the door every day.

Sam Tresise, managing director of the Commercial Hospitality Group, said many pub businesses would have been relying on this summer period to recover from the devastating hit to sales experienced during lockdowns.

“The reality is that this hasn’t happened,” he said.

“We’ve seen significant numbers of events cancelled as people come down with Covid-19 and our pubs have been forced to close as staff have been unable to work.

“This is our busiest time of year and the impact of Omicron has been devastating.

“From a broader hospitality point of view, my fear is that many smaller operators won’t survive this latest wave.

“From our point of views we want to grow and expand our business but staff issues are making this incredibly difficult.”