Struggling restaurants tell Treasurer to cut excise for all alcoholic drinks

Hospitality industry figures fear the Morrison government’s tap beer tax cut will leave small restaurants and cafes behind. Here’s their alternative.

The Morrison government’s plan to cut the excise on draught beer will not go far enough to help the Covid-hit hospitality industry or brewers and distillers, given that Australian alcohol excise taxes will remain among the highest in the developed world say industry figures.

In a letter to Treasurer Josh Frydenberg seen by The Daily Telegraph, Restaurant & Catering Australia chief Wes Lambert has called for a broad reduction of alcohol excise taxes to help support the $37 billion hospitality industry and said that a cut in taxes on draught beers will only help big players.

The Morrison government’s proposed beer tax cut has put licensed premises including wine bars, restaurants and cafes offside. Picture: AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy

“For many licensed restaurants and cafes across the country who cannot afford to install draught beer taps, a cut to draught beer would not support them,” Mr Lambert wrote.

“Smaller restaurants and cafes who rely on the sale of predominantly bottled beer, wine and spirits during lunchtime trade would note see any real benefit.”

“Cutting excise overall is especially important now, given the ongoing nightmare that the hospitality industry has continued to experience throughout the Covid-19 pandemic … excise relief would be an enormous boost” to an industry that was hit harder than most by the coronavirus, the letter continued.

Restaurant & Catering Australia chief Wes Lambert has penned a letter to the Treasurer demanding a broader overhall. Picture: Supplied

In February, it was reported that the Morrison government was looking at a way to cut the excise tax on draught beer to revive the fortunes of pubs and clubs while at the same time saving drinkers an estimated 30 cents a schooner.

However the move has been attacked as sexist because the overwhelming majority of beer drinkers are men.

Surveys suggest that only 10 per cent of Australian women say they regularly drink beer compared to 50 per cent of men, and that women are three times more likely to choose spirits over beer when they go out – drinking less overall but consuming higher quality drinks.

“Government figures show almost three times as many Australian women choose to enjoy spirits rather than beer,” said Kathleen Davies, founder of the industry group Women in Australian Distilling.

“But all we ever hear from our politicians in the media is about the importance of supporting beer and the brewing industry,” she said.