Soaring alcohol tax causing massive headache for pub owners

A South Melbourne Irish pub wants the federal government to “come and talk to us” about the damage the constantly rising alcohol tax is having on the struggling hospitality industry.

Staff at an Irish pub in South Melbourne are calling on the government to “come and talk” to them about the impact their constantly growing alcohol tax is having on their businesses.

Limerick Arms manager Zuzana Belejova said it was all well and good for the government to raise the taxes but they need to see first-hand the impact it is having.

“They (the government) should be looking at the whole picture, they should come and talk to the actual people who own the pubs and bars,” she said.

“They should come and see the industry and actually ask us ‘hey, how are you doing? How can we help you?’

“In the six and a half years I have been manager we have put the beer prices up maybe four times, but that is always just to cover the cost and in that time a pint has gone from $10 or $12 to $16-$18.

Limerick Arms manager Zuzana Belejova want the government to talk to pub owners about the impact of their rising taxes. Picture: Wayne Taylor

“It’s not like we have decided just to have $18 pints, and it is hard to explain to people that even though it’s so expensive, I’m not actually making any more money and that I am just covering my costs.”

It comes after a string of pub closures across the state, as owners battle with rising costs.

Abbotsford’s historic Carringbush Hotel closed its doors permanently on Sunday June 2, citing “the current financial pinch”, just a few years after undergoing a makeover.

The Herald Sun has also learnt a 168-year-old country pub — one of the oldest in the state — is also facing financial difficulty, and recently appointed a restructuring practitioner.

The Bendigo Hotel in Collingwood also shut in March amid calls for Prime Minister “DJ Albo” to step in and help Melbourne’s struggling live music industry.

Administrators have now been appointed to the Carringbush. Picture: Ian Currie

Meanwhile mystery surrounds the sudden closure of a popular Ballarat pub, with its Facebook page quietly changed to “permanently closed”.

The Mallow on Skipton St indicated on social media that “due to health issues the pub will be closed”.

And a small western Victorian town is without its only pub after the doors of its beloved watering hole were closed last month and are yet to reopen.

The historic 140-year-old Western Hotel in Balmoral, about 65km north of Hamilton in the state’s Western District, is currently quiet and vacant after previous management ceased operations last month.