Country pubs feeling the pinch after latest excise slug

The price of beer in country pubs has gone up again with the latest excise rise kicking in this month. See the reaction.

The Australian Hoteliers Association has called for a freeze on alcohol excise as the price of a schooner of one of the country’s most popular beers hits $10 in some country pubs.

Pubs were whacked by the latest federal excise hike this month, coinciding with confirmation the AHA made a recent visit to Canberra to meet with senior MPs from both sides of parliament about a freeze.

The federal government raises the tax on grog twice a year, but AHA Victorian chief executive Paddy O’Sullivan said it wasn’t the only cost pressure on pubs.

“Pubs are hit with increasing costs such as transport, insurance, skyrocketing electricity and gas bills, and the cost of food ingredients,” he said.

“The liquor tax has already been raised 83 times. The government takes in $8bn a year off people having a beer at their local pub.

“A freeze on the constant tax increases would be a good start. Country pubs are the heart of their local communities.

“We want our customers to have value for money without the federal government’s unfair tax slugs.”

Australian Hotels Association (Victoria) chief executive Paddy O'Sullivan.

Bendigo’s Golden Square Hotel owner Tony Southcombe said the price of beer was “now on the limit of what people are prepared to pay”.

“If they put a couple of more rises in that will be the end of it,” he said.

“It’s right on the edge. They are killing the goose that laid the golden egg.”

Orbost’s Club Hotel has encountered four rises in excise since its doors reopened in August 2023.

“If you didn’t have those tax increases it would make a huge difference,” part-owner Craig Perry said.

“It’s definitely made it tougher.”

A survey of country pubs by The Weekly Times revealed some pubs had reluctantly lifted the price of a schooner of Carlton Draught over the bar to $10 in response to the latest excise hike.

Meanwhile, the AHA has backed a Coalition policy of a capped tax deduction for small businesses of $20,000 for business-related meal and entertainment expenses.

“Why shouldn’t a boss be able to take his hardworking team down to the pub and shout them a meal and use it as a deduction?” AHA national chief executive Stephen Ferguson said.