17 May 2011

Shane Rattenbury calls for more expensive booze [With poll]

| johnboy
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The Greens’ Shane Rattenbury is tackling binge drinking by calling to end alcohol discounting in supermarkets.

“The Attorney has powers in the liquor laws to stop supermarkets from selling alcohol at sharply reduced prices which encourage binge drinking. We want the Government to use these powers and to act in a preventative way.”

The call for the laws to be enforced also comes on the back of the supermarket price wars where the large retailers have engaged in aggressive competition behaviour which has driven prices below the recommended retail price in some instances.

“Enforcing the laws would also take on the supermarket price war which has seen the price of pre-mixed drinks cut to irresponsible low levels. This is bad for health and public safety.

“There is a well established link showing the lower the price on alcohol, the greater the risk of binge drinking. Extreme low prices on pre-mixed drinks are especially concerning as these are often the drink of choice for young people.

“Under the ACT’s new liquor laws, licensees face a $5,500 fine if they are found to be advertising in a way that promotes irresponsible drinking. The Attorney needs to enforce this law on the major retailers, not just the local bars and nightclubs around Canberra.

“There is a very fine line between standard retail competition in action and an irresponsible and out of control price war that harms young people. The Attorney needs to be clear with the large supermarkets on where the line is drawn in the ACT under our law,” Mr Rattenbury said.

Because if only those earning like MLA’s can afford to do it it’s not a problem?

Stopping binge drinking with alcohol discounting bans?

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averagejoeaussie12:28 am 02 Jun 11

Here we go again; hasn’t this idiot heard about the Alcopops tax and the amazing affect that had in reducing binge drinking? All the kids did then and would do now is buy bucket loads of goon (look it up, Shane – it’s really cheap, available and it does the job). What would stop me binge drinking is some sensible laws passed by sensible politicians from sensible governments. Not idiot zealots aligned with a minority unrealistic ideology party.

Clown Killer3:52 pm 18 May 11

I’d define “binge” drinking as not really drinking anything most of the time and then really hitting it hard when you do – like abstaining all week and then having twenty drinks on Saturday night.

Nevertheless, this is just another dour piece of bullsh!t policy from the folks that would have us all wearing hair shirts after they’ve forced us to share all our possessions. It’s the same tired ‘command and control’ approach favoured by watermelon extremists because it entrenches the role of the State as wet nurse and minimises free choice.

Holierthanthou3:05 pm 18 May 11

Do the guidelines actually call that binge drinking?

No, the guidelines give limits over which regular consumption may have negative impacts on health. A “binge” is not defined. For some people 3 beers will be a binge, for others not.

Thoroughly Smashed12:36 pm 18 May 11

Do the guidelines actually call that binge drinking?

Of course, under the new Roxon Health regime (c) three beers a night is now classified as binge drinking.

+1

Even if this legislation achieved what it designed to do, it would be wrong.

I never asked the Government decide what/when/how/why is best for me. They should butt out and leave individual choices to individuals. And individual actions to individual accountability.

Actually the three drink binge is the truth. It was downgraded from 5 a year or two ago. Anyone working in the industry started saying “would you like a glass of binge?”

The most hilarious thing is that public healthcare policy is powered by booze. Even the binge drinking conference finished with drinks.

Thoroughly Smashed10:13 am 18 May 11

Of course, under the new Roxon Health regime (c) three beers a night is now classified as binge drinking.

Is it?

Of course, under the new Roxon Health regime (c) three beers a night is now classified as binge drinking.

Which means I binge every simgle night of the year.

LOL – you should be ashamed of yourself! Without having a label for it back in my misspent youth, I’d say I ‘binged’ every now and then – in fact, I recall it was compulsory where I grew up.

If you’d wanted to stop binge drinking in my day you’d make the following things illegal: lemonade (made even the worst goon delicious), pineapple juice and ginger ale (whatever was in the punch, these were the predominant flavours) and all those nasty artificial “liqueurs” like whatever went into the college bucket of fruit tingles. We were happy to buy Smirnoff, cooking wine, cooking sherry, Melbourne Bitter, whatever was going, as long as we didn’t have to taste the stuff. Alcopops were for special occasions, definitely not for a binge!!

Obviously politicians are getting old and well past their student days.

Even in high school I was as likely to drink a single vodka and red cordial as I was to drink a single raspberry RTD.

Kids just can’t afford alcopops and never could.

I started drinking excessively at 14. I could buy bottles of spirits from my local supermarket, was rarely asked my age, and if I was I would simply answer 18 and then be served. At 16 I could drink at most pubs in my country town. No-one tried to stop me, and most peers joined in. I would have been better off and appreciated some Government led moderation. The supermarkets and pubs where simply about more profit, and take no social responsibility.

neanderthalsis said :

So more expensive grog will act as a deterrent in the same way that more expensive cigarettes have stopped smoking, more expensive petrol has stopped people driving and more expensive electricity has saved the antarctic from becoming a tropical paradise.

Wait are second. Are you sure those things aren’t a deterrent? Petrol prices definitely impact on people’s travel choices. More expensive electricity has made people change their energy habits. Don’t know about the cigarette one though…

Clown Killer said :

And how exactly does he intend to stop me buying wine and spirits on-line at significantly less than what you would pay in the liquor store?

It doesnt stop you doing that at all. It does stop a couple of kids putting 5 bucks together and buying a 4-pack of RTDs at the local. Most people over the age of 18 have figured out that its significantly cheaper to mix your own drinks than buy alcopops anyway.

It will penalise us mature-aged Canberrans who do our binge-drinking at home . . .

p1 said :

Snapped this pic Sunday Morning. At least they didn’t drive home…

That is the Party Car! They even used glasses. I wonder what happened to them?

At some point, it has to be accepted that many underage drinkiers are going to binge drink, no matter what the cost. The deterrent may work for a small proportion of binge drinkers, but in the end, young people will still equate getting drunk to being cool…

IMHO it would be FAR MORE EFFECTIVE to ask every purchaser if they are intending to binge drink, and if they say yes, place an additional fee on their purchase…

jeez p1, can you send in gems like that and tell me where they were taken?

PM said :

If he hadn’t have supported Corbell’s liquor laws people wouldn’t feel so inclined to “pre-load” before they headed out for a night on the town (ie, booze at clubs etc is too expensive).

Snapped this pic Sunday Morning. At least they didn’t drive home…

The Frots said :

Erg0 said :

I get the feeling that a lot of people don’t actually know what Shane’s referring to here. Either that or they’re really bothered about not being able to get a $20 case of awful, awful beer at Woolies. Or they’re irrational reactionaries. Definitely one of those.

Not sure what your getting at with this one.

If you read the release, he’s only talking about preventing excessive discounting by supermarkets, which hardly seems to warrant rampant hyperbole about attacks on our way of life.

I suspect that the reference to recommended retail price is an error – there was a movement on Coles’ part towards selling some of the more “working class” beers at lower than cost price, in a similar vein to their aggressive discounting of milk.

If he hadn’t have supported Corbell’s liquor laws people wouldn’t feel so inclined to “pre-load” before they headed out for a night on the town (ie, booze at clubs etc is too expensive). Contrary to what was being claimed by the ACT Govt when the laws were being introduced, these new liquor laws have had an adverse affect on violence because people are now drinking booze with no RSA.

Is this press release an admission that he erred in supporting the ACT Govt’s liquor laws?

And how does Shane’s party’s flirtation with decriminalising something like ecstacy (in NSW, at least, and I know that division is a tad nuttier than here) align with his stance against Civic violence, when many observations of the numb-nuts who mostly cause problems is that they have alcohol AND illicit drugs in their system?

Thoroughly Smashed12:50 pm 17 May 11

neanderthalsis said :

So more expensive grog will act as a deterrent in the same way that more expensive cigarettes have stopped smoking, more expensive petrol has stopped people driving and more expensive electricity has saved the antarctic from becoming a tropical paradise.

Nice straw man!

Erg0 said :

I get the feeling that a lot of people don’t actually know what Shane’s referring to here. Either that or they’re really bothered about not being able to get a $20 case of awful, awful beer at Woolies. Or they’re irrational reactionaries. Definitely one of those.

Not sure what your getting at with this one.

What a lot of wank. So kids get drunk Hello! They always have, always will. So everyone has to be penalised? Bugger off.

I admired Smirnoff’s stand on the “alcopops” nonsense. They released Goon bags of pre-mixed Vodka and sweet flavourings.

We are already stung massively on grog tax. It doesn’t stop anything, just funnels more money to the government. Hey shane, what about all the fatty boom-bah kiddies out there, why aren’t you going after the mall doughnut chains and Maccas? Or their parents… tax them per kilo of bodyweight.

Erg0 said :

I get the feeling that a lot of people don’t actually know what Shane’s referring to here. Either that or they’re really bothered about not being able to get a $20 case of awful, awful beer at Woolies. Or they’re irrational reactionaries. Definitely one of those.

Or maybe some of us just think that politicians could find better things to do with their well-paid time. Like planking for example.

I get the feeling that a lot of people don’t actually know what Shane’s referring to here. Either that or they’re really bothered about not being able to get a $20 case of awful, awful beer at Woolies. Or they’re irrational reactionaries. Definitely one of those.

I take it that Rattenbury had a crappy childhood and teenage years so he wants to ruin it for everyone. It seems that whenever the pollies hear about something fun or interesting that folk get up to in Canberra, they go out of their way to over-regulate it, charge for it, take credit for it or just ban it.

If he wants to go ahead with this then he should take a look at the cost of living compared to the comsumer price index. Just because he lives in a gilded mansion where he can afford whatever he wants does not mean that the rest of Canberra can afford it. By doing this he is alienating a couple of demographics and raising the general cost of living for everyone. Dont make people over 30 suffer because you want to target young people.

If you read this Shane (and i dont think that you will), think about the “average” canberran as your target interest and not your hipster, 100K a year mates when making decisions that affect everyone.

You will never tackle binge drinking because it is an individual exercise exercised by the individual.

Again politicians calling for action o be taken so those of us who can d things responsibly pay for the actions of those who can’t. Nice work Shane. Will we pay more for coffee too because of the people who get over hyped on caffine?

Clown Killer12:16 pm 17 May 11

“… large retailers have engaged in aggressive competition behaviour which has driven prices below the recommended retail price in some instances.”

Please tell me someone has told Shane that the RRP is an arbitrary figure made up by the manufacturer or distributor and its purpose is simply that of a marketting tool.

And how exactly does he intend to stop me buying wine and spirits on-line at significantly less than what you would pay in the liquor store?

Just another dumb-arse policy from this pack of retards.

neanderthalsis12:11 pm 17 May 11

So more expensive grog will act as a deterrent in the same way that more expensive cigarettes have stopped smoking, more expensive petrol has stopped people driving and more expensive electricity has saved the antarctic from becoming a tropical paradise.

Once again we see our left wing pollies waging a “War on Alcopops” to save the kiddies from the evil menace of vodka lolly water. As with KRudds Alcopop war, this will simply see the kiddies shift to other, cheaper forms of booze, like the binge drinkers gut rot of choice when I was a teen, passion pop, asti spumante and Stones.

Will we see the emergence of cross border bootlegging as people drive out to the wilderness of Quangers to buy a trailer load of cheap booze to last through the chilly winter months?

johnboy said :

Aww, shane’s got a friend after all!

It was probably him voting.

Aww, shane’s got a friend after all!

This poll is going better than I’d imagined.

Hey King O’ Rattenbury. Ever hear of Queenbeyan? Out the airport?

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