Price of alcohol, tobacco to rise under government blueprint | Health & Lifestyle | News.com.au
THE price of alcohol and cigarettes would rise and glitzy marketing
campaigns pitched at teenagers would be curbed under a radical
blueprint to make Australians healthier and leaner.
And poor communities would receive cash incentives or vouchers to buy fresh food under the Federal Government plan.
Damaging
levels of salt, sugar and fats in everyday foods would be cut as part
of a "health compact" to tackle an obesity epidemic that costs $58
billion a year, the Herald Sun reports.
Kevin Rudd's handpicked Preventative Health Taskforce
wants to introduce a minimum "floor" tax for alcohol. This would force
up the price of many cheap, popular drinks favoured by teenagers, but
could see the cost of premium wines come down.
With Melbourne
and other cities reeling from alcohol-fuelled street violence, the
taskforce is pushing a series of tough reforms.
It wants far stricter controls over licensing
hours and alcohol marketing, including a ban on "inappropriate" booze
promotions - a move that could hit teen magazines such as Dolly.
The taskforce also wants Australians to stop smoking.
It says the average price for a packet of 30 cigarettes should rise by about $5 to $20.
Cigarette promotions would be pushed "under the counter".
But the Government will face pressure to avoid tax changes on alcohol and tobacco that disproportionately hit the working poor.
The Herald Sun
reports the expert group recommends a "health compact" between
government and the $70 billion food sector aimed at improving the
nutritional value of everyday supermarket items.
The new deal
aims to reduce the levels of salt, sugar and fats in popular foods and
build on work already being done to reduce the level of salt in bread
and breakfast cereals.
This would affect everyday items
ranging from corn flakes to potato chips, although the taskforce avoids
precise targets and time frames. In a bid to improve the diet of poor
and remote communities, the government is being urged to make fresh and
healthy foods more accessible.
The taskforce is believed to push a range of options including fresh food "vouchers" and other cash incentives.
It is believed the report canvasses a so-called "fat tax" as a way of reducing girths and tackling the obesity epidemic.
The
expert panel has outlined a raft of measures aimed at reducing the
number of smokers from 2.9 million and cutting levels of alcohol abuse
by 30 per cent within a decade.
The taskforce supports a ban
on alcohol sponsorship of sport, which would cost footy and cricket up
to $300 million a year in lost revenue. Easy-to-read labelling would
help consumers choose food that is good for them.
But the
taskforce stops short of supporting "traffic light" labelling, which is
used overseas and involves a simple red, amber and green code to show
the food's health rating.
THE price of alcohol and cigarettes would rise and glitzy marketing
campaigns pitched at teenagers would be curbed under a radical
blueprint to make Australians healthier and leaner.
And poor communities would receive cash incentives or vouchers to buy fresh food under the Federal Government plan.
Damaging
levels of salt, sugar and fats in everyday foods would be cut as part
of a "health compact" to tackle an obesity epidemic that costs $58
billion a year, the Herald Sun reports.
Kevin Rudd's handpicked Preventative Health Taskforce
wants to introduce a minimum "floor" tax for alcohol. This would force
up the price of many cheap, popular drinks favoured by teenagers, but
could see the cost of premium wines come down.
With Melbourne
and other cities reeling from alcohol-fuelled street violence, the
taskforce is pushing a series of tough reforms.
It wants far stricter controls over licensing
hours and alcohol marketing, including a ban on "inappropriate" booze
promotions - a move that could hit teen magazines such as Dolly.
The taskforce also wants Australians to stop smoking.
It says the average price for a packet of 30 cigarettes should rise by about $5 to $20.
Cigarette promotions would be pushed "under the counter".
But the Government will face pressure to avoid tax changes on alcohol and tobacco that disproportionately hit the working poor.
The Herald Sun
reports the expert group recommends a "health compact" between
government and the $70 billion food sector aimed at improving the
nutritional value of everyday supermarket items.
The new deal
aims to reduce the levels of salt, sugar and fats in popular foods and
build on work already being done to reduce the level of salt in bread
and breakfast cereals.
This would affect everyday items
ranging from corn flakes to potato chips, although the taskforce avoids
precise targets and time frames. In a bid to improve the diet of poor
and remote communities, the government is being urged to make fresh and
healthy foods more accessible.
The taskforce is believed to push a range of options including fresh food "vouchers" and other cash incentives.
It is believed the report canvasses a so-called "fat tax" as a way of reducing girths and tackling the obesity epidemic.
The
expert panel has outlined a raft of measures aimed at reducing the
number of smokers from 2.9 million and cutting levels of alcohol abuse
by 30 per cent within a decade.
The taskforce supports a ban
on alcohol sponsorship of sport, which would cost footy and cricket up
to $300 million a year in lost revenue. Easy-to-read labelling would
help consumers choose food that is good for them.
But the
taskforce stops short of supporting "traffic light" labelling, which is
used overseas and involves a simple red, amber and green code to show
the food's health rating.
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