We are being ripped off

[koshari]

What about event pricing? $9.00 for a small plastic cup of coopers pale ale is simply taking the piss ( no pun intended) . Dont get me wrong i like a nice drip of coopers but refuse to pay 9 bucks on principle.

At a metallica concert in praha in 99 i was drinking half litres of starapramen for under aussie dollar!

 

[Bridges]

I do agree Mants those same people would still flock in to buy their morning cask of goon, I just saw that there were a group of people that were really harming themselves, and think that equalization where all forms of alcohol are taxed equally may mean that the pace of said harm is slowed a bit as there is no standout "bang for buck" type alcohol to be had. By the same token maybe your neighbors have cut back from a pack a day to a couple of dozen ciggies a day. I really hate the idea of lower socio economic groups copping it, and I think the taxes on beer and cigs (I've never smoked and hate the things) are way over the top and grossly unfair, traditionally a beer and a ciggie were the only indulgences some people could enjoy. I do get the argument that they cost our community a lot in healthcare and other areas but putting GST on an excise is a scam that only a government could get away with...

So yeah we are being ripped off...

 

[MHB]

There is actually an offset at the point where Excise is calculated, You get to take around 1.15% off the alcohol content before paying the tax, this is to compensate for the Tax on a Tax situation.
https://www.ato.gov.au/business/exc...oods/alcohol-excise/excise-rates-for-alcohol/
At the bottom of the page is a link to "Beer" follow it for more information on how to do the calculation.
Mark

 

[Lyrebird_Cycles]

There is actually an offset at the point where Excise is calculated, You get to take around 1.15% off the alcohol content before paying the tax, this is to compensate for the Tax on a Tax situation.

My understanding is that was introduced a long time before the GST and for two reasons: so that excise is not payable on "no alcohol" beer* and to skew the excise so that light beers paid less.

You can tell how old it is by the number: 1.15% ABV is 2 degrees proof in the old English system where that mixture of alcohol and water that just allowed standard Royal Navy gunpowder to light was "proven".


* Most methods of producing "no alcohol" beer leave ~1% ABV behind.

 

[Mardoo]

Bunnings Warehouse!!

Man, I used to live in a neighbourhood full of chromers. That is some ****** up ****. Had a few beers in my front yard one day with one of the guys, and he started talking about the faculties that he knew he had lost - that his memory was ****** and he couldn’t tell the difference between reality and imagination, that his vision just went away randomly, that he had no interest in sex, and couldn’t always control his bowels. Said, “Guess it’s just my life now, huh?” And cried his eyes out. **** me. Hardest conversation ever. The worst part was that he knew those things were never coming back.

Sorry, back on topic…

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Question is whether taxing the vices of lower socio economic groups is merely punitive or effective in terms of harm minimisation. Every person and their dog in my suburb still smokes, despite the exorbitant price of a pack of 50 blank label shitsticks.

In Mexico they have put a 10% tax on soft drinks (sugar tax) and for 2 years running have seen a drop in consumption. Tobacco use here would surely be down compared to 20 years ago, I have no idea of the cost but if people are still smoking then surely it is not enough.

 

[malt junkie]

In Mexico they have put a 10% tax on soft drinks (sugar tax) and for 2 years running have seen a drop in consumption. Tobacco use here would surely be down compared to 20 years ago, I have no idea of the cost but if people are still smoking then surely it is not enough.

You don't cure any addiction, by sending people broke, you create larger problems.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

You don't cure any addiction, by sending people broke, you create larger problems.

I would say death is worse than broke, broke you can get over, death is irreversible.

 

[Bribie G]

Lots fail because they are not good at running a business.
No different to many of the other small businesses which fail.
Many small business owners do not have a proper business plan, no vision as to what they want to achieve, no proper monitoring and analysis of their costs and financial performance, no marketing plan, no projections, no cost control, etc etc, and are also often under capitalised. The result is that they revert back to a "comfort zone" doing the activity of the business without managing it. I've seen it with two of my wife's close relatives, one of which went bust in 2 different small businesses.

As a former Allens Sweets, then Rothmans, rep I've seen literally thousands of small businesses. In my case they were nearly all in the retail / service sector but what warra refers to would apply to all small business.

It struck me (and ask any rep they'd probably agree) that a good proportion of small businesses are started by people who either want to buy themselves a job or, worse, are totally unemployable in the real world.
How often do you see (for example in the local rag) .. after being made redundant from the engineering company Robert decided to follow his lifelong dream and finally realise his plan to manufacture and sell widgets...

Many buy themselves a "lifestyle". ... Helen and Harry felt they were getting nowhere in their medical careers in Sydney and wanted a better lifestyle for their kids - they felt that they deserved better than living in Blacktown. Then the opportunity came to move to Hervey Bay to take over the Golden Goldfish takeaway and souvenir shop .. the ideal sea change...

You could always tell the lifestylers, when I parked behind the row of shops you could count off the BMW SUV's, the Toyota Celicas for the wives - all leased of course .. Oh Harry's not in today he's playing volleyball....

Having said that I'd be the world's worst small businessman. I'm not hard arsed or full-of-myself enough. Give me the quiet life.

 

[Bribie G]

That's the equivalent of us paying about $33 for our more common 4L wine cask.

Really stopped preloading and bingeing over there didn't it.

 

[malt junkie]

I would say death is worse than broke, broke you can get over, death is irreversible.

Heads up, curing addiction, or having no addictions, won't stop death.

 

[Grott]

You don't cure any addiction, by sending people broke, you create larger problems.

Not sure if Australia wide but in SA the government introduced a hefty tax on alcohol drink mixtures like those can mixes (eg UDL) and alcopop bottles in an attempt to stop teenage binge drinking. All this did was to actually force an alternative. Buy a bottle of strong alcohol and mix your own.

Now at least one positive issue with the mixes was the alcohol content at the start of the “binge” was at least the same at the end of the “binge.
By mixing their own the problem has worsened, as like most that mix, start off with more mixer than alcohol, end up more alcohol than mixer.

 

[Grott]

I would say death is worse than broke, broke you can get over, death is irreversible.

Sadly there are different levels of “being broke”

 

[DU99]

Grott ..victoria got the same with pre mixed
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/04/27/1208743339515.html

 

[Dae Tripper]

In Mexico they have put a 10% tax on soft drinks (sugar tax) and for 2 years running have seen a drop in consumption. Tobacco use here would surely be down compared to 20 years ago, I have no idea of the cost but if people are still smoking then surely it is not enough.

In a country that had Coke cheaper and significantly safer than most water, it was time they did something. Or you could make the water safe too...

 

[bradsbrew]

In a country that had Coke cheaper and significantly safer than most water, it was time they did something. Or you could make the water safe too...

Is that cola you a referring to?

 

[Dae Tripper]

Is that cola you a referring to?

Lol yes, the dark nectar of life, not the crazy powder.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Heads up, curing addiction, or having no addictions, won't stop death.

Nothing will stop death, it is inevitable, curing addictions and having no addictions prolongs life and there is such a thing as choice.

In a country that had Coke cheaper and significantly safer than most water, it was time they did something. Or you could make the water safe too...

Bottled water is still far cheaper than cola, but unfortunately sugar is also an addiction.

Sadly there are different levels of “being broke”

True, but still manageable and reversible, death comes in one format only.

 

[malt junkie]

True, but still manageable and reversible, death comes in one format only.

Tell that to the 100,000 homeless in this country, who if they remain so, have a very curtailed life span.

Aging population is only going to get bigger the more clever we get, and as it is now we can't afford it. And a lot of pensioners can barely afford to live. So is the answer to work towards extending lives so they can retire into poverty. The number of elderly who die every year due to fiscally imposed restrains (think undernourishment, cold, heat stroke, lack of appropriate care) will only rise. I can't see this as being morally or fiscally prudent.

 

[Dae Tripper]

Bottled water is still far cheaper than cola, but unfortunately sugar is also an addiction.

Your right not cheaper but basically the same before the tax hike.

Ramón Aguirre Diaz, director of Mexico City’s water utility, says water quality isn’t as bad as believed: 95% of Mexico City’s drinking water is potable and 80% to 90% elsewhere in the country.
The National Water Commission says 9% of the population lacks access to tap water and 13% to sanitation.

So why trust water.

The current cost vs cola (shoud be after the tax hike)
Coke/Pepsi (0.33 liter bottle) 12.00 MXN
Water (0.33 liter bottle) 9.54 MXN
Or in Aussie dollars
Coke/Pepsi (0.33 liter bottle) 0.82 A$
Water (0.33 liter bottle) 0.65 A$

References
https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/country_result.jsp?country=Mexico&displayCurrency=AUD
https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/ivancastano/2012/02/22/mexicos-water-war/amp/

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Tell that to the 100,000 homeless in this country, who if they remain so, have a very curtailed life span.

One of the main causes of homelessness brings us back to substance abuse/addiction how many of those homeless fall into that category?
There will always be people who live for today without a care for the future, so there will always be people who will face a shortfall in retirement. The government is already taking steps to address this by reducing or cutting out the pensions altogether from those who have put money aside for their old age, my parents lose their pension next year under the means test.
I think the only thing the government can do is take more money off us in tax, raise the GST to 20% then just maybe they can look after the homeless and pensioners.

 

[malt junkie]

The top 1% of wage earners in this country probably each pay less tax than you do, they earn more that the entire bottom 20%, but no politician is ever going to go out of their way to tie this 1% to any sort of equilibrium, because they are the big contributers who help get them their nice comfy piece of the pie in politics.

We could do what the Yanks have done and say **** the poor! But then we'll have the same, destitution, and crime they do (just without the guns). You can drive through any part of any city at any time you like in this country; we don't have square kilometers of ghettos sprawled across the outskirts of our cities. I like it that way.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Gold.

 

[madpierre06]

Maybe we might score a politician who's got the stones and integrity to come in and put an end to the never ebnding gravy train that former politicians slop from...starting with tax payer funded, obscenely bloated pensions.

yeah, I heard myself.

 

[captain crumpet]

Tell that to the 100,000 homeless in this country, who if they remain so, have a very curtailed life span.

Aging population is only going to get bigger the more clever we get, and as it is now we can't afford it. And a lot of pensioners can barely afford to live. So is the answer to work towards extending lives so they can retire into poverty. The number of elderly who die every year due to fiscally imposed restrains (think undernourishment, cold, heat stroke, lack of appropriate care) will only rise. I can't see this as being morally or fiscally prudent.

Can i bring euthanasia into this? Or is that too taboo? I mean If society forces you into quick sand and doesn't throw you a rope...

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Why do you think they enter politics, great pension scheme theirs is always on the up, Malcolm is already worth $150 million and he thinks being prime minister is fun, I wouldn't pay that douche bag in 1/2" washers.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Can i bring euthanasia into this? Or is that too taboo? I mean If society forces you into quick sand and doesn't throw you a rope...

Funnily enough I have been giving euthanasia a lot of thought, I was all for it, let people die with dignity but 2 years ago I was ready to let go of life, even looking forward to it, then went on a trial and came good, though one never gets cured of cancer it has given me some more years (don't know how many) so unless they get the policy right I can't now say I fully agree with it.

 

[Leyther]

Australia is a very expensive country these days but I think its not all down to tax, a lot is probably greed too.

I was in the UK last year drinking Little Creatures Pale Ale and paying 2.99GBP for it in the walkabout bar, at todays ex rate (1.7 AUD2GBP) that's ~$5, yet in Melbourne CBD which is about 60km from where its brewed you'd be lucky to get one for less than $9!!! The UK has excise duty too plus there's the cost of freight, etc so how can this be? how much of that $9 is the greed of the bar owners or the greed of the landlord who rents out the pub.

Australia, the lucky country or the ripoff expensive country?

BTW that pic in the UK from a view posts back was staged although I have seen a scene very similar in Dumfries in Scotland

 

[Bribie G]

The main result of making Pre mixed drinks so expensive was to basically kick off widespread cider drinking in Australia.

Before that, cider was a weird thing that vegans and funny old men with funny whiskers drank. There was Strongbow, Mercury, end of story.

Now in our local bottlo the cider section is as big or bigger than the Bundy / Woodstock section.

Reminds me I must pop out for couple of 1.25L of Little Fat Lamb 8% before they ban that.

 

[Yuz]

$28 for a Jug of Furfy's. Not overly alcoholic nor spectacular brew, but acceptable.
My first "commercial" purchase in months. I think next one will only be into the 2018 sometime.