Ahead of the 2025 Federal Election in May, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has made a bid to freeze taxes on tap beer for two years, describing it as “a common sense measure” in a statement made on March 1.
“My Government is building Australia’s future and to do that we need to support our small and medium local businesses to thrive,” Albanese said.
“Freezing the excise on draught beer is a common sense measure that is good for beer drinkers, good for brewers and good for pubs.”
The statement, issued on the PM’s website, also called this move a “win for beer drinkers, brewers and hospitality businesses”.
“Indexation is applied twice a year under arrangements in place for decades. While the February indexation accounted for a small percentage of the cost of a pint, this change will help pubs and their patrons.
“We will freeze indexation on draught beer for two years from the next indexation date of August 2025.
This will take pressure off the price of a beer poured in pubs, clubs and other venues, supporting businesses, regional tourism and customers across Australia.”
The tax on draught beer and spirits has risen by 10 per cent since 2022, due to inflation, and the latest tax increase (between 2 to 3 per cent higher) occurred on February 3.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers is quoted as calling this a “modest change” in the statement.
“[It] will help take a little bit of the pressure off beer drinkers, brewers and bars,” Chalmers said.
In a release sent to PEDESTRIAN.TV, Clubs Australia stated their “warm welcoming” of the PM’s recent announcement.
“Clubs Australia has warmly welcomed the Federal Government’s announcement that in August 2025 it will freeze excise on draught beer for at least the next two years.”
Rebecca Riant, Clubs Australia’s Executive Director, stated in the release that this is “great news”.
“In the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, this is great news for the hospitality industry and the millions of Australians who enjoy a few refreshing beers at their local club,” Riant said.
“Today’s announcement also reflects that a supervised environment such as a registered club, with strong responsible service of alcohol duties, is a safe and vibrant setting to enjoy a beer.
“Prime Minister Anthony Albanese should be commended for this move. We’d call on the Federal Opposition to adopt the same stance on excise, to provide certainty for industry and beer lovers across the country.”
However, since this tax is specifically made for draught beer, spirits producers and drinkers will not see a two-year pause.
Spirits & Cocktails Australia chief executive Greg Holland stated that the pause is “discriminatory in every sense”, in a statement to Nine.
“The tax on spirits is already three times higher than it is on beer. Freezing draught beer excise alone is discriminatory in every sense – it favours beer drinkers over spirit drinkers, brewers over distillers, and pubs over bars,” Holland said.
The two-year pause will commence this coming August, if Labor is re-elected in the upcoming Federal Election.
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