{"id":6575,"date":"2025-07-19T19:09:16","date_gmt":"2025-07-19T19:09:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/6575\/"},"modified":"2025-07-19T19:09:16","modified_gmt":"2025-07-19T19:09:16","slug":"should-australia-impose-a-sugar-tax-parents-experts-at-odds-over-whether-we-should-pay-more-for-sweet-treats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/6575\/","title":{"rendered":"Should Australia impose a sugar tax? Parents, experts at odds over whether we should pay more for sweet treats"},"content":{"rendered":"

By many metrics, Emma Prescott\u2019s four-year-old daughter Millie is healthy.<\/p>\n

She exercises daily \u2014 a combination of swimming, acrobatics and three types of dance classes \u2014 and though she\u2019s a picky eater, she loves tucking into fruit. She rarely catches a sniffle and is not a drain on the public health system.<\/p>\n

In fact, Millie is a model for major retail outlets including Big W, K-Mart and Aldi and promotes the latest kids\u2019 fashion and lifestyle on her mum\u2019s popular Instagram account @emnmillie.<\/p>\n

So the idea that officials would want to control what ordinary people eat or drink while also increasing the shopping bills of already hard-pressed families rankles Mrs Prescott.<\/p>\n

The 34-year-old stay-at-home mum from Alkimos has already spent the past six months since Millie started kindergarten fretting over whether the lunchbox police will bust her for contraband.<\/p>\n

Most days, she slips a small packet of sweets into Millie\u2019s lunchbox alongside her cheese sandwich and fruit.<\/p>\n

Despite managing to maintain a clean sheet, she has still been feeling the anxiety that comes with living on the edge in a society where health and wellness is constantly under the microscope, especially when it comes to how parents deliver this to their children.<\/p>\n

Tax reform talk heats up<\/p>\n

Australia does not currently have a sugar tax but the heat is on for the Federal Government to introduce one, particularly on sugar-sweetened beverages, defined as any non-alcoholic, water-based beverage that has been sweetened with added sugars.<\/p>\n

This includes soft drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks, cordials, some fruit drinks and any others that contain added sugars, are energy dense and nutrient poor.<\/p>\n

With the Treasurer Jim Chalmers\u2019 economic reform roundtable less than a month away, Treasury has made it clear it wants to see both the tax take rise and spending fall as a way to strengthen the economy as the nation grapples with extreme global economic uncertainty, compounded by conflict and trade tensions around the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to do more to make the budget more sustainable,\u201d Dr Chalmers said earlier this week when he was faced with leaked advice on tax reform from part of his department\u2019s incoming government brief.<\/p>\n

\"TreasurerCamera IconTreasurer Jim Chalmers. Credit: Martin Ollman NewsWire\/NCA NewsWire<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, when you ask me about tax reform more broadly, what we\u2019ve asked people to come to the roundtable with is ideas which are broadly budget neutral or better.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd people will come with all kinds of suggestions about how changing one tax over here will make it possible to cut taxes over there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The obvious targets include the wealthy, like those sitting on large superannuation balances, but other areas getting a mention include introducing an sugar-sweetened beverages tax.<\/p>\n

Health organisations like the Australian Medical Association and Cancer Council point out many other countries, such as the UK, France, Mexico, and parts of the US, have implemented sugar taxes with positive results.<\/p>\n

They say it will generate millions, if not billions, of dollars for the Treasury annually and cut the number of people becoming ill as a result of a poor diet.<\/p>\n

Cost of living pressures<\/p>\n

But Mrs Prescott said she would not support imposing that kind of extra financial burden on the public.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hate going to the supermarket now because everything is just so expensive,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n

Every child is entitled to have their fair share of lollies.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe spent well over $50 a week just on fresh berries because Millie goes through a punnet a day of fresh strawberries or raspberries and I tried buying the frozen ones thinking she won\u2019t know but no, it must be fresh.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t buy soft drinks that often but we always have some in our fridge for when we have people over.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow a 10 pack of Coke is about $15, and I think, \u2018Jesus, the cost of living is high enough as it is\u2019, so why would we want it any higher?<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd, at the end of the day, every child is entitled to have their fair share of lollies.<\/p>\n

\"MumCamera IconMum Emma says daughter Millie is a happy, healthy little girl. Credit: Ross Swanborough\/The West Australian<\/p>\n

\u201cAs long as they have a certain amount of good foods throughout the day I have never been too strict on it and I don\u2019t see why we should have to pay more for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mrs Prescott, naturally, is concerned for Millie\u2019s health on the whole but she does not think letting her daughter enjoy sugary treats sometimes will put her at risk of health problems in the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cObesity is obviously a constant fear of mine with Millie, especially because I suffered it as a child and was bullied for it, but Millie is perfect and has the cutest little body and is always active,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo whether it is us, or any other normal families out there, I think if you polled 100 standard families they would all say \u2018No\u2019 to a sugar tax.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf your kids want a sugary drink or a lolly now and then, why should we be penalised by being forced to pay more for things that are just an indulgence when life is hard enough for families.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tax tackles obesity and disease<\/p>\n

But talk of a sugary drinks tax is ramping up again, with the AMA calling on the government to tax sugar-sweetened beverages at a rate of 50\u00a2 per 100g of sugar, levied against beverage manufacturers.<\/p>\n

\"UWACamera IconUWA nutritionist Dr Amelia Harray. Credit: Andrew Ritchie\/The West Australian<\/p>\n

\u201cThe evidence shows that sugary drinks are fuelling rates of obesity and chronic disease \u2014 and a sugar tax is our best chance at getting on top of this crisis,\u201d AMA Vice President Associate Professor Julian Rait said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur proposal … would drive down annual sugar consumption by 2kg per person, while raising $3.6 billion in government revenue that can be invested in other crucial preventive health measures.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recent research published by the AMA revealed Aussies are drinking more than 2.2 billion litres of sugary drinks each year.<\/p>\n

And, between 2019 and 2020, they consumed, on average, 70 grams of free sugar a day, with more than a quarter (18g) of this coming from sugary drinks.<\/p>\n

University of Western Australia nutritionist and dietitian Amelia Harray said the introduction of sugary drink taxes overseas had lead to a drop in the amount of added sugar in people\u2019s diets.<\/p>\n

A tax in Australia would encourage drinks manufacturers to reduce the sugar content of their products here too, she added.<\/p>\n

\u201cBritain did it seven years ago and Mexico more than 10 years ago so I\u2019m not sure what the Australian Government is waiting for,\u201d she told The Sunday Times.<\/p>\n

Industry outcry<\/p>\n

Yet, to date, politicians from both sides have resisted a sugar tax, citing reasons such as dietary choices should be left to the individual and a levy would disproportionately fall upon Australia\u2019s lowest earners.<\/p>\n

The Australian Beverages Council Limited, the peak body representing the non-alcoholic drinks industry, has led the fight against a sugar tax in Australia.<\/p>\n

According to chief executive Geoff Parker, there is no clear evidence whatsoever that this kind of tax would reduce obesity or type 2 diabetes.<\/p>\n

He said it would only hurt Australian\u2019s hip pockets and contribute even more to the cost-of-living crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo country that has introduced such a tax has demonstrated any reduction in rates of overweight or obesity,\u201d Mr Parker told The Sunday Times, and he believes these kinds of interventions are \u201cdiscriminatory and regressive\u201d.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThis outdated policy proposal overlooks shifting consumer behaviour, supported by government data, the broad range of beverage choices already available, and the lack of clear evidence from overseas jurisdictions that such taxes have made a difference in public health outcomes.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur industry is the only supermarket category to have proactively committed to reducing sugar through the nation\u2019s only industry-led voluntary Sugar Reduction Pledge \u2014 eliminating more than 200,000 tonnes of sugar from beverages since 2015.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Parker said the reality is that obesity is a complex health problem and singling out sugary drinks is \u201csimplistic and misguided\u201d when other strategies would help Australians be healthier.<\/p>\n

Revenue used for prevention programs<\/p>\n

But health experts say sugary drinks are \u201csingled out\u201d for good reason.<\/p>\n

\"AnCamera IconAn average 12-fluid ounce can of soda has 40 grams of sugar, or the equivalent of 20 sugar cubes. Credit: Ssgt Nathanael Callon\/McClatchy Tribune<\/p>\n

Professor Meredith Blake, co-director of the Centre for Health Law and Policy at UWA, said sugar-sweetened beverages were also targeted because they were an easily identifiable product, have no nutritional benefit and were \u201cjust like eating spoonfuls of sugar\u201d.<\/p>\n

While Australia needs many policies aimed at tackling obesity and diet-related diseases, Prof Blake added a tax on sugary drinks would be relatively straight-forward to implement because \u201cwe won\u2019t be reinventing the wheel\u201d and it will contribute to a \u201cmuch-needed government response to the health crisis associated with obesity, particularly in children.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, \u201chigh quality\u201d data out of the UK, Mexico and South Africa has already shown the tax is reducing consumption of sugary drinks and resulting in the reformulation of products with a lowered sugar content, she said.<\/p>\n

Public Health Association of Australia WA President Ainslie Sartori agreed. \u201cResults from other countries that have introduced a sugar-sweetened beverages levy show that consumption falls, while manufacturers reformulate such drinks to lessen their sugar content,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

We know SSBs provide energy and calories and not a lot of nutrients<\/p>\n

Dr Harray said it was time for Australian politicians to show courage and stand up to the \u201cpowerful\u201d global sugary drinks industry which puts profits before public health.<\/p>\n

She said the evidence is clear that Australians are consuming too much added sugar. Research shows 12 per cent of Australians\u2019 daily energy intake comes from added sugars, yet the World Health Organisation recommends no more than 5 per cent per day for good health.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know SSBs provide energy and calories and not a lot of nutrients, if any at all,\u201d explained Dr Harray<\/p>\n

\u201cThis means they are providing our bodies with extra calories it does not need and it can get stored as fat.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is this extra energy that can contribute to obesity and we know that obesity is a key risk factor for diet-related diseases like cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and many cancers that are leading causes of death in this country.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we have an issue in relation to what people consume and the impact it is having on their health.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tax has public support<\/p>\n

Dr Harray also noted there was public support for a sugar tax.<\/p>\n

She said a national study in 2017 found 60 per cent of Australians support a tax on sugary drinks.<\/p>\n

This increased to 77 per cent support if the proceeds were used to fund obesity prevention.<\/p>\n

Dr Harray said these could help subsidise fresh fruits and vegetables so they are cheaper for families to purchase.<\/p>\n

Prof Blake said a sugar tax does risk disproportionately impacting poorer people, but UWA researchers had found the impact could be cushioned if the money raised from it was re-directed back into helping this group.<\/p>\n

She said her team even devised an approach which is \u201centirely possible under the Commonwealth tax scheme\u201d for introducing an SSB tax in Australia which could mandate that money is directed to health initiatives for disadvantaged groups as a condition of the tax.<\/p>\n

According to the Grattan Institute, which like Dr Harray and Prof Blake supports a tiered tax, sugar taxes work: they slash sales and get manufacturers to put less sugar in their drinks.<\/p>\n

Countries like the UK are now seeing a reduction in obesity among girls, less dental decay, and fewer children having to go to hospital to get teeth removed.<\/p>\n

A recent review of the UK\u2019s tiered system found British people had reduced their free sugar intake by 10.9grams per day within the first year of the tax being introduced, equivalent to almost three teaspoons a day of added sugar, added Dr Harray.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, the tax didn\u2019t lead to people substituting the sugary drinks they used to drink with other high sugar foods or drinks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn terms of what the government can do to support our population for their nutrition, bringing in a sugary drinks tax is simple and a no-brainer and absolutely a matter of urgency,\u201d Dr Harray said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By many metrics, Emma Prescott\u2019s four-year-old daughter Millie is healthy. She exercises daily \u2014 a combination of swimming,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6576,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,137,1625,44],"class_list":{"0":"post-6575","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-australia","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-lifestyle","12":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6575"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6575\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}