Sen. Fielding blog - comment on ?alcopops?

On 15 April the Federal Government announced that it will attempt to re-introduce its higher tax on alcopops. Health bodies are supporting this tax as one measure to help reduce alcohol abuse in our community. Senator Fielding has indicated that he will again block the tax unless the Federal Government agrees to ban alcohol advertising during televised sporting events before 9 pm. While also a welcome measure, it is unhelpful at this time to give the distillers a lower tax should the Federal Government fail to agree to the advertising ban.

Senator Fielding does not respond to e-mails, but pays attention to his blog site. You can write respectful comments on his blog.

Points to make to Senator Fielding:

- Ask that he support the increased tax on ready-to-drink alcoholic beverages when it is re-introduced to the Parliament in May.
- Point out that this is one necessary measure to help reduce the harm alcohol is causing young people in our community.
- Welcome the other measures that Senator Fielding is seeking, such as warning labels on alcoholic products and restrictions on advertising, but these measures should be additional to the increased tax on alcopops and he should continue to pursue them in addition to supporting the increased tax.
- The only people who will really benefit if the tax is lifted are the alcohol industry (in this case the distillers represented by the Distilled Spirits Industry Council).
- Note that all the health bodies that presented evidence to the Senate inquiry on the tax supported its introduction as one measure of harm minimisation.
- Point out that the alcohol industry makes about $217 million in revenue from underage drinkers and that this tax will help curb the incentive of the industry to target underage drinkers by eating into their profits.
- Welcome that he is willing to allow the Government to keep the tax they have collected so far, rather than having to hand it back to the alcohol industry.
- Express concern that the decision by the Distilled Spirits Industry Council Australia (DSICA) not to advertise on TV before 9 pm for a trial period of 12 months is illusionary. Many member of DSICA don’t advertise on TV anyway, so they give up nothing. Second, DSICA says they will continue to sponsor sport and will advertise at sporting events via players’ uniforms, referees’ uniforms, on-field logos and so forth.

You might also want to write to the Leader of the Opposition, The Hon. Malcolm Turnbull at Malcolm.Turnbull.MP@aph.gov.au, and the Shadow Minister for Health, The Hon. Peter Dutton, at Peter.Dutton.MP@aph.gov.au to express disappointment at their opposition to increase the tax on alcopops as one measure to help address alcohol abuse in our community.

The Justice and International Mission Unit supports a public health approach to reducing the harm caused by alcohol in our community, which means supporting measures to reduce demand for alcohol (such as restricting advertising of alcohol, programs to encourage responsible consumption of alcohol, increasing the tax on alcoholic products to increase their price), to reduce the supply of alcohol (reducing places where alcohol can be purchased and restrictions on the hours that liquor outlets can operate) and measures to assist those who have been harmed by alcohol.

Background

In 2007 Mat Baxter, principal of Naked Communications and marketer of Absolut Cut, admitted advertisers pitch alcohol to ?young binge drinkers?. He stated that there had been ?a conscious effort to make those drinks more appealing to young people.? He said that cheap, sweetened ?alcopops? were the best way to entice young people to drink alcohol before they developed an adult palate, because they mask the taste of alcohol. Their palatability enabled ?people to get drunk quickly.? He also suggested that there is room in the market for more high alcohol premixed drinks because they are preferred by young binge drinkers.

Pre-mixed spirits was one category of alcohol that grew in popularity among underage students between 1999 and 2005. It was the choice of 42% of girls aged 12 ? 15 years and 16% of boys in the same age category. One third of them were drinking at a level that would place an adult at risk of harm.

The tax increase on alcopops has the support of medical and public health bodies including the Australian Medical Association (AMA), the Public Health Association, the Australian Drug Foundation, VicHealth and Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation.

The editorial in the latest Medical Journal of Australia quotes alcohol sales data tracked by AC Nielsen that shows Australia’s consumption of ready-to-drink (RTD) alcoholic beverages has plummeted since the alcopop tax was introduced and a rise in the sales of spirits has not compensated for the drop.

Comparing the three months of May-July 2008 with May-July 2007, alcopops declined by 26%, or 91 million standard drinks. Spirit sales increased but only by 11% or 35 million standard drinks, while wine fell by 21 million drinks and beer rose by 13 million drinks. Overall, Australians drank 64 million less standard drinks in the three months following the tax change.

Sales of vodka alcopops with the highest alcohol content have been hit hardest by the new tax. According to the AC Neilsen data “premium” vodka alcopops containing more than 6% alcohol have plummeted by 38%, while the regular strength vodka drinks declined by 20%. It is worth remembering that even regular strength alcopops (5%) are stronger than regular beer (4.7%). Young girls prefer vodka-based premixed spirits in preference to other drinks.

Dark alcopops that are popular among adolescent males also declined - rum based RTDs by 30% and bourbon based by 25%. Super-strength rum based RTDs fell by 35%.

Overall between May 2008 and January 2009, alcopops declined by 29%, with regular RTDs down by 31% and super-strength RTDs down by 24%. It is the equivalent to 310 million standard alcopop drinks taken out of the market.

Spirit sales have only increased 13.5%, equivalent to 145 million standard drinks, despite predatory marketing tactics by the industry to try to boost sales of full strength spirits after the introduction of the alcopop tax. An increase in the sales of straight spirits has not compensated for losing 310 million alcopop drinks, which explains why the spirits industry is so desperate to kill off the tax.

Senator Fielding voting against the alcopop tax last time resulted in a loss of the $50 million of actions the Government had agreed to undertake, including:
????????? A $25 million Health Sponsorship Fund to provide voluntary sponsorship to local community organizations who provide sporting and cultural activities, as an alternative to other forms of sponsorship;
????????? Mandatory warning labels on alcohol advertising;
????????? Community level initiatives designed to tackle binge drinking;
????????? Enhancing telephone counselling services and alcohol referrals; and
????????? Expansion of existing social marketing campaigns.

ANZAC DAY - Lest we Forget or mis-remember

I began today with a conversation with Lynd about how I think we mis-remember ANZAC day in a strange cloud of heroic glamour -forgetting that war is our failure to find more human ways through conflict, forgetting that those doing the killing have to shut down some of themselves in the process, misremembering the lives of family members in services. ?I want to remember the costs and sacrifices of war in a way that doesn’t con us into thinking it is the best or only way to peace. This article from Eureka Street engages well in what I feel but find hard to express. During this time.

The Picture above is of Private John?Simpson?is famous for waking around with his donkey collecting wounded soldiers under heavy fire. It is likely that he saved the life of hundreds of men before being mortally wounded himself in Shrapnel Gully - it?is comforting to live in a country that remembers courage under fire with a person not shooting back.

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The false nationalism of Anzac Day and football

RUBY MURRAY?APRIL 24, 2009

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Former Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy had a dream: All over Australia, on 25 April, Aussie patriots rising from their beds in the fading night and streaming into dawn services, to stand and pay their respects to the fallen. The same patriots flooding to the march, and after that ‘continu[ing] the pilgrimage’ into football stadiums across the nation and standing witness as Australia’s youth battled it out over footballs and swore at the umpires.

The matches were to be a celebration of the Australian character on that ‘most Australian of days’: Anzac Day.

In a country as hungry for a founding mythology as Australia, it doesn’t take long to establish traditions. The annual Anzac Day football match between Collingwood and Essendon began in 1995. By 1997 it was already ‘traditional’.

Fourteen years on, the symbolism and hype surrounding the match has accumulated to the point that ‘The Anzac Day Clash’ has reached near-sacred heights, with every possible chance taken to exploit the links between football, war, and the Australian national identity.

Asking what it means to have football played on Anzac Day is almost as risky as wondering why the Digger has become the most powerful expression of Australian identity.

The privileging of both football and the Digger as positive statements of what it means to be Australian involves an incredible amount of forgetting on a day supposedly set aside for remembrance. ……. Continue Reading the whole article here

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….But Anzac Day is not a festival of nationhood, and as we stand in the MCG amid the yelling fans and perform its most recent ‘tradition’ we are letting it slide uncritically into a day of celebration. While remembering the dead is important, it’s also important that we remember that not all wars are the same, that war in itself is ugly, awful, and traumatising.

It’s important that when we applaud nobility in conflict we remember that we are applauding it not because noble behaviour is the norm, but because it is the exception…….

http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=13175

Think it’s fair for a woman to be fired just because she joined a union?

Think it?s fair for a woman to be fired just because she joined a union? If not, then buyers at the DESA factory in Turkey ? including Prada, Debenhams, M&S, Mulberry, Aspinalls of London, Nicole Fahri and Luella ? need to hear from you today!
Take action now

Source: Clean Clothes Campaign

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Source: Clean Clothes Campaign

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As we approach the first anniversary of the beginning of the union struggle at DESA, workers are still protesting every day outside the factory to demand the reinstatement of 44 workers dismissed for organising a union.

In December 2008 and April 2009 the Turkish court confirmed that 25 workers had been illegally dismissed as a result of union activities and demanded their reinstatement. DESA decided to appeal the court?s decision. No new evidence was brought by DESA to the recent court hearings ? an indication that the appeal is just another attempt to delay the process. This is a common tactic to drag out disputes in the hope that workers will be forced to end their campaign through economic hardship.

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Intimidation and Harassment of the Union Continues
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In March 2009 Emine Arslan and Nuran Gulenc from Deri Is came on a speaker tour to Europe, to coincide with an International Day of Action against Prada on the 7th March. On March 22nd, after they returned to Turkey, a story appeared on Turkish television in which DESA management linked the Deri Is union to Ergenekon, an armed group responsible for a number of political assassinations in Turkey. DESA claimed that the union campaign was part of a plot to destabilise the Turkish economy. A few days later the Deri Is website was hacked and on the 30th March the Deri Is office was broken into and its computer and camera were stolen.
Strangely, the money in the office was untouched. According to the police, this was not an opportunistic break in but a ‘professional job.’

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Brands Dragging their Feet
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Although there were some initial signs in December that the brands and the factory management were willing to enter into negotiations, it became clear that this was not a dialogue in good faith, but an attempt to stop the public campaign. Some of the buyers have responded to the campaign. However only one company, El Corte Ingles, has agreed to meet with the union and called on DESA to negotiate with the union. The others, including Debenhams, M&S and Mulberry have held meetings with the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers? Federation, but have refused to speak to the union in Turkey and are still refusing to call for negotiations between the management and the union. Prada, the main buyer from DESA has refused to take any action on the case.
Aspinalls of London, Nicole Fahri and Luella have never responded to the campaign.

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Dismissed Worker-Organiser Receives Turkish Human Rights? Award
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Although the big buyers don’t recognise the importance of organising workers, women all over Turkey and Europe have been inspired by the work and courage of Emine Arslan and Deri Is. In recognition of Emine?s work she has been awarded a prestigious human rights award, the 2009 Sevinc Ozguner Human Rights, Peace and Democracy Award given by ?stanbul Doctors Chambers.

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The Struggle Continues
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Despite the real economic hardship faced by the dismissed workers and the ongoing intimidation and harassment of the union, DESA workers remain strong in their struggle for justice. The support received from trade unionists and activists all over the world has helped sustain them and given them incredible strength.? It has shown the importance of international solidarity in what are often long fights for union recognition. Thank you to everyone who has taken action on this case.
Your action really does make a difference.

We still need your help! Buyers have come to the table because of this campaign.? Now we need you to tell them that talk is not enough and that action is needed. We won’t go away until DESA workers get the justice they deserve.

Please send an email today urging brands to call for negotiations NOW!
Take action now

Steps Complete!!

The steps are finally finished, so now we just need to put a little more soil in and plants. We are really pleased with the finished product.

Lower Level

ENGAGE in Social Justice ENCOURAGE Action EFFECT Change

Lower Level is a place to come and meet monthly with people in a relaxing environment and chat about the issues that are concerning you and the world.
Join in with other young people for a chat and a meal at one of Carlton?s popular cafes on:
Tuesday 21 April 6:30pm-9pm

Upstairs at Trotters Cafe, 400 Lygon Street, Carlton.(main meals around $20ish)
This months theme is The Price of Humanity - Lower Level Talks about human Trafficking.

For further information contact:
Emily Evans at emilyevans09@gmail.com or
join the Lower Level facebook group

priceofhumanitypdf flyer

More step building…

This afternoon we continued the step building, implementing the measure twice cut once mentality.

That’s a lot of soil to move…

Good Friday saw Jason (who I now like to call Luigi... (check out the pic below and you?ll see why) and Dad move 6m of soil into our backyard. Needless to say, there were many barrow loads and Bella got stuck into it as soon as we?d let her. That was followed by a basketball shootout, which Bella enjoyed too.

See you soon Scott and Nat!

Tonight we said our farewells to Scott and Nat as they head off on their long drive to Brisbane. We hope everything goes well for them as they are two very special people.

Basketball Court In Use…

It?s finally official, the basketball court (concreting we had done) is all sealed, dried etc enough for it to be used. Yay. Here?s Jas christening it the other night.

Holy Hardware Action

Action against devotional items made under gross exploitation

Have you ever thought about the conditions in which products are made?

Are you concerned that some Christian stores are selling devotional items under gross exploitation?

A recent report found that employees in China at one factory involved in making crosses were forced to work regular 14 to 15.5 hour shifts a day, seven days a week. They were paid as little as 30 cents an hour, just over half the legal minimum wage in China. (US National Labour Committee (NLC), Today Workers Bear the Cross).

Just Act is organizing an action in holy week to highlight the exploitation that is happening in the industry. Currently Word and Koorong (see top and comment for update) bookshops have no public policy concerned about work standards, even while they profit from sales of books and DVD?s on the theme of abolishing slavery.

Just Act are calling on them to ensure that items like crosses, bible covers and children?s Christian toys are not made under slave like conditions.

Please join us on Easter Saturday (11th April) to show your protest to this situation. (Postponed till later keep watching)

more info on holy hardwear

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