One of the big ideas from the 2020 Summit, pushed for
by Australian Business, and placed on his governments agenda
by the Prime Minister, has already been put into action.
And another, curbing binge drinking, has been combined with it
to produce a solution benefiting the whole community.
Everyone is concerned about the disturbing problem of alcohol
consumption revealed in the 2007 National Drug Strategy Household
survey, especially the binge drinking of girls aged 14-19.
And Australian business wants to see tax reform proceed,
after years of inaction under the Howard government failed
to build on Keatings economic reforms. Howard's idea of
tax 'reform' was simply to introduce a tax on everything, the GST,
which the Rudd government has promised will NOT be increased
as a result of it's tax reform.
While more is to come and a full review is scheduled for later this
year, the government has already acted on both these concerns
raised at the Summit:
"THE COST of pre-mixed drinks will jump by about $1 a
bottle from today after a dramatic move by Prime
Minister Kevin Rudd to curb binge drinking."
- Herald Sun 27/4/2007
"The Rudd Government doubled the tax on ready-to-drink
alcoholic beverages from midnight last night.
....
The Government could raise $2 billion from the tax hike,
which will be put into a preventative health program."
excellent idea! Use the taxes on drugs to pay for
the health costs that drug abuse causes and the
costs of educating young people so they stop
binge drinking!
If this had been done earlier people like Sirvile John
Howard and Doug might not have suffered the alcohol induced
brain damage so obvious from their posts.
"Its move was prompted by the release yesterday of the 2007
National Drug Strategy Household Survey, which showed a
disturbing pattern of alcohol consumption."
Health Minister Nicola Roxon was shocked by the results.
"Almost 20,000 young teenage girls are drinking alcohol
every week - three times as many as teenage boys,"
Ms Roxon said yesterday.
"We're talking about girls 15 years old and younger.
"This shows a disturbing culture of behaviour among
young Australians, and especially young girls."
Howard's legacy: ten years of inaction on teenage
binge drinking, and a youth culture of alcohol abuse,
the results of which the whole nation saw at Cronulla.
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PostScript:
the Article's headline was commentary on the Liberals
failure to act on drinking, and pretend that only
remote aboriginal communities had a problem:
"The Party's over" B^D
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The Official [Est. June 2000] aus.culture.true-blue FAQ ;
http://geocities.com/fairdinkum_trueblue/faq.html
The true-blue Homestead;
http://geocities.com/fairdinkum_trueblue/
The true-blue Hall Of Fame;
http://www.geocities.com/trueblue_hall_of_fame/index.html
The Tuckerbox;
http://www.geocities.com/true_blue_tucker_box/index.html
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