GOVERNMENT NEWS | home
Beers, spirits and cigs up today
The Daily Telegraph
01feb02
A ROUND of beers and a visit to the cigarette machine next to the bar will cost more today than it did last night.
The six-monthly increase in federal excise on beer and cigarettes applies from February 1.
A slab of beer costs 25c more while a one-litre bottle of spirits will set you back an extra 19c.
Cigarettes have risen by 13c for a packet of 50 and just under 8c for a packet of 30.
Action on Smoking CEO Anne Jones said price increases helped reduce consumption, particularly by children.
"The price increase combined with awareness of health issues might be enough to encourage smokers to quit the habit," she said yesterday, acknowledging not all smokers would like the rise.
But the good news for consumers is petrol excise has not increased.
Last year the federal government scrapped the indexation system had seen petrol prices rise every six months.
Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson said petrol prices would have risen by 0.466 cents per litre today if the system had remained.