Nick Coatsworth has criticised a proposed tax on sweets, saying ‘$8 cans of Coke’ would only punish the poor and not solve the country’s obesity crisis.
A recent Senate report recommended a 20 percent tax on unhealthy products such as soft drinks to help curb rising obesity rates, particularly among children.
But the leading doctor, who as national deputy chief medical officer became the face of Australia’s Covid vaccination campaign, claims the introduction of a so-called “sin tax” is misguided and reminiscent of the draconian government interventions seen during the pandemic.
“It’s hard not to conclude that sin taxes are proposed by rich people who look down on the behaviour of the sinful masses,” Dr Coatsworth told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Can you imagine if a can of Coke cost $8? Is that what it would take to reduce consumption?
“I predict it will reduce consumption in regional and indigenous communities by exactly zero.”
He noted that while governments can legitimately regulate things like the minimum age for consumption of products like alcohol and punish people who sell harmful products to children, they must be careful about imposing such restrictions on adults.
“The recent trend has been to make punishment and prohibition the first choice rather than the last option. This leads to poor policy choices,” Dr Coatsworth said.
Nick Coatsworth has criticised a proposed tax on sugary treats, arguing that “$8 cans of Coke” will only punish the poor and will not solve the country’s obesity crisis.
A recent Senate parliamentary report recommended introducing a ‘sugar tax’ on sweetened drinks
“If you’re struggling to make an income and support your family, you’re much less likely to make healthy choices. The ‘sins’ help you get through a tough day.
‘A sin tax that does not enable people to make positive health choices.’
Dr Coatsworth also warned that there are limits to trying to legislate for people to live healthier lives.
“We have just gone through a very disturbing period in our lives, in which we have seen legitimate acts of citizens in the name of public health criminalized or severely punished,” he said, referring to the Covid period.
‘Public health should in principle function on the basis of community consent and not under coercion.
‘That applies just as much to the current debates as it does to Covid.’
The Australian government already imposes similar taxes on tobacco products, increasing the excise duty every year to make them prohibitively expensive, currently around 75 percent of the retail price.
Although the percentage of smokers has fallen from over 20 percent in 2001 to 11 percent now, the percentage of illegal vaping has increased, as has the illegal tobacco trade.
“It’s the law of diminishing returns,” Dr. Coatsworth said.
‘The excise duties on tobacco had risen so high that a black market has emerged.’
‘It’s clear that the Australian Federal Police can’t stop the importation of illicit tobacco into the country, let alone illicit vapes. And that poses a problem for state police, who are now having to deal with the rise of organised crime.
“It’s bizarre that the same people who acknowledge that a ‘war on drugs’ is the wrong way to tackle hard drug use passionately argue that a ‘war on vapes’ is likely to work.”
Despite Dr. Coatsworth’s opposition to increasing taxes on unhealthy food and drink, he does agree that there is An ‘the obesity crisis in Australia and that diabetes is a huge cost to our health system’.
While the percentage of smokers has fallen from just over 20 percent in 2001 to 11 percent now, the percentage of illegal vaping has increased, as has the illegal tobacco trade (stock image)
“There is a big difference between agreeing with this and saying that sugar taxes will have a meaningful impact on both,” he said.
‘The classic behavior of the activist is to go into a moral panic and then criticize an opponent and label him or her as an enemy of the common good.
“Labeling someone as an enemy of public health is a very effective way to silence debate.”
Earlier this month, a Senate report recommended that the federal The government is introducing a levy on sugary drinks and is looking to international examples to set prices.
Reference was made to the British example of ‘differential taxation’, where the levy increases with the amount of sugar in a product.
The Parliamentary Budget Office estimated that a 20 percent tax on all sugary drinks would raise about $1.4 billion a year.