Replacing wine equalisation tax with new alcohol tax would be catastrophic for industry A POWERFUL health lobby is pushing for tax reform that winemakers say would devastate their industry. The National Alliance for Action on Alcohol wants the wine equalisation tax (WET) replaced with a new tax on alcohol by volume, in the hope the increased costs would stop people drinking so much. The change would take an extra $1.32 billion from the wine industry and deliver it to the Government's coffers, they say. The alliance is a coalition of 70 public health members including Cancer Council Australia, the Australian Medical Association and other public health and academic organisations. Alliance co-chair Mike Daube said the reforms would be a "win-win" for the Federal Government. "Fixing Australia's chaotic alcohol taxation system will yield much-needed revenue for the government and savings to the health and police systems; it will also prevent an enormous range of health and social problems," he said. More: Taylor Wines wins top international award Beer and spirits are already subject to a volumetric tax, while wine is under the WET system, which is accompanied by rebates in order to support the industry. Todd Harper, another Alliance co-chair and the chief executive officer of Cancer Council Victoria, said the "obvious changes" to the tax system would prevent some of the "massive toll" alcohol takes on the community. But the Winemakers' Federation of Australia says that any move to a volumetric tax would be catastrophic for the industry, particularly in South Australia, and adds that it would not help tackle alcohol problems. Chief executive Paul Evans said the industry would have to stump up the money, that it "would have a devastating impact" and that it would disproportionately affect SA. "The scale of tax increases they're contemplating are absurd given the current state that the industry finds itself in," he said. To ask the industry to more than double the current taxes ... would have a devastating impact on the industry particularly in SA where the majority of the industry is based. We don't believe that using tax to drive social policy objectives is proven to be effective. Recent work has shown misuse and drinking outside the recommended guidelines is concentrated in about 10 to 15 per cent of the population for a range of reasons and we need targeted programs to impact their drinking behaviours, not broad brushstrokes. A spokesman for Treasurer Joe Hockey said the Coalition had "no current plans to change alcohol taxation." "The Government will conduct a white paper process for real tax reform that will lay down a new tax agenda which will be put to the Australian people for their approval at the subsequent election." he said.