Aussie beer and wine taxes to jump?

Following the recent 70 per cent tax hike on RTDs in Australia by Labour Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, it’s rumoured that even higher duty increases are on the way for beer and wine there.

Duty increases of 300 per cent have been mentioned in dispatches, coming as a shock to Australia’s brewers and winegrowers.

The tax hikes are Australia’s answer to its binge-drinking problems among young people there but cynics have described it as simply a “revenue raising exercise”.