Alcohol duty rise might not achieve its aim - cider producer

INCREASING the price of alcohol could be counterproductive for States revenues if sales slump, a local cider producer has said.

Rocquette Cider owner James Meller was concerned about the impact of the proposed 5% rise in alcohol duty.

'You already hear stories about people not going out and spending money – I don't want to lose any of my sales and there are other people who will also lose out,' he said.

'I'm not an economist, but I do have a concern that if prices go up and people sell less then they aren't going to achieve their objectives for putting duty up in the first place.

'It could be counterproductive.'

Alliance managing director Andrew Bagot said the 5% duty rise was not unexpected. 'We see the same thing every year – there's nothing dramatic this year and it's not as bad as we expected,' he said.

In its 2014 Budget report, Treasury and Resources said it would be considering whether duty on drink should in future be based on how strong it is, rather than on the current system of categorising products. Mr Meller said any change would have to be taken seriously.