‘Axe the tax’ says Katter about ever-increasing alcohol excise
March 17, 2025
Bob Katter has welcomed the prime minister's decision to freeze the beer excise, which currently increases biannually, but says this is a temporary fix and doesn't go far enough to support consumers and hospitality venues.
"People are paying through the nose for a simple beer at the pub," Katter explained. “Let’s call it what it is – double-dipping. The government is slugging people who’ve already paid tax on their hard-earned wages, and now they’re taxed again just to enjoy a cold one with their mates.
"This freeze is a start, but it's a band-aid on a bullet wound. A tax that has gone up more than 80 times in 40 years? We’re talking about the third highest beer tax in the world!
"I mean, let's just think about the flow on effects here," Katter said. "People are working longer hours, they're going out less, absorbed in technology more than ever – let me tell you now – this story doesn't end well for any of us.
"This is about more than alcohol access. The pub is where you take a load off alongside your fellow man, whether he lives modestly or he's a millionaire. Seated on a stool at a bar, we are all the same.
"Small pubs are the heart of these regional towns and communities, and are closing every single week. And on that figure, I do not exaggerate. Meanwhile, this year Canberra will cash in to the tune of $8 billion from alcohol tax alone.
Mr Katter called on the prime minister to take long term action and respond to the concerns of the hospitality sector.
"The Australian Hotels Association (AHA) and the Queensland Hotels Association (QHA) have put forward sensible solutions – a fair go for pubs, clubs, and their workers. It’s time for a review. We need the government to say where they stand on this," Katter said.
Paul Grover, owner of the Silkwood Hotel, believes the freeze should be on all alcohol, not just beer.
“They call it an excise, but strip it down and it’s a tax,” Mr Grover said. “Alcohol is alcohol and not everyone drinks beer. This is like taxing someone differently depending on the colour car they drive. It doesn’t make sense.
“When GST was brought in, they assured us that no tax would be taxed again but here we are.
“We’re getting less and less people through the door. If that’s not sending alarm bells to the government that they’re killing an industry then I don’t know what will.
Mr Grover believes the live music industry is also at stake.
“Even the biggest names at one time played in smaller venues, and if the government keeps killing our pubs, there will be nowhere for up-and-coming acts to perform. So, without that avenue you can say goodbye to local talent.
“Every way we turn it’s getting harder and harder to keep the doors open,” Mr Grover said. “Wages are going up, plus increases to the super percentage, and now electricity is going up too.
“It’s hard not to feel like small business is being shafted by the government and it’s just wrong.”
ENDS
To bring in laws for an Artificial Intelligence (AI) 'Kill Switch', I voted with my crossbench colleagues, Andrew Gee MP and Dai Le. The Government shut us down. AI... It's been baffling me for a while now how people are taking me off on social media! Last week, I saw a video of me on that Dating Game television show from the 80s. Sure, it gave me a laugh... but it got me thinking... what else is AI capable of?! Where does it stop? Does it infiltrate the school yard? Our defence force? Our energy grid? Whilst it is astounding that technology is leaping forward, it is also a flashing neon light for danger. Something is seriously wrong when you aren't sure what's real or fake anymore and it is moving too quickly. So a 'Kill Switch' seems like a pretty sensible thing to me. It was disappointing that the Government chose to shut the debate down. We lost the vote 89-13. And that is no joke.
Families with the means to enjoy life rather than just survive it? More babies for Australia? Sounds like a pretty good thing to me. But apparently, Jim Chalmers isn’t convinced. I asked the Treasurer about income splitting and backing a new Australian baby boom... Policies that recognise the real value of unpaid care and reverse our vanishing race. The choice, either way, should be in women’s hands… NOT the Treasurers. Have a listen to his excuses…
8 September 2026: A bold plan to reverse the plunging birthrate by recognising the value of unpaid care has been rejected by Government in favour of incentivising more working parents of our “vanishing race”, warns the Father of the House of Representatives and North Queensland MP of half-a-century, Bob Katter. In addition to asking for a $75,000 payment per birth, the Federal Member for Kennedy this week asked the Treasurer in Question Time to help families crippled by the cost-of-living crisis with taxable income-splitting to boost disposable incomes for spouses raising children on a single wage by about 10 per cent on average. But instead of acknowledging annual tax relief of about $8000-$10,000 for struggling families with a single wage-earner on $80,000-$150,000 a year – which would boost household budgets between 9-12 per cent 1 – the Treasurer claimed income-splitting would “disincentivise” women’s workforce participation, leaving them “economically dependent” on men, and “cost the budget substantially” to deliver the “lion’s share” of benefits to “higher wealth” families whilst “denying” those in lower tax bands. Mr Katter accused the Treasurer of “throwing the baby out with the bathwater” by dismissing outright the long-overdue “fairer family tax” policy with the introduction of a $75,000 payment for all new mothers “to spend as they see fit – from putting food on the table to investing in superannuation for their future”. “Families cannot make ends meet,” Mr Katter told the Treasurer in reference to average household debt at over $300,000 or $400,000 for under-50s, with the hyper-inflated cost-of-living now crippling 25 per cent of parent couples on a single income who suffered the “appalling inequality at tax time” that leaves a stay-at-home mum and three kids struggling by on $15,000 per person, whilst double-income-no-kids (DINKS) enjoy disposable incomes of $75,000 each. “Surely, family income-splitting makes taxation fairer, whilst a $75,000 birthing payment would help arrest Australia's plunging birthrates,” he pleaded in the Parliament. Mr Katter said the Treasurer’s devaluing of unpaid work further betrayed all parents “who bear enormous responsibility for raising our nation’s future generations to advance Australia fair”. “The Treasurer’s righteous virtue-signalling this week in the Parliament – supposedly on the side of women who quite reasonably want to be paid for their work – in turn infantilises mothers whose endless work for their family remains unpaid, like many carers, when the choice either way should be in women’s hands,” said Mr Katter. “Instead, Australian mums and dads are financially penalised when only one parent is paying income tax – which is really the only productivity measure that the Treasurer truly cares about. “But while he’s crying poor on an estimated $3 billion annual cost of income-splitting to the budget bottom line, he’s spending five times that subsidising the private childcare industry to boast about the benefits for women in the Kennedy electorate who can be on endless waitlists or have zero local early childhood places. “And when you tally the cost to taxpayers of about $14 billion propping up commercial childcare plus another $5 billion a year in parental leave – not to mention an estimated $20 billion in means-tested Family Tax Benefits – it puts into perspective the estimated $22 billion cost of an upfront $75,000 bonus for fewer than 300,000 births a year, to help lift Australia back up to relative post-war boomer rates.” Projections of the compounding benefits of lifting birthrates from below 1.5 to above the 2.1 replacement rate, align with an Australian population reaching 80 million with one million births annually in a century 2 . “I want 80 million people in this country so our industries can operate on economies of scale; so we’re not doomed to repeat the history of ‘a people without land seeking for a land without people’,” said Mr Katter. ENDS
We all know about the thriving illegal tobacco and vape industry. We all know the real causes - failures at our borders and the huge taxes on legal sales. However this issue becomes even more insidious when it is alleged that the criminals behind this trade are state sponsored terrorists organisations. Yes that’s right terrorist groups that have the backing of their country and access to the associated power and government structures. Illegal sales of tobacco aren’t simply lining the pockets of a couple of local crims…… it’s coordinated, professional and scary. Our police on the front line are vulnerable… shop owners exposed and customers preyed on. There is an urgent need to change our system, lower restrictions and cost of legal goods so the element can be quashed. In Wisdom Mongrel Patriot we discuss this and many other key issues relating to the latest laws before Parliament. To watch full episode on YouTube click here To watch full episode on Spotify click here
About 450,000 people enter into Australia each year on student and associated family ‘dependent’ visas. ALL get automatic working rights. No requirement to finish a degree, complete a course Many never leave. Our tertiary education system is being devalued with genuine students penalised by those abusing the visa system. In Wisdom Mongrel Patriot we discuss this and many other key issues relating to the latest laws before Parliament. To view full episode on YouTube click here To view full episode on Spotify click here
Today in Parliament I supported Andrew Gee MP in his urgent call to roll back rushed gun laws that are smashing local, law abiding businesses and the communities they support.
Yesterday in Parliament Bob spoke on the fact that forced labour and child exploitation occurs all too frequently overseas - in countries like the Philippines big corporations make billions, while workers are exploited and their environment is destroyed. Allowing unwanted and unneeded bananas into Australia doesn’t help these poor communities …. It actually amplifies their pain. We need to stop government ‘cherry picking’ what international agreements it follows, and what it sweeps under the table. “I consider that allowing banana imports into Australia brings an unacceptable disease to our shores….. But it also means that Australia is turning a blind eye to the misery and grief caused by large multinational corporations that exploit vulnerable countries and their citizens. “It is mind blowing that government would allow the importation of a product that we don’t need or want !!!” To watch on Facebook click here
Katter hosts public meeting to fight for fair representation
August 30 2026
The Port of Karumba serves as the primary maritime gateway for the Gulf of Carpentaria, providing key access between our southern states and the essential Asian markets and beyond. The port is a stones throw from the North West Minerals Province, vast untapped volumes of fresh water, rich soils and our northern regional agricultural sectors. The future of the port must include serious upgrades to the road network that connect it these vital resources and the rest of Australia. This submission advocates for not only broad consideration of port access and users, but also for key Inland road networks to be placed on the National Land Transport Network (NLTN) to unlock long-term, ongoing Federal funding.
