I rise to speak on the motion moved by the member for Cowper and I thank the member for bringing this matter forward. Alcohol excise indexation is a longstanding feature of the tax system under governments of all persuasions over many, many years. As has been commented upon, it's indexed twice a year to the consumer price index. This is not a new phenomenon, and the relative proportion of tax compared to the cost of these beverages has remained pretty stable over the decades. Price signals are actually very important in reducing the consumption of alcohol. Whilst there are concerns about some of these small businesses, I would be very concerned about reducing the price signals for the consumption of alcohol. There have been a number of reports published over many years by a number of different research organisations that have shown the importance of price signals in reducing alcohol consumption.
This government is committed to easing cost-of-living pressures. Underlying inflation has moderated under our government compared to the previous Liberal-National government, but the momentum of inflationary pressures is downwards, rather than upwards. Inflation is, of course, higher than we'd like, and I've heard from many constituents in my electorate of Macarthur who own small businesses about how difficult it is at the present time. They've expressed to me their struggles and concerns due to the cost-of-living pressures and expenses. But for the coalition to argue that our government is ignoring the cost-of-living pressures is simply untrue.
We know that people are finding it difficult, and that's why we designed a budget to help take some of the pressures off people, with power bill relief and tax cuts across all taxpayers, rather than just the wealthy few. We've included meaningful cost-of-living relief measures that won't add to inflationary pressures, such as increasing the Medicare levy low-income threshold, as well as the cost-of-living tax cuts, as I've mentioned, and energy bill relief. In health care, we've increased the incentives for bulk billing by doctors. We've introduced cheaper medicines—in particular, the 60-day prescribing, as well as the reduction and freezing of many of the costs associated with purchasing medications. This is just to name a few, and there will be more to come.
The advice is clear that our tax cuts will not add to inflationary pressures, they're broadly revenue neutral and they're for everyone who pays tax. Inflation is less than half of its peak and much lower than what we inherited from the coalition, who have continually voted against cost-of-living relief.
As a paediatrician I'm also very concerned about the burden of alcohol on our health system and the health of Australians due to the consumption of alcohol, particularly that of children and families. The Australian Bureau of Statistics causes-of-death report shows that, in 2022, almost 2,000 people in Australia died of alcohol induced causes directly, such as liver cirrhosis or acute alcohol poisoning. Alcohol induced deaths as part of a cause of death are much higher than this and are recorded as a rate of six deaths for every 100,000 people living in Australia, the highest rate reported in a decade. That is very concerning, and that's why we must not reduce the cost incentives for reducing alcohol consumption.
I've treated children affected by fetal alcohol syndrome and, on a recent trip to Western Australia and the Northern Territory, I saw many people that had been affected by fetal alcohol syndrome. I've seen the burden this puts on our health system and on our criminal justice system. This condition is lifelong and causes a range of physical and mental disabilities.
Alcohol excises are used to reduce the alcohol intake and improve the health of Australians. They remove some of the burden of alcohol related illness on our health system. The revenue from excises, including alcohol excises, goes into funding essential services, not just our health system, and contributes to the costs associated with treating disorders due to alcohol consumption and related things such as involvement with the criminal justice system. We must not reduce this alcohol excise or reduce the trigger for reducing alcohol consumption. We are continually ridiculed by those opposing us, who appear not to put the health and livelihoods of Australians first. We must do what we can to reduce the harm caused by alcohol in our society.
