Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has called for a sugar tax on soft drinks, saying that Australia’s obesity problem is due to people “sitting on their backsides” and “eating too much food.”

‘If you want to deal with being overweight,” he said, “here’s a rough suggestion: stop eating so much and do a bit of exercise.”

The Grattan Institute report to be presented to federal parliament on Wednesday recommends applying a sugar content tax of 40 cents per 100 grams of sugar on water-based, non-alcoholic sugar-sweetened beverages.

It is estimated that the new tariff would raise $520 million in tax revenue in 2017, and according to Grattan Institute’s health program director Stephen Duckett, the cost to the consumer would be negligible, as it would only increase the average cost of a 2-liter bottle of soft drink by about 80 cents, yet lead to a 15% reduction in consumption.

But Mr. Joyce hinted that the Australian Taxation Office’s tax measure alone was not going to be solve the national obesity issue or save people’s health. “The ATO is not a better solution than jumping in the pool and going for a swim; the ATO is not a better solution than reducing your portion size,” he said.

The assistant minister for rural health, Dr. David Gillespie, said that the government is well aware of the national obesity problem and is taking actions to remedy the issue, citing Australia’s Healthy Food Partnership and health star food labelling system initiatives. “It’s pretty simple,” he said: “you are what you eat — but you are also a result of how often you eat and how much you eat so you have to make wise choices.”
Sources: AAP, Daily Mail