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Key points
- Crossbench MPs will meet with alcohol industry groups on Thursday amid their push for stronger regulation on the marketing of harmful products including alcohol
- The meeting comes after Japanese brewing giant Asahi released Hard Solo, an alcoholic version of the popular Australian soft drink
- North Sydney MP Kylea Tink says Hard Solo should never have been approved for sale and casts doubts on the industry’s ability to self-regulate.
Teal crossbenchers will confront industry figures about the growing number of alcoholic drinks marketed to underage drinkers after a “hard” version of the popular soft drink Solo was given the green light for sale in Australia.
Independent member for North Sydney Kylea Tink will host talks between her fellow crossbenchers and alcohol producers and retailers in Canberra on Thursday, following an industry request to meet with the teal MPs to discuss their push for tighter regulation.
Federal crossbenchers will meet with representatives from the alcohol industry on Thursday to discuss concerns about how the industry is regulated. Credit: James Brickwood
“For a company like Asahi to come out and say there’s no problem with that product, to me indicates there’s a clear breakdown in between community expectation and corporate expectation,” she said.
“The questions have to be asked of both the company and the [Alcoholic Beverages Advertising Code panel] … that product did not pass the pub test.”
Tink said she was keeping an open mind heading into the meeting but was “dubious” about the industry’s self-regulation scheme after Japanese brewing giant Asahi confirmed it had been given pre-vetting approval by the ABAC to market Hard Solo in Australia.
ABAC is a voluntary scheme which alcohol producers agree to adhere to when advertising their products.
“One mistake should not be the reason to completely deconstruct something, but … I think we need to look at what’s happened in this most recent example, and work out where the system failed.”
A spokeswoman for ABAC said they were unable to comment on specific pre-vetting requests due to confidentiality, or while a complaint was being reviewed by the adjudication panel.
There are no fines or penalties for breaches of the code.
Industry representatives wrote to Tink in June to request the meeting after members of the crossbench called for stronger regulation on the marketing of harmful products, including alcohol.
Tink and fellow crossbenchers including Dr Sophie Scamps, Zali Steggall, Dr Monique Ryan, Allegra Spender, Andrew Wilkie, Kate Chaney and Zoe Daniel all signed their names to the campaign.
Daniel, the federal member for Goldstein, said she intends to hear from the industry groups but will form her own opinion on regulatory reform.
“I have spent an entire career listening to conflicting opinions and remain quite capable of making up my own mind,” she said. “Better the devil you know.”
Steggall, the federal member for Warringah, said the Hard Solo complaint was an example of the need for improved alcohol advertising regulation to protect young people.
Spirits and Cocktails Australia chief executive Greg Holland and Brewers Association of Australia chief executive John Preston were contacted for comment.
The Cancer Council of Western Australia issued a formal complaint about Hard Solo to the ABAC last week, arguing Asahi had breached the section of the code preventing alcoholic drinks from containing a “strong and evident appeal” to minors.
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