Australia: Health curbs on alcohol mooted

Source: The Australian

by: Christian Kerr

January 21, 2013

HEALTH activists are seeking public funds to lay the groundwork for bans on alcohol advertising, minimum pricing of alcoholic drinks, restrictions on certain foods and to push the case that alcohol causes cancer.

A freedom of information document reveals the Australian National Preventive Health Agency was approached for grants last year to fund projects that examined "What is the public support for regulating the food supply", "Understanding and engaging community and policymaker support for alcohol supply control policies and practices", and "Preparing the public interest case for minimum pricing of alcohol", among others.

The document does not specify if the applications were approved.

Tim Wilson, a policy director at the Institute of Public Affairs think tank, who lodged the request, said the list betrayed a bias towards taxing and regulating away personal choice rather than promoting responsible behaviour.

"Public health activists seem intent on reinventing every policy used against smoking to now target food and alcohol choices because they can casually be linked to cancer," he said.

"When activists want to test the public's preparedness for wartime rationing policies, you've got to wonder whether they understand that we live in a free society that respects individual choice."

Opposition preventive health spokesman Andrew Southcott echoed his remarks.

"We know that quitting smoking, drinking within recommended guidelines and maintaining a healthy weight and lifestyle are important," he said, "but the opposition's first response is always to encourage personal responsibility."

Dr Southcott praised the efforts of private health insurance funds to encourage healthy lifestyles.

"We prefer voluntary codes of conduct over more nanny state regulation," he added.

Michael Keane, an adjunct lecturer in public health at Monash University and an adjunct associate professor at Swinburne University, warned against what he called the established ideology in public health.

"I would be concerned by the potential focus on bureaucratic edict and prohibition," Dr Keane said. "An attempt should be made to engage the widespread community concern at the lack of personal responsibility that appears to dominate contemporary public health thought.

"As a matter of urgency, further research grants should be targeted to investigate what effect the public-health-promoted mass abrogation of personal responsibility is having on the equilibrium of forces which affect behaviour and the effect that this potentially has on the fabric of our society."

The Australian was unable to contact ANPHA for a comment.