ZB ZB
Live now
Start time
Playing for
End time
Listen live
Listen to NAME OF STATION
Up next
Listen live on
ZB

Calls for NZ to follow Britain's lead on sugar tax

Author
Newstalk ZB staff ,
Publish Date
Thu, 17 Mar 2016, 9:18AM
The British Government has decided to tax sugary drinks and will be putting the £520 million raised, into primary school sports (Getty Images)

Calls for NZ to follow Britain's lead on sugar tax

Author
Newstalk ZB staff ,
Publish Date
Thu, 17 Mar 2016, 9:18AM

UPDATED 8.30pm A sugar tax on soft drinks is being introduced in Britain, and campaigners in New Zealand are hoping something similar here. 

The levy could add 8p (17c) to the price of cans of fizzy drinks like Coca-Cola, 7Up and Irn Bru, energy drinks like Red Bull and carton juice drinks like Ribena from 2018.

LISTEN ABOVE: Kerry Tyack of the New Zealand Beverage Council speaks to Larry Williams

It will raise £520 million ($1.1 billion), with that money being directed into sport at primary schools.

Britain's Treasury chief George Osborne made the surprise announcement in his Budget.

"I'm not prepared to look back at my time here in this Parliament, doing this job, and saying to my children's generation, 'I'm sorry. We knew there was a problem with sugary drinks, we knew it caused disease, but we ducked the difficult decisions and we did nothing."

Chef and sugar campaigner Jamie Oliver said the announcement was "amazing news." He called the levy bold, brave and fair.

"It's about protecting our kids. I'm shocked, but in all the right ways."

Oliver said the move will send ripples around the world about combating the rise in childhood obesity. He said other governments around the world need to take notice.

"We want them to grow some balls and start doing stuff that actually affects child health. I think today's profound."

The tax will be introduced in two years, giving the soft drink industry time to adjust.

John Key doubts whether increasing the cost of, say a bottle of coke, by 25 or 50 cents would stop kids from drinking it.

"How much of a price increase would you have to have to stop a young person to stop drinking a soft drink? We know from smoking you have to increase the prices a lot".

Gavin Partington, director general of the British Soft Drinks Association called the announcement "extremely" disappointing.

There's hope in some quarters that New Zealand will follow Britain's lead.

Gerhard Sundborn, Auckland University senior research fellow, believes there's increasing likelihood the New Zealand government will also introduce a sugar tax in time.

"I think the case is getting stronger, and it would be good to see a tax being introduced by the end of the year."

"I think a tax on sugary drinks needs to be part of a comprehensive strategy to address obesity in New Zealand," Sundborn said, and revenue from a sugar tax here would probably go into childhood obesity prevention programmes.

But Sundborn believes unfortunately that strategy is currently very weak.

The Government isn't of a mind to follow Britain and introduce a sugar tax on soft drinks with Health Minister Jonathan Coleman saying there were no plans for a similar measure here.

The Government had more than 20 initiatives to combat obesity, but a sugar tax would not be added at this stage, he said.

"There is no one silver bullet that is going to solve this. I know that the UK have gone ahead [with a sugar tax], but the best advice I've had is that the evidence at this point is not definitive.

"We've said we'd watch the evidence. In late 2017 there will be a couple of major studies reported on that look comprehensively at the international evidence, one from North Carolina, one from Waikato University, so we will keep a watching brief on it, but we are not actively planning to introduce one.

Green MP Kevin Hague has gone head-to-head with Dr Coleman on the issue.

"Which side is the Government on? multi-national sugar barrens like Coke or Kiwi kids whose health is suffering because of fizzy drinks right now".

Dr Coleman replied: "That's a very silly question, I'm not going to answer it".

The Green Party and health experts say it's time to follow the UK's lead.

Hague said the Government's been pretty resistant to the evidence on the question of taxing sugary drinks.

"When a conservative government, like the one in the UK, actually takes the steps that says the evidence is clear that this is a good shot at reducing obesity that must add to the pressure on a government like ours"

A ten per cent tax on sugary drinks in Mexico has lead to a 12 percent fall in consumption.

Take your Radio, Podcasts and Music with you