Sugar tax won’t solve obesity but expands shopping bills

And the facts reveal that the sugar tax is an ill-founded idea, the main outcome of which will be to increase the weekly shopping bill and hurt regional families that are already doing it tough.

As both Minister for Rural Health and Minister for Sport, I have a unique role in addressing the issue of obesity in Australia.

As Nationals Deputy Leader representing regions with some of Australia’s highest rates of obesity, I know this issue is deeply important to our party.

To that end, the Coalition government is leading the charge in promoting healthy lifestyles.

Clearly, there is an obesity problem in our nation.

Going by the latest figures from 2015, just over 60 per cent of adults in our major cities are considered either overweight or obese – a figure that rises to almost 70pc in our regions.

Australians, in short, are getting larger - but that’s only one side of the coin.

What is often ignored by sugar tax advocates is a fact observed in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition last year – sugar consumption in Australia has actually substantially decreased over the past decade.

In other words – Australian’s are consuming less sugar, but our waistlines are still getting bigger.

Clearly laying the blame for obesity on sugar, as the Greens and other interest groups suggest, is not a rational solution to the problem.

Nor is it the government’s business to decide what people should eat and drink.

We know a sugar tax won’t address obesity, because other countries have tried it.

In Denmark, which axed its sugar tax in 2013, the average body mass index increased at the same rate as when its tax was in place.

In Mexico, which introduced its sugar tax in 2013, overall calorific intake has remained virtually unchanged.

Obesity prevention and improving nutrition requires a multi-pronged approach, recognising the complicated nature of the problem.

Many factors contribute to obesity including poor diets, genetics, sedentary lifestyles and the reality that Australian’s aren’t as physically active as they once were.

In fact, more than 65pc of Australians are considered sedentary or maintaining low levels of exercise.

The same is true for much of the developed world, reflecting that the source of the problem is more closely associated with our modern lifestyles.

If we are to stem the obesity tide, Australians need to get more active, more often, eat healthy foods in modest proportions and make appropriate lifestyle choices.

The Coalition has established a partnership between the food industry and public health groups.

The Healthy Food Partnership aims to increase people’s health knowledge and support them to make healthier food and drink choices to achieve better health outcomes.

This partnership is delivering real results in encouraging food makers to reformulate their products – the same packet of muesli bars I bought for my children 20 years ago contains far less sugar in 2018.

Our online Healthy Weight Guide portal is helping thousands of Australians plan and track their diets in order to achieve and maintain a healthy weight.

The Coalition is also championing the Sporting Schools initiative, which has provided sports opportunities to more than 300,000 Australian kids since the program started in 2015.

It’s up to activists to explain why - in the face of facts on our decreasing sugar consumption and with such little evidence to support their claimed outcomes - they still seek to impose a tax burden on ordinary Australians who are struggling enough as it is with the weekly shopping bill.

But the Coalition’s emphasis will remain on what we know will address the issue of obesity – that is encouraging, supporting and educating Australians to adopt and maintain a healthy diet.

The real way to tackle obesity is through education and tangible preventative programs.

It’s about working together and supporting one another on a journey toward a healthier Australia – not a counterproductive tax at the checkout counter.