Newsroom

February 4, 2026

KENNEDY MP Bob Katter MP led a scathing attack on the Albanese Government’s handling of the Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025 in Parliament, calling it un-Australian and warning that it wasclear Labor was drunk on power moving legislation that threatens the heart of Aussie culture – having a beer at the local pub.

“The original Labor Party was born in the pubs of Australia. These fellas in those days would quite literally drag you out of a pub and punch you in the face if you didn’t take a union ticket out – yet here we are, debating a law that taxes beer. I cannot think of a better example of just how dangerous and drunk on powerthe Labor party have become. They are now threatening the very fabric of our social and community life,”Mr Katter said.

The Bill before Parliament seeks to freeze the automatic inflation-linked increase on draught beer excise for a two-year period from 1 August 2025 to 1 August 2027 but Mr Katter wants the increase scrapped indefinitely.

Mr Katter seconded his crossbench colleague, Barnaby Joyce’s, second reading amendment of removing the annual increase to keep alive an Australia tradition.

“Australia's identity very much comes out of the bush pub, and you are eroding the identity of Australians if you take that away. You are also eroding our ability to talk to each other,” Mr Katter said.

Mr Katter, who is infamous for talking with patrons of pubs all over Australia, said one of the most important places to learn about the state of politics and the state of the nation was by talking to people having a beer.

“As a member of parliament, I like to find out what people are thinking and what their attitude is towards the government's policies and the best way to do that is to go down to the local hotel.

“I’ve been shown an interesting graph which shows suicides amongst males in Australia – parallels the graph of the decline of the hotels and people going into the pubs.

“I know that, if I myself am really down, I just go down to the pub, have a lot of good fun with my mates and go home a lot happier and more relaxed than before. But, for people who are more traumatised by reality than, probably, I am, it really is a matter of life and death in many cases, and that's not an exaggeration.

“There's a little town called Maxwelton, and I love pulling up there because of all the cockies in the area and all the contractors and various other people that are employed in the cattle and sheep industry. You find out what's going on. You could have a good time at the Maxwelton pub. Well, it doesn't exist anymore, because of the impositions that government placed upon it.”

Mr Katter warned that while a freeze may superficially lower the pressure on draught beer prices, many in the hospitality and brewing sectors argue that a broader reform is needed to sustain small venues and local producers.

“Beer is tradition, it is community, and it is part of our social fabric. A two-year freeze on indexation isn’t enough when pubs are struggling under rising costs, regulatory burdens and declining patrons,” Mr Katter added.

“In the end, it’s about more than beer. It’s about protecting our way of life, our towns, and the simple Aussie traditions that bind us together,” Mr Katter concluded.

Photo credit: Brian Cassey