Sour over push to tax sugar industry

A QUEENSLAND Senator has defended the Far North sugar industry in the wake of “finger pointing” about the country’s obesity issues.

An Obesity Policy Coalition released an eight-point plan, called Tipping the Scales, to tackle the health issue and calls for a 20 per cent tax on sugar drinks.

LNP Senator Barry O’Sullivan claims the sugar industry has become a scapegoat.

He said the policy overlooked measures encouraging personal responsibility.

“Whenever public policy makers are looking for a scapegoat for obesity problems, sugar is always at the top of the list and is routinely singled out and undermined,” Mr O’Sullivan said.

The policy has called for a tax to discourage consumption after data showed 70 per cent of children were consuming too much sugar. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has refused to back calls for a tax.

Physical inactivity is a significant risk factor for chronic diseases such as cancer, mental health and cardiovascular disease.

“This is a nonsense and just Big Brother politics that Australians find justifiably concerning,” Mr O’Sullivan said.

Australian Health Policy Collaboration director Rosemary Calder said the weight of Australian children was “a serious problem and if this issue does not become a national priority our children face decades of chronic yet preventable illness”.