Tax tightens ‘squeeze on hotel trade’, says Burnett

By John Van Klaveren
RISING costs and falling patronage are putting a squeeze on pubs and bottle-shops, according to a prominent Geelong hotelier.
Peter Burnett, Victorian president of Australian Hotels Association, said confidence in the hotel trade was at its lowest ebb.
“I’ve never seen confidence so low as it is at the moment. People are really worried.”
Mr Burnett said liquor suppliers faced increased manufacturing and packaging costs following this week’s introduction of the carbon tax.
“Electricity is going up, raw materials are going up and the cost of manufacturing increases,” Mr Burnett said.
“I don’t imagine the suppliers will absorb it. They’ll pass it on to the retailers, and we have to decide whether or not to pass it on to our consumers.”
Mr Burnett said uncertainty over the carbon tax had hit the hotel industry hard.
“The problem is we don’t know yet what the impact will be. We haven’t had our first post-carbon tax bill yet.
“People aren’t silly. They want to go out but they’re uncertain, so they’re tightening the belt.
“People are cautious with their dollars and have every right to be at the moment.”
Geelong Chamber of Commerce president Bernadette Uzelac said smaller businesses were also unsure of the tax’s impact.
“It’s a wait-and-see-game for many. There’s already cautiousness and uncertainty about the future and the carbon tax contributes to that.
“Small business is impacted particularly because they’re at the end of the food chain. It could affect Geelong to a significant degree because a large percentage of SMEs employ a lot of local people.”