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Sugar tax may prevent millions of dental procedures, study suggests
(www.abc.net.au)
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this post was submitted on 29 Aug 2026
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I don't have an issue with the prices going up on soft drinks, but it would achieve very little unless it was (as you suggest) used to fund medicare dental.
The government cannot be trusted though, if they really were genuine, dental medicare could easily be funded, there are currently another few very, very obvious places taxpayer money is going to, where it shouldn't be.
They would not have a leg to stand on if they put up the soft drink tax and then not implement better dental care as the medical/dental profession and the rest of us are seeking, but I understand where you're coming from.
Worse case scenario: the govt doesn't do anything to improve access to dental care, there would still be positive health outcomes. Overseas they've found that putting up the price has reduced consumption of these drinks which in turn has reduced some obesity and dental caries, particualarly in the young.
The price of cigarettes increased dramatically decades ago, to a much higher price point than soft drinks ever will. That definitely stopped/helped some people from smoking, but many others continued, and many more have taken it up since.
If the government were serious, advertising these drinks would be banned as a 1st step. The 2nd step would be banning the drinks themselves, which would have to flow onto other items that fit in the same category.
The government is, as per usual, completely full of sh*t though.
I agree with you. It's just capitalism is a beast. No govt would dare, not even a more progressive mob like the Greens if they were in power.
The Australian government used to do some positive things, a long time ago.
It would not doubt be a slow process to help change the way Australians think, especially given lobbying, and dodgy media. The people themselves are mainly against decent government these days, as illogical as that is.