Instead of implementing a wine equalisation tax (WET), which means wine is taxed at 29 per cent of its wholesale value, in New Zealand alcohol is taxed on its volume. 

This means New Zealand is protecting its high-end industry by making cheap Australian wine more expensive comparatively to New Zealand’s high-end wine.

Most of our international competitors, all have a volume tax, not a tax on alcohol or a WET equivalent.

In Australia wine is taxed by its wholesale value, not like beer and spirits which are taxed on their alcohol content.

Basically the cheaper the wine, the less tax is paid. 

This means the market can be flooded with cheap, poor-quality wine at the expense of the good-quality wine produced in places like the Central West. 

Which is why the government wants to implement a lower threshold for the WET tax but the government could be missing the point entirely and should look at scrapping the WET tax in favour of a volume tax.

According to the Australia Institute, cheap wine attracts just $3 in tax per litre of alcohol content. 

Bottled beer is 10 times more at $35, while spirits are taxed at $80 per litre.

The Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education agrees and says 10 government reviews have called for the introduction of a volumetric tax on wine which would bring it into line with beer and spirits. 

It says a volumetric tax would address the social impacts of alcohol and could save lives. 

Surely anything that can reduce alcohol-related violence and social problems should be taken seriously.