A Griffith University study published in BMJ Public Health on Wednesday found a levy applied to non-alcoholic drinks with added sugar, such as soft drinks and most juices, could prevent 3.7 million cases of tooth decay, 191,000 cases of gum disease, and 115,000 cases of complete tooth loss across Australia over the next 25 years.
Ok, but now there’s all this extra money from the sugar tax and even more from heath care savings, and that can be used to make a meaningful difference helping the poor.
Heavy emphasis on “can”. It’s a tax that punishes the poorest in our society today, with the promise that we might help them tomorrow. Both major parties have repeatedly shown that they do not care about these people, so I’m not sure why anyone would believe that a tax with the promise of reinvestment into low income health services is a believable answer.