By Deborah Jackson, Editor National Liquor News

A proposal to ban alcohol advertising on public transport in Western Australia has been slammed by the alcohol industry.

The Western Australia Labor party has announced that a future Labor Government would honour current advertising contracts but would ban all new advertising of alcohol-related products on public transport.

It is understood that the Liberal-led Government does not support a ban because advertising on public transport generates about $7 million in revenue per year of which about 10 per cent is generated through alcohol-related advertising, and all advertising on public assets must comply with industry advertising standards, which is the case in WA.

Fergus Taylor, the Executive Director of Alcohol Beverages Australia (ABA) said that the Labor Government’s stance is poorly thought out and is not supported by credible research or data.

“This is a poor policy decision taken on the run without industry consultation and isn’t even supported by official Government data,” Taylor said.

“The government has made a sensible decision to reject this proposal after a more thorough assessment of the evidence.

Read more here.

This story first appeared in The Shout.