Lightening the Liquids It’s about time the idea of a restriction was considered for our ever-too-popular, sugary, unhealthy drinks. Our government must impose this fair tax for the benefit of our population. These drinks are simply too cheap, too accessible and are the cause of our nation’s high obesity levels. A tax on sugary drinks will pressure beverage companies to reduce the sugar level of their products. Currently, a 600mL sugar-sweetened soft drink contains about 16 packs of sugar. Perfect for our daily lives! Furthermore, the US estimate that consuming one can of soft drink per day could lead to a 6.75 kg weight gain in one year. Of course, all this would also result in a range of serious health issues including weight gain and obesity, which in turn are risk factors for diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Just what everyone needed! Consequently, beverage companies would then be impelled to lower the amount of sugar in the products they sell, which would have positive impacts on health. Therefore, the tax, if implemented, would considerably improve the wellbeing of the people in our community. The price rise resulted from the tax will deter many people from buying these sugary drinks. Nowadays students across the country have cheap and easy access to soft drinks. In fact, The 2007 Australian National Children’s Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey found that a whopping 47% of children consumed sugar-sweetened beverages daily. No wonder our youth obesity levels are rising like bubbles in a can of shaken coke! A cost increase on sugary drinks, along with restrictions by state governments on the sale of these beverages, especially at school, would obviously discourage more children from buying the unhealthy drinks. Subsequently, there would be a healthier population. Surely there are people in the general public who would argue that a tax would simply be the government’s way of making some extra cash, much