Manly pub charges over $40 for three schooners as beer tax bites

A Manly pub is under fire from angry beer drinkers, after one punter was charged over $40 for three schooners.

The Hotel Steyne, which overlooks the northern beaches, charged the customer $40.90 for two schooners of Stone and Wood and one schooner of Four Pines.

The Stone and Wood beers cost $14.20 per schooner.

Reddit users chimed in after the punter posted the receipt online.

“France rioted for raising the age of the pension, surely this is the breaking point for Aussies right,” asked one Reddit user.

“Decided long ago it was way cheaper to have some mates over and put on a carton, watch the game,' a second user wrote.

Another wrote, “I copped a bill for $18 at Melbourne airport for a single pint of beer back in May. It’s out of control.”

Some social media users said the prices were to be expected, particularly for a pub that overlooks the beach.

“It’s a beachfront pub for tourists in Manly, that’s why you’re paying $41.”

“Manly is one of the most expensive & entitled areas of Australia, of course bars charge high prices,” another wrote.

It’s not all the venue’s doing.

Beer prices have risen this year after the federal government increased the beer tax.

The increase is designed to match inflation and rose 3.7 per cent for all sales of beer whether out of a bottle, carton or tap.

Australians now pay the fourth most in beer tax in the world, with the average price of a schooner now sitting at $12.

The government isn’t apologising.

“This is the usual, automatic indexation change that happens twice a year under governments of both persuasions and it's not a new decision of this government,' a spokesperson for Federal Treasurer Dr Jim Chalmers said.

“We listen respectfully to ideas put to us but these have to be weighed up against other priorities and fiscal challenges – with a budget that's heaving with a trillion dollars of debt.”

It seems beer is now a luxury item.

Jonathan Jackson, 20^th June 2023