I don't respect myself, I abuse myse....oh never mind.
The tax is bullshit and it's indexed so it goes up at least twice a year with CPI. While it supposedly pays for our medicare system (among other things) it's also making drinking a very expensive habit. But that's not really why I stopped drinking beer.
That Psychos songs sums it up perfectly. Going to a pub these days is a young lads game. The highest price of a glass of beer (285ml) in a Melbourne pub is $15 (average is $12). Shitty IPA's, home made, flavour infused, anything not considered a base line standard beer is up to double that price because essentially there is no recommended minimum price on those beers. A single shot of whisky, lowest shelf is between about $10 and $15, if you have to ask how much a specific brand is over a bar you can't afford it. Even wines are up around $13-20 per glass in some pubs.
It's cheaper to buy and consume at home, but the cheapest 24 can (375ml) cartons these days cost around the $40 -$50 dollar mark. Many are over $50 and some of those IPA's and small brewery beers are as high as $80 for 24 cans and they often come as low as 285ml cans. Cheap whiskies (Beam etc) start around the $40 mark and head skyward to ridiculous amounts and wine, especially Australian wine, is coming down at the moment (due to having billions of litres over production currently in storage and no where to export it too). Some wines can be under $10 and still be considered alright. (I wouldn't know for sure cause I don't drink wine either.
I still drink whisky from time to time but it's been a long time between drinks, in fact the last bottle of cheapish stuff I had my wife knocked off. She left the Buffalo Trace but drank the cinnamon stuff without even telling me until it was nearly empty.