Idea for helping the Health System
Sorry this one is so long and it really is nothing to do with small business but I am just so pleased to finally find an outlet for all of my ideas that I thought some of you may want to hear it. I get so many ideas and I don't know what to do with them all because I lack the funds and the time to act upon them.
I propose that all larger companies (sales over $10 million annually) currently selling food which falls into the ‘junk food’ category, pay a small ‘levy’ (or one-off payment) to the government per junk food item sold. This ‘levy’ should then be put towards the health system to help it cope with the health problems which arise from the consumption of this ‘food’, both current and future.
It should be paid separately to the 30% company tax and other taxes currently being paid to the ATO and it should be closely linked to the profits the companies make on each item which will in turn affect the selling price of the item. Thus the higher the profit the higher the levy and the higher the selling price of the item, therefore making the item less attractive (theoretically) to the junk food consuming public. A levy reduction may be available on items which are not advertised or aimed at children etc. – LCMs for example would attract a heavy levy as they are both well and truly junk food and they are intensely aimed and advertised towards children. The items themselves should also be labelled with the knowledge that a levy is exacted upon them, why and where that levy goes.
If guidelines for what classes as ‘junk food’ have not already been designated, then that will have to be done – possibly with several classes of junk food based upon the level of anticipated damage and therefore cost to the system that their consumption is expected to do to the body. For example dental damage (excessive levels of sugar), colonic problems and cancers (lack of fibre), obesity and diabetes contribution levels, nutritional detriment damage (mental health as well as physical health), and general health problems, or perhaps classes based upon the anticipated damage done by each ingredient and their quantity (sugar, salt fat etc). There is also speculation that certain junk foods are addictive which later becomes a chronic problem related to that food. Each class will have its own levy margins.
Because it is an ongoing levy, it should form ongoing funds for the system to use, unless the public should stop consuming junk food whereby a lot of health problems would probably recede anyway.
I personally have not done research on the figures associated with the consumption of junk food, but many others have. I, and therefore you should be aware that it makes a significant impact upon the behaviour of children which must impact their families (and the system’s psychology resources). I also know that the ongoing habit of consuming junk food into adulthood affects both the brain’s and the body’s development by replacing real nutrients which might be consumed if the junk food where not so widely available and encouraged – a doctor would call this condition ‘malnutrition’ (how many children are suffering from malnutrition of the brain but have been diagnosed as ADD or ADHD by their bulk-billed physicians?) I know that it also contributes very significantly towards health problems later in life especially if it is continually consumed as a life habit – problems like high blood pressure and cholesterol, obesity, diabetes, osteoporosis and heart and circulatory diseases to name a small handful. I also read recently that research is underway to investigate the link between junk food and depression – this may mean mental health problems which are no doubt bulk-billed to the system.
We all know that there are people out there right now who are consuming junk food on a regular basis and will soon turn up at their doctors with problems associated with their poor diet (bulk-billed to the system). Presently, the only winners are the junk food manufacturers themselves – they sell their dietary poison at a premium price, pay their mandatory 30% company tax, take their lucrative profits (usually out of the country) and leave the our system to cope with the diseases they leave in their wake. I understand that they don’t force their ‘food’ down our throats, but I do feel that they ‘get off’ too lightly and they are not made to take responsibility for their products’ side affects. One could be forgiven for thinking that I was talking about a cigarette company.
At present, the recent media reports about our floundering health system point out that it cannot continue to stand under the current conditions and I am afraid that when I will need the system in years to come for real age related health problems (in contrast to junk food related health problems) it will not be standing. I feel that the unchecked consumption of junk food is slowly eating away at the health system’s ability to survive. I also feel that my suggestion has real merit and that the same principle can also be applied to other bad habits Australia-wide with the purpose of helping the system cope with the inevitable future outcomes of these habits.
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