De Bortoli managing director Darren De Bortoli
LOCALS are doubtful that a government plan to drastically increase the price of wine will have any impact on problem drinking.
The plan stems from an inquiry which found the price of wine is cheaper than bottled water and the best way to tackle the high rate of alcohol-related deaths and violence would be to raise the minimum cost to $1.30 per standard drink.
Under the Australian National Preventive Health Agency's suggested system, the cheapest bottle of wine would be $9.75 and the cheapest four-litre cask of wine would jump to $52.
Griffith is known for its bulk wine production and is home to large-scale producers Casella and De Bortoli Wines.
De Bortoli managing director Darren De Bortoli said the plan would not only severely impact the local wine industry, but it was "almost moronic".
Mr De Bortoli said alcohol was merely an easy target when it was widely acknowledged illicit drugs were a major problem.
"Will society be better off? No. Unless they look at the fundamental reasons why people are abusing alcohol," Mr De Bortoli said.
"It's almost moronic to draw a simplistic line between the problems in society and the price of alcohol."
He said wine, when drunk responsibly, had proven beneficial qualities and the vast majority of society that drank responsibly would be penalised under the proposed system.
Local drug and alcohol worker Sid Barone said he was doubtful whether the plan would work because raising the price of cigarettes had not solved that problem.
He said more education was needed, and from an earlier age.
"We need to re-educate the whole fabrication of society we have a strong drinking culture and that's where the problem stems from," Mr Barone said.
"Education for young children is needed, possibly from year 6 onwards, because children are exposed to it from a young age."
Mr Barone said the number one problem when it came to drug and alcohol abuse was always alcohol in Griffith.
He said raising the price of alcohol by as much as had been suggested could create legal issues for people who were once able to afford it but then resorted to illegal means to obtain it.