Australia's small breweries are being strangled by excise tax. On top of all the usual taxes any small business pays, microbrewers have to fork out 25% of their sales income straight to the ATO in the form of excise. How is an industry expected to survive, let alone grow, under such a crippling tax regime?

The Australian Association of Microbreweries was formed to persuade the Federal Government to amend Excise Tax legislation and to give microbrewers a fair go.

You may be aware of our last Fair Go For Craft Beer campaign where we asked you to sign a petition that was to be presented to the Federal Government. A number of years of intensive lobbying, submissions to Henry Tax Review and several pre-Budget submissions preceded that campaign, which was finalised February 2009. Thanks to everyone who took the time to sign a petition.

The Fair Go For Craft Beer campaign was successful in delivering a national campaign and a national petition of 6,500 signatures that was presented to the House of Representatives in March 2009 by Kaye Hull, the then Member for Riverina. Subsequently Holgate Brewhouse owner, Paul Holgate was invited to a House of Representatives Petitions Committee question and answer session. Ultimately we did not achieve our goals but the fight continues.

We are presently formulating our next campaign in our battle for a Fair Go For Craft Beer and we hope that we can call on your continued support when we are ready to put it in place.

In the meantime, thanks for caring about the future of craft beer in Australia and remember: Drink Less, Drink Better.