A PROPOSAL to scrap the tax on light beer as a way to curb binge drinking met with a mixed response in Ballarat yesterday.The call to remove the current excise on beer containing less than 2.7 per cent alcohol by volume was made by the chief executive officer of the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, Todd Harper.The tax on a standard drink of packaged light beer containing two per cent alcohol is $0.19, which is 380 per cent higher than the tax on a standard drink of cask wine containing 12.5 per cent alcohol, which is only $0.05. Mr Harper said the tax system provided the best chance of encouraging consumers to switch drinking preferences."With a rising tide of binge drinking and associated violence and crime, it's essential that we shift our drinking culture towards lower alcohol alternatives," he said."The amount of tax we pay for alcoholic beverages varies enormously, depending on the product type, rather than the amount of alcohol they contain."Mr Harper said scrapping the tax on light beer for five years would show whether consumers changed their drinking habits."This would reduce the cost of a slab of low alcohol beer from about $31 to $26, compared with about $38 for a slab of high alcohol beer - a big incentive for people choosing to drink responsibly."The low alcohol tax proposal could be addressed as part of the Commonwealth Government's Henry Review, which is examining the Australian taxation system. Ballarat branch president of the Australian Hotels Association Ian Larkin cautiously welcomed the proposal yesterday."We have always supported anything that can help decrease binge drinking," he said."I'm just worried what they would do with the tax on heavy beer."I think light beer should not have a tax on it at all, provided you do not sell it at very cheap prices." Mr Larkin said the tax on alcopops had not worked and other factors needed to be taken into considerations. "Hotels have played their part, with the Responsible Serving of Alcohol and security," he said."We have no control over people drinking at home, that is the problem."There's got to be education and awareness."