On March 18th when I opposed the Brewery Amendment Bill in this House it was because it did not go far enough. That bill raised the excise tax on the beer company $3.60 to $4 instead of the $12 where it was in 1998.

Madam Speaker the economic times are such that there can be no sacred cows, there can be no exemptions on the special interest. Madam Speaker I ask this question of the front bench and those who propose to support this amendment. Have the financial conditions improved such that the government can afford to settle for only $6 a gallon, to settle for only $12 million revenue instead of $25 million that they would fetch if they raised the tax to $12?

All indications are that things are not getting better in this country, they are getting worse.

But this government will not, and it appears cannot, increase the excise tax on beer to the 1998 level eventhough they need the money and eventhough Mr. Bowen benefited from over $80 million in tax cuts over the last 6 years; a whopping $80 million in tax cuts. Madam Speaker a responsible government would not forego a single dollar of potential revenue, especially from a so-called special interest. The same way we could have given the company a massive rollback of their taxes from $12 to $1.80 in 1998 and direct the Customs Department to enforce this beer monopoly, the same way we can prevent this increase in the beer tax from being passed on to the consumer.

When the beer company got the tax cut in 1998, the cost of beer dropped a quarter, a solitary shilling. But when the beer tax was raised to $4, ½ of what it was in 1998, the cost of beer was increased by 50%. Everybody from the government's technical team to the social partners to the Opposition to my colleague the representative from Albert has been telling the government the same thing, raise the excise tax on beer to $12; tax the beer before you send home public officers, tax the beer before you tax the poor. But for whatever the reasons, the Government has been pussyfooting around the issue.

The government can collect upwards of $25 million from the beer tax if they raise it to $12 but they prefer to collect $13 million. Government needs to revenue, but as usual, it is the poor who will foot the bill.

Madam Speaker, the government has said that it is planning a "review of the tax system to make it more broad based," a review that most Belizeans believe will result in more taxes on the most convenient victims: the working poor, the disadvantaged and the middle classes, those who can least afford another penny in taxes.

Madam Speaker, in this bill the Government is saying forget about social justice and equity, forget about the poor, we need the money but we can't tax the rich. Madam Speaker the government should stop putting the special interest ahead of the national interest.