Debate has sparked over whether the nation should adopt a 'sugar tax', following comments made by the recipient of this year's Australian of the Year award.
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South Australian eye surgeon Dr James Muecke used his acceptance speech on Saturday night to bring attention to the "looming catastrophe" of preventable blindness as a result of type two diabetes.
He has called on the government to introduce a tax that will increase the prices of high-sugar commodities in attempt to deter its consumption.
The 2017-18 Australian Bureau of Statistics National Health Survey revealed that 48 per cent of adults in Australia consume sugar-sweetened or artificially-sweetened drinks once a week. Meanwhile, 9.1 per cent would drink something sweet each day.
The statistics furthered revealed young adults living in disadvantaged areas were three times more likely to consume sugary drinks daily.
Mother of three, Meg Hardie from Tallimba told The Daily Advertiser she was not convinced that the increase to prices on sugar-laden products - particularly soft drinks, fruit juices and energy drinks - would reduce the problem.
"Past experiences in this country have shown us, taxing something more doesn't stop people from buying it," Ms Hardie said.
"Look at cigarettes, they keep making them more expensive but people keep buying them."
In response to Dr Muecke, federal health minister Greg Hunt has spoken out to say the Morrison government will not support the introduction of a sugar tax.
He told ABC radio on Monday that it was not for the government to be "driving up the price of household goods for families".
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Ms Hardie agrees the situation cannot be remedied through policy. Instead, she said it would come down to promoting a cultural shift.
"The whole way the supermarket is set up, there's a whole aisle devoted to soft drinks and then you've got them at the check-outs too," Ms Hardie said.
"You're either a soft drink drinker or you're not, and those who are will drink it at any price."
If a sugar tax were to be introduced, Ms Hardie said, it would directly affect her weekly shopping bill. With three children under her roof, she said the sugar would be missed if there was less of it.
"I have a teenage son and he'd likely sell a kidney for a soft drink," she said.
"If you want it bad enough, you'll get it."
But, her 16-year-old son David admitted there would be a limit to his love of soft drinks.
"I have mixed feelings about a tax. I'm leaning towards saying it would be a good idea if it makes a difference to the amount of soft drinks that are drunk per year in Australia," David said.
"It would make the drink more expensive, and that's the problem at the moment. Soft drinks are so much cheaper to buy than bottled water in my pocket-money opinion."
David's 14-year-old sister Elspeth agrees that a price insentive needs to be made to reward people for a healthier choice.
"If people are thirsty, they'll pay for the cheaper [drink], so it's best to make the cheapest option something good for you," Elspeth said.
The decision to curb a personal intake of unhealthy drinks and foods is not arbitrary for Wagga woman Donna Young.
Since her diabetes diagnosis 12 months ago, she has been on a journey to reduce her personal consumption of sugar.
"I've had to be disciplined and say no to it, but I do think it's harder if you're addicted to it," Ms Young said.
Ms Young is no stranger to addiction. Two years ago, she gave up smoking cold turkey.
"My husband gave up first and then I gave up," she said.
"He gave up alcohol at the same time, but now he does drink a lot of soft drinks. I can't really judge, it's replacing one thing with another and we all do that."
Theoretically, Ms Young supports a sugar tax, saying that within her own life she has seen that taking the cheapest option does not actually save any money over the years.
"Cutting down on your own sugar stops the amount of health problems you're going to have in the future," Ms Young said.
"The cost to your health is huge in the long term.
"Putting the price up won't make it unavailable, it'll just make it more expensive and honestly, you either pay now or you pay later."