Analysis of Alcohol Industry Submissions against Marketing Regulation.

A growing body of literature points to the role of vested interests as a barrier to the implementation of effective public health policies. Corporate political activity by the alcohol industry is commonly used to influence policy and regulation. It is important for policy makers to be able to critique alcohol industry claims opposed to improved alcohol marketing regulation. The Australian National Preventive Health Agency reviewed alcohol marketing regulations in 2012 and stakeholders were invited to comment on them. In this study we used thematic analysis to examine submissions from the Australian alcohol industry, based on a system previously developed in relation to tobacco industry corporate political activity. The results show that submissions were a direct lobbying tactic, making claims to government that were contrary to the evidence-base. Five main frames were identified, in which the alcohol industry claimed that increased regulation: (1) is unnecessary; (2) is not backed up by sufficient evidence; (3) will lead to unintended negative consequences; and (4) faces legal barriers to implementation; underpinned by the view (5) that the industry consists of socially responsible companies working toward reducing harmful drinking. In contrast with tobacco industry submissions on public policy, which often focused on legal and economic barriers, the Australian alcohol industry placed a heavier emphasis on notions of regulatory redundancy and insufficient evidence. This may reflect differences in where these industries sit on the 'regulatory pyramid', alcohol being less regulated than tobacco.
Competing Interests: I have read the journal's policy and the authors of this manuscript have the following competing interests: Peter Miller receives funding from Australian Research Council and Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, grants from NSW Government, National Drug Law Enforcement Research Fund, Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education, Cancer Council Victoria, Queensland government and Australian Drug Foundation, travel and related costs from Australasian Drug Strategy Conference. He has acted as a paid expert witness on behalf of a licensed venue and a security firm. Linda Hancock has been an unpaid expert witness in relation to gambling-related inquiries in Victorian and Commonwealth government inquiries, the Australian Productivity Commission, the South Australian Coronial Court, and inquiries in New Zealand, Canada and the UK; and she is a member of the Singapore Government International Advisory Panel. She was appointed by the Governor in Council as Chair of the Victorian Gambling Research Panel (2000-2004) and was a member of the Ministerial Roundtable on Gambling. She was Director of Research for the UK Responsible Gambling Fund and participated in that role on various UK committees on the ESRC, MRC, DCMS and the Gambling Commission. She has conducted independent peer review of bookmaker research for the UK Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and undertook research funded by the Campaign for Fairer Gambling evaluating the Responsible Gambling Trust funded research on fixed odds betting machines in bookmakers’ shops (2014). She is a Chief Investigator in an Australian Research Council Linkage Grant investigating mechanisms of industry influence in the tobacco, alcohol and gambling industries. She has received no funding directly or indirectly from gambling or alcohol industry sources for any purpose. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.