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ABC News In-depth 20 Jul 2026 45 here now

The 'terrifying' lab test results from a bottle of store-bought vodka | 7.30

The alcohol black market is booming and retailers may not know what's sitting on their shelves.

A recent report suggests as many as 30 per of stores on the east coast could be stocking bootleg booze

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"alcohol is poison"
so what else is new?
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Dirty George, well at least the advertising does not lie.
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@Cured91 From YouTube ↗ 20 Jul 2026 35
Insanely high tax on spirits will end up with stories like these. That $35 bottle of vodka is like $30 in taxes alone.
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@VonL From YouTube ↗ 20 Jul 2026 10
Bootlegging is bioterrorism.
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I didn't know about this being available. Thanks for the heads up Auntie!
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The amount of government taxes on alcohol is ridiculous and is what leads to this. In the United States of America, the exact same bottle of vodka will cost almost half as much. The majority of what you pay for a bottle of vodka in Australia is TAX!
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@bradp8787 From YouTube ↗ 20 Jul 2026 14
It's happening with tobacco and now it's happening to alcohol. It's not rocket science - reverse the excise slightly and freeze the increase for a little.
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You make alcohol too expensive this is what you get. In the US you can get a 750 ml bottle of high quality liquor for the same $35 AUD.
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Close the stores, put the suppliers in prison. Problem solved.
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Last year I bought 2 x 1 litre bottles of Smirnoff from a convenience store on King St melbourne for an unbelievably cheap price. I would look at counterfeit Smirnoff too.
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Gov has to lower the extremely high excise, this will take away the demand for this toxic blackmarket alcohol.. its bloody ridiculous
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i think its obvious that if there is illicit products the tax is too high.
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Glycerine 🎶 who else remembers that song?
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First it was Tobacco now it is booze.
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The same thing that happened with cigarettes is going to happen with alcohol. If you go overseas you’ll realize just how insane the taxes on alcohol are in Australia.

Let people make their own choices about drinking and remove the excess taxes to kill the black market.
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35 dollar for some cheap vodka? thats some crazy prices in down under.
meanwhile in germany i get around 5 bottles of vodka for that price...
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35 bucks a bottle of voddie, nothing like some paint steipper to get you ripped!
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Great work uncovering this. well done to the reporter and the research team who uncovered this. Appalling
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A bottle of good vodka here in Germany costs 15 euro, Australia’s alcohol taxes are insane
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@kiranmurs From YouTube ↗ 20 Jul 2026 39
If "Dirty George" claims that their products are being counterfeited , why aren't they complaining to the police and allow the authorities some randomized testing?