New industry body Alcohol Beverages Australia (ABA) has a lot of work ahead of it to build trust between its different stakeholder members, acknowledges Lion Beer Wine & Spirits Managing Director James Brindley.

Lion is one of seven companies to directly join ABA, the new body that supersedes the National Alcohol Beverages Industry Council (NABIC).

“It’s a first of a kind alliance, it’s full breadth of industry so it’s got brewers, it’s got winemakers, it’s got distillers, it’s got a retail association, it’s got Woolworths as a company member, it’s got hoteliers,” Brindley told the Institute of Brewers and Distillers 2016 Convention this week.

He said ABA aims to take an evidence-based and constructive approach to the debate around Australia’s alcohol policy.

The new association was formed late last year, with Australian Liquor Stores Association (ALSA) President Giuseppe Minissale as its Chair. Also on the board are Taylor’s Wines MD Mitchell Taylor as Vice Chair, Woolworths Liquor Group executive Shane Tremble as Treasurer and ALSA CEO Terry Mott as Secretary.

“It hasn’t made much progress yet, it’s a little bit like solving the Middle East peace crisis because we have a lot of different interest groups, so there’s a lot of discussion and a lot of building trust before we can make any tangible steps,” Brindley said.

“There’s one thing we never discuss and that’s tax. We can never agree on which category should be taxed more – except that beer should be taxed less of course!” the Lion boss joked.

ABA’s predecessor NABIC was never funded by the drinks industry, instead relying on voluntary input from member associations including ALSA, AHA, DSICA, Brewers Association Australia & NZ and Winemakers Federation of Australia.

These organisations plus the Restaurant & Catering Industry Association of Australia and Clubs Australia are all part of ABA, which drinks bulletin understands is currently recruiting for a CEO.

Alongside Lion and Woolworths, Accolade Wines, Brown-Forman Australia, Diageo Australia, Coca-Cola Amatil and Pernod-Ricard have also joined as direct members.