This is so sad to me. Manual transmissions are just more fun, no matter which car you have. I have a 10 year old Subaru Outback and even that (top) heavy PoS gives me joy on a curvy road.
Of course I know that a modern auto is _way_ faster than a human, but I don't care in the slightest. My father in law has a Mercedes C63s and holy shit is it fast, but it would be 10x better with a stick. Spending a ton of money on a Porsche 911 but getting an automatic is baffling to me—unless you actually race it.
Life is too short, find fun where you can. Don't let the robots win.
This article[1] suggests excise tax isn't that high ($1 or $2), though GST is 10% so that's certainly part of the overall price.
I rather suspect it is pure price discrimination. I saw Pabst Blue Ribbon for AU$49 a case. PBR! Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is around AU$75 a case. These prices are at a huge discount retailer (Dan Murphy's).
I can't speak to China, but here in Australia they already diluted it to 40%. I'm not sure when it happened, the bottle I have is at least 4 months old.
In Australia, Maker's Mark lowered the proof a while ago. The bottle I have in my pantry is 40% (80 proof). Not to mention, bottles run ~$40 (1 AUD ~= 1 USD), so I suspect the branding/marketing considerations are different.
> Yet once those avian features were in place, birds took off.