DISCOUNT supermarket giant Aldi will begin stocking its shelves with $1 beers - including 80c cans of light - across New South Wales from next year, despite objections from NSW Health.
The state's licensing authority has shrugged off warnings against selling super-cheap alcohol in supermarkets to give Aldi the green light for 34 outlets to stock beer for $1 a can and wine for as little as $2.25 a litre.
Health officials formally objected to the issuing of the new liquor licences, particularly in some regional and rural areas, insisting the increased access will "contribute to further alcohol-related harm and negative health outcomes".
It would also "place additional burden on hospitals, ambulance services and emergency departments".
But the Casino Liquor and Gaming Control Authority signed off on them, and is considering another 20 outlets.
The alcohol will be sold unrefrigerated in a separate space to the grocery aisles although shoppers will be able to also use the liquor area check-out to purchase non-alcohol items.
NSW Health objected to the liquor applications in nine out of 11 Aldi applications lodged before August, including at Ulladulla, Hamilton, Crooks Hill, Greenhills, Raymond Terrace, Taree and Muswellbrook.
Beer prices at Aldi stores start at $8.99 for a six-pack of Smith Clyde Lager to $19.99 for a carton of Storm Brewing Premium Light Beer. Four-litre casks of wine are available for less than $9 and bottles of sherry are sold for under $5.
Labor MP Walt Secord called on the state government to ensure youngsters could not have access to cheap alcohol.
"Unfortunately, high-risk alcohol use is increasing in our young people and we must look at ways to reduce their access to alcohol," he said.
The Ulladulla and Districts Community Resource Centre also complained to the licensing authority, saying there were already enough outlets "in a low-income area with high unemployment and major alcohol problems, and that another alcohol outlet was not needed".
Aldi has argued that its restrained opening hours compared with traditional bottle shops, and ban on quantity-based promotional offers such as two-for-one deals meant its impact would be negligible.
An Aldi spokeswoman rejected suggestions the licences would result in increased consumption of alcohol.
"The introduction of liquor to NSW stores will provide NSW customers with the same convenient shopping experience that (Victoria and the ACT) currently experience," she said.
Salvation Army recovery services clinical director Gerard Byrne called on the state government to restrict the number of liquor licences.
Mr Byrne said the rapid expansion of alcohol sales in retail outlets and supermarkets was contributing to the state's worsening alcohol crisis and called for a moratorium on new licences.