Barnaby Joyce has a message for anyone concerned about the effects of excess sugar consumption - it's not the job of the tax office to promote healthy lifestyles.
And while they're at it they should eat less and exercise more.
Mr Joyce has ruled out the Nationals supporting the latest call for a sugar tax to address rising obesity, especially in children, noting the suggested impost would apply to soft drinks but not lattes.
"If you want to deal with being overweight, here's a rough suggestion - stop eating so much and do a bit of exercise," he told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.
A Grattan Institute report, to be presented to federal parliament on Wednesday, recommends a sugar content tax of 40 cents per 100 grams of sugar on water-based, non-alcoholic sugar-sweetened beverages.
It would raise $520 million in tax revenue in 2017 and the cost to the consumer would be minimal, argues the institute's health program director Stephen Duckett.
Its researchers estimate the tax would increase the average cost of a two litre bottle of soft drink by about 80 cents, leading to a 15 per cent reduction in consumption.
Mr Joyce said the Australian Taxation Office was not going to save people's health.
"The ATO is not a better solution than jumping in the pool and going for a swim, the ATO is not a better solution than reducing your portion size," he said.
Assistant minister for rural health Dr David Gillespie said the government fully acknowledged the national obesity problem and was taking action including the Healthy Food Partnership and the health star food labelling system.
As a doctor he saw many unhealthy people and often recommended the ELF diet - eat less food - and the DME program - do more exercise.
"It's pretty simple - you are what you eat but you are also a result of how often you eat and how much you eat so you have to make wise choices," he told reporters.
The Greens will push for a parliamentary inquiry into the rise of obesity and whether a sugar tax on soft drinks is one way to combat the problem.
If the government didn't act, the Greens would introduce a private bill for a sugar tax, leader Richard Di Natale said.
Liberal Democrats senator David Leyonhjelm dismissed the measure, saying there should be an impost on stupid ideas.
"There are a lot of stupid authoritarians around and they have a lot of stupid ideas and if we just tax them there would be no need to tax things like sugar," he said.
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