Drinkers would pay far less for a bottle of vodka but much more for cask wine, while booze would be available from supermarkets and corner stores, under major reforms to alcohol regulation being urged on the federal government.

Ahead of the May budget, industry and health groups are pushing for a rethink of the notoriously complex tax regime for alcohol in Australia, which sees cut-price "goon" taxed at as little as five cents a drink, but spirits taxed at more than $1.

While the Turnbull government this week focused on company tax cuts and race discrimination laws, a cross-party Senate committee chaired by Liberal Democrat David Leyonhjelm quietly proposed sweeping changes to alcohol regulation.

A single volumetric tax, set at the average rate of $36.50 a litre of alcohol, would halve the effective rate of tax on a bottle of gin or vodka - while the tax on cask wine would increase more than ten-fold.