Review of the Sale of Liquor Act 1989

The Minister of Justice, Hon D.A.M. Graham, today released the report of the Advisory Committee appointed in June last year to review the Sale of Liquor Act 1989.

Mr Graham said the Advisory Committee had strongly urged Parliament to adopt the report's recommendations as a package.

'The Advisory Committee believes significant changes may well upset the balance of the package and detract from the value of the review that they have undertaken.'

The report recommends reducing the minimum drinking age from 20 to 18 years of age; extending Sunday trading and permitting supermarkets to sell all types of liquor.

Other recommendations include changes relating to the different kinds of licences that can be granted; retaining the status quo in respect of the drinking hours; no definition of intoxication or host responsibility to be incorporated into the Act; devolving more operating power from the Liquor Licensing Authority to the District Licensing Agencies; introducing a new licensing controllers' certificate to replace the present certificated manager system; and removing the trading privileges for Licensing Trusts.

The Advisory Committee rejected the introduction of a national identity card for the purchase of alcohol as impracticable.

No recommendation was made in respect of health warnings pending the outcome of the Australian and New Zealand Food Authority's findings. Similarly, the Advisory Committee recommended that consideration of the Potter Report on Liquor Advertising should await the outcome of the triennial review to be conducted by the Advertising Standards Authority.

Around 400 submissions were received by the Advisory Committee. It was chaired by a former Chief Ombudsman, Secretary of Justice and Secretary of Defence Sir John Robertson. The two members were Auckland Barrister Alan Dormer and Althea Vercoe, a Training Officer and Cultural Advisor with the Department of Social Welfare in Rotorua.

Mr Graham said he had asked officials from other government departments to report to the Ministry of Justice with their views on the report. He would then report to Cabinet on the content and timing of legislative change. Legislation would be subject to a conscience vote when it was introduced.

Copies of the report, Liquor Report, Report of the Advisory Committee, March 1997, can be obtained from the usual bookstore outlets and can be downloaded from the internet homepage http://www.govt.nz/ps.min.justice