Creating A Brighter Future

Alcohol Healthwatch Alcohol Law Reform Forum.

Something I've learnt over the past two years as a Minister is that there are basically three types of legislation.

There's legislation which goes pretty much unreported - despite its importance - such as my Auditor Regulation and External Reporting Bill. There's legislation which draws vocal opposition from certain sectors and interest groups specifically affected by it.

And then there's legislation like alcohol reform. That is legislation on which everyone has a view, because though some people don't like to admit it - nearly everyone has a drinking story.

My role as Minister of Justice is to find a balance between all of the competing views. I believe that balance lies somewhere between dealing with the considerable harm alcohol causes and not unfairly punishing responsible drinkers.

One thing I desperately want to avoid is a repeat of the 2003 ‘sherry tax'. So, I'm approaching alcohol reform by looking at it as a driver of crime.

It's clear that alcohol is a lubricant for crime - it is implicated in 30 per cent of all police recorded offences, 34 per cent of recorded family violence, and 50 per cent of all homicides.

But I recognise that alcohol's tentacles reach further than that. It impacts on our workplace productivity, our injury rate, our road toll, and our general health.

The direct cost to Government of alcohol-related harm has been put as high as $1.2 billion a year. But the costs to New Zealand society are significantly greater.

I'm sure we're in agreement that the liberalisation of the sale of alcohol in the late 1980's to create a ‘European style' moderate drinking culture, and then further changes in 1999, have not worked as envisaged.

It's clear that the pendulum has swung too far towards the relaxation of alcohol laws.

Overhauling those laws is a priority for this Government - which is why, upon taking office, I asked the Law Commission to deliver its ground-up review of our laws a year earlier than they were planning. That report - all 2.4kgs of it - landed on my desk in late April this year.

Four months later, in late August, I announced the Government's response - and that response pulls a number of levers to reduce the availability of, and demand for, alcohol. Since then I've been busy meeting stakeholders from all sides of the debate.

I want to emphasise to you today - as I emphasised to those stakeholders - that the Alcohol Reform Bill should be seen as Parliament's starting point for alcohol reform.

There's a lot of water to go under the bridge yet - most importantly, the public's chance to have a say during the select committee process. And there's a lot to have a say on - with the bill addressing in full, or in part, 126 of the Law Commission's 153 recommendations.

When considered in sum, the changes contained in the bill will fundamentally change the way our drinking is regulated. I believe this point has been lost in the weeks since the Government announced its reform package.

In my view, the industry, health groups, and the media have honed in on specific issues - such as the purchase age - and as a result they have failed to grasp the impact of the package in its entirety.

This bill aims to target alcohol-related harm and zeroes in on where harm is occurring - particularly around young people.

We know that young people suffer a high and disproportionate rate of alcohol-related harm. So, if we are to achieve a culture change, we need to start from the ground up.

Leading by example is also important, which is why the bill removes Parliament's licensing exemption.

Perhaps the biggest proposal in the area of addressing youth drinking is the purchase age.

The Government's starting point is a split age of 18 for drinking at bars and clubs and 20 for buying alcohol from bottle shops and supermarkets. A split age provides a sensible, graduated approach to being permitted to purchase alcohol.

It will help to reduce harm associated with pre-loading, prevent 18- and 19-year-olds from buying alcohol for those younger than them, and ensure that young people are drinking in a supervised environment.

It's important to note that we've managed to negotiate with other parties to ensure that, as I understand it, this is the only aspect of the bill to be subject to a conscience vote. That will be the first time in New Zealand's legislative history this has been achieved. It's significant because it will ensure that the bill retains its coherence as it progresses through the legislative process.

Continuing with our focus on youth, we're proposing to give parents new tools to manage their children's introduction to alcohol. We also want to encourage parental and individual responsibility for supply to minors.

I want to emphasise that this Government is not in the business of getting into people's homes.

But the fact is that there is currently very little control over the supply of alcohol to minors at private social gatherings - such as school after-ball parties. That's why we're proposing to make it an offence to supply alcohol to a minor without parental consent, or in an irresponsible manner.

Consent could be given verbally, in writing, or implied - but I expect that the select committee will spend some time on this issue.

In the area of alcohol products, the bill allows for products which are particularly dangerous to health or attractive to minors to be banned - such as alcoholic vapour, alcoholic ice blocks, and alcoholic toothpaste.

The Government recognises that RTDs also have a strong appeal to youth and a high potential for harm. That's why we want to limit RTDs to 5 per cent alcohol content - on a par with beer - and to containers holding no more than 1.5 standard drinks.

Another focus of the bill is licensing.

Our approach is simple: licences will be harder to get and easier to lose. The days of buying beer and wine at the corner dairy will end when current licences expire.

There will also be more scope to object to licence applications, and more grounds to decline them.

Most importantly, communities will be given more say on licences in their patch. The Government recognises that what works for tourist hotspots like Queenstown will not work for a community such as South Auckland, which has expressed strong views on the proliferation of licences in their area.

That's why our bill empowers communities to adopt a local alcohol policy to deal with the concentration and location of outlets, and their opening hours - including one-way-door policies.

As a fallback, if a community decides against drafting a local alcohol policy then the maximum national trading hours of 8am to 4am for on-licences, clubs and special licences, and 7am to 11pm for off-licences will apply.

On advertising, we have adopted stage 1 of the Law Commission's advertising recommendations. That strengthens the existing offence of promoting excessive consumption of alcohol by applying it to any business - on or off-licence.

It will be an offence to promote free or heavily discounted alcohol, to offer goods or services on the condition that alcohol is purchased, or to promote alcohol in a way that is likely to have special appeal to minors.

Advertising, sponsorship, and promotion are issues I expect the select committee to spend some time on, and I'll be very interested in what the public has to say.

On the issue of pricing, the Government is committed to investigating a minimum pricing regime. We've been criticised for not doing it straight away, but the reality is that we don't have the evidence base we need, either locally or internationally, to set one. That's why we're giving retailers a year to provide sales and price data, and if that information is not forthcoming then we'll consider legislating to obtain it.

I want to finish by acknowledging that legislation alone won't change our excessive drinking culture. It can, however, help us develop a more moderate drinking culture supported by robust public education and treatment interventions. 

I'm pleased to announce today that the Alcohol Reform Bill will be tabled in Parliament next week, and I hope to have it sent to select committee before Christmas where it will stay for a full six months. I strongly encourage you to make a submission.

As I have said, this bill is Parliament's starting point for alcohol reform - not the end point.

The Government will listen closely to the arguments made during the select committee process to ensure we come away with legislation that is balanced, workable and, most importantly, enduring.