O'Connor Simon: Alcohol Reform Bill — In Committee 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
O'Connor Simon: Alcohol Reform Bill — In Committee 
[Sitting date: 06 December 2012. Volume:686;Page:7299. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
SIMON O’CONNOR (National—Tamaki) 
: 
 Oh jolly decent of you. I just want to talk to something. Alcohol for better or worse—and a member earlier used the word “ubiquitous”—is something that is part and parcel of our society but that is a starting point. This is something we cannot will not and should not get rid of completely. Therefore it is always an important role of the Government and this Parliament all together to make the prudent decisions and a balanced decision. When we look at this Alcohol Reform Bill in its entirety but certainly in Part 6 this Government is taking the prudent approach around alcohol and one that is firmer rather than softer. People in the select committee of late have heard me waxing on if you like about balancing rights and a lot of the debate that we are having here today is about the right for ordinary Kiwis to have a drink as they choose at reasonable prices and without much disruption versus those who do misuse it. 
The key parts within Part 6 are helping that prudent approach by this Government to manage alcohol. The first is providing that power back to the communities. In Tamaki recently we have had a spate of liquor shops attempting to open. Fortunately they have not opened but the community’s pressure was not actually the direct cause. Talking to the licensing authorities at the moment basically only economic considerations can be brought in. However as the community I and others jumped up and down for want of a better phrase those wanting to open up their convenience stores basically backed off for fear of a community backlash and so forth. This bill and Part 6 in particular will help enable that power of the community to be regulated to be there to be present and to make a difference. It is the voice of the community and I certainly know that in my own electorate they want that voice to be heard. 
But we have heard a lot of debate too some of it about the Supplementary Order Papers around minimum pricing and ready-to-drinks. Well the National Party me included of course is all about personal responsibility. The first opportunity here is for the industry to put in those regulations to put in those appropriate structures to manage the pricing of alcohol and to manage ready-to-drinks. It is without a doubt particularly with regard to ready-to-drinks that they are a problem. When I go into different parts of my electorate I can see them. Cody’s I think they call them. They are not really my preferred drink but they are there. They are there they are crying out to young people and so forth. The Government understands this. This House understands it. But this party on this side of the House understands that responsibility starts with the individuals themselves and those who do the sales. This bill enables those parties to make their decisions and importantly the Government can step in. This bill provides the opportunity for the Government to step in at the right time and not prematurely. 
I want to come back to what a lot of people have been talking about which is the concern about say labelling and so forth and excise taxes and so forth. The key is actually that the areas of why people choose to drink are outside the mandate of this bill. You can label these drinks up as much as you want and put on all the prices but why youth in particular but also Kiwis right across our generations choose to anaesthetise themselves with alcohol is a question well outside the scope of the bill and therein lies I believe the fundamental question. Why is it that people choose to anaesthetise themselves with alcohol? Really at the end of the day all this labelling all that education per se all the taxes that could be added on to this and all the regulations in the world will not solve that problem in the first instance. This bill is a strong and positive step to curb the usages but a lot of this element around why people use alcohol is well outside the mandate of this bill. Thank you.