Adams Paul: Customs and Excise (Alcoholic Beverages) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee Third Reading 
Adams Paul: Customs and Excise (Alcoholic Beverages) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:608;Page:5412] 
PAUL ADAMS (United Future) 
:  
This legislation is interesting because there has been much talk about our young people. I for one am a great supporter of the young people of our nation; I think they are fantastic. But we cannot legislate human behaviour. Therefore all that one can do is to indicate to people what one is trying to achieve and I think that is what we are doing here. We often look at money without looking at the wider issues. 
We members of Parliament need to recognise that in our nation we have a severe drinking problem with our young people. We should ask ourselves why that is. I think a lot of it has to do with their training. We train our children on how to handle themselves when crossing roads and so on but many of us fail in our responsibility to teach our young people to handle alcohol. We should train them to use the drinks with a lower alcohol content sensibly. Let us be honest and admit that if people want to get drunk then there are many ways that they can do so and no legislation will prevent it. 
Another issue we will need to address in time and to have a serious look at is the distribution of alcohol to those who are not old enough to have it legally. I believe that is a major issue. Let me tell members a story. 
Ron Mark 
: Give me a story about the bill. 
PAUL ADAMS 
: I am telling you a story about alcohol and the bill is about alcohol. 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: The member should not bring me into the debate. He cannot use the word “you”. 
PAUL ADAMS 
: I apologise. 
Ron Mark 
: Is this a sermon or a speech on the bill? 
PAUL ADAMS 
: I will leave that for the member to decide. 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: I remind members that running commentaries are out of order. 
PAUL ADAMS 
: There is the problem which I think we all recognise that those who are under the legal drinking age can easily obtain alcohol. We have very little come-back on the people who supply it whether that is a parent or an older person. There is a story of a father whose daughter was killed in a car accident. He said that if he ever found out who was responsible for supplying that liquor he would deal severely with him or her. Unfortunately that liquor came from his own liquor cabinet. I would like to see some time in the future us dealing with the people who allow younger people to get alcohol. 
There are many issues that we need to address. I would like to see us educate our young ones. We should encourage them to use low-alcohol drinks in a sensible manner so that they learn to handle alcohol correctly. Of course many children see their parents come home drunk so therefore they think that is acceptable. It is the same with the behaviour in this Chamber. If we do not want that kind of behaviour in society maybe we need to stir ourselves up. United Future supports this bill because we maintain it gives an indication of our concerns about liquor.