Blue Jackie: Alcohol Reform Bill — Procedure In Committee 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Blue Jackie: Alcohol Reform Bill — Procedure In Committee 
[Sitting date: 23 October 2012. Volume:685;Page:6061. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Dr JACKIE BLUE (National) 
: 
 I am pleased to be speaking to Part 1 in the Committee stage on preliminary matters. This is the biggest reform since Prohibition. I congratulate the Government on bringing this bill the Alcohol Reform Bill to the House today. It is in response to the Law Commission report and there have been over 130 positive changes as a result. I would also like to take the opportunity to congratulate the previous Justice and Electoral Committee which heard over 1500 submissions on this very topic and the chair Chester Borrows. I would like to congratulate the Minister of Justice Judith Collins on her work and the officials. There has been a huge amount of work that has gone on behind the scenes. 
It is a balanced approach and let us face it you are never going to please everyone. But I am particularly pleased about some aspects of this bill which if time permits I will talk to. Local alcohol plans—absolutely the community wants those. It wants to be able to make those decisions on where alcohol outlets should be. Alcohol displays in supermarkets and grocery stores—that one particularly incenses me. My local supermarket changed the layout and made shoppers go down the alcohol aisle. You could not go left you could not go right. You had no option but to go through the alcohol and that infuriated me. I am also pleased to see parental tools are available. I have a 16-year-old daughter. I would be outraged if she went to another home and she was offered alcohol without my knowing or having my express wish. I am particularly pleased about that. 
But I really want to just take some time and actually focus on the cross-sectoral approach that the Government is taking to alcohol. You cannot do it with just one piece of legislation; I think we all have to agree on that. But in health there are some very exciting initiatives with regard to alcohol harm. We know there are about 700000 heavy drinkers out there in New Zealand. Most of them probably do it through a lack of education or they might be in denial. But there are two tools. One is the Whanganui alcohol screening pilot that is under way. It is very exciting. That is showing some good results where people are screened on alcohol—on how much they are drinking when and where what types—and if they are registered as high risk interventions are offered to them. That is rolling out very nicely. 
But there is another exciting tool which I am particularly happy with and I am very excited about and that is called eCHAT. It has happened in two general practitioners’ practices in Auckland. It is going to be rolled out to 30 more including Tamaki College next year—no; it is actually currently happening—where everyone in the waiting area is given an iPad or a tablet and they are given nine fields of questions to answer. It is very quick. It covers alcohol it covers recreational drugs it covers violence it covers depression it covers exercise and it covers a couple of other areas. It has been well researched. It has been looked at and the questions have been fine-tuned. It basically again links into the patient record. Again if the person registers as high risk in any particular category they go on and answer more questions and the general practitioner can offer them some screening and some intervention tools. I think that is particularly exciting particularly because people often do not realise the harm they are doing. Some of it is through lack of education and maybe it is just pointing out: “Look you need to look at what you’re drinking and how much you’re drinking.” I am really pleased by that. 
The emergency department of Wellington Regional Hospital has been screening people who appear at accident and emergency with an alcohol-related event. They are contacted a few days later by their community alcohol and drug service. Most of those people do not want to know about it and that is fine but there will be people who want to know and realise maybe in that reflective stage of their drinking that yes they have got a bit of a problem and it is time to address it. Those are measures I am particularly pleased about. 
In the Minister’s other portfolio ACC they are doing huge work in reduction of alcohol harm. I was on to ACC the other night—I had to phone about a constituent—and I got this recorded message while I was waiting to be answered: “Don’t forget to serve non-alcoholic drinks and serve food at your party.” I was staggered and it made me realise how much ACC is doing to reduce harm from alcohol particularly in the workplace. There is also transport. The Safer Journeys initiative has actually really targeted youth and alcohol drinking and harm. In corrections it is fabulous. Alcohol and drug treatment beds have opened up for prisoners and all prisoners have access to those. It has been life changing. I went to Paremoremo prison and I spoke to staff at the unit and it has been absolutely life changing for prisoners who have taken up that option of having alcohol and drug treatment. Basically alcohol had fuelled their lives and their lives had been brought into crisis. Thank you. 
Hon Members 
: Mr Chair.