Lees-Galloway Iain: Liquor Advertising (Television and Radio) Bill — First Reading 
Lees-Galloway Iain: Liquor Advertising (Television and Radio) Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:655;Page:4870] 
IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY (Labour—Palmerston North) 
: 
 I will take a fairly short call on the Liquor Advertising (Television and Radio) Bill this evening. The call is for only 5 minutes so we will see how far we go. It is interesting that the two speakers from the Government benches have talked about the ironic position of the Green Party putting forward the two bills that we have been speaking about this evening. There is some irony— 
Hon David Carter 
: Ha ha! 
IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY 
: —the Minister of Agriculture had a chuckle there—in the position those members are taking as well. We are talking essentially about two public health issues and I think that the Green Party is trying to achieve improvements in public health measures. We are also talking about freedoms. The previous speaker Sam Lotu-Iiga spoke about the freedom to advertise a legal substance yet earlier on he voted against giving people the freedom to use a substance that could alleviate their pain a substance that is already available in a limited way— 
Paul Quinn 
: Illegal. 
IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY 
: No that is exactly my point I tell Mr Quinn. The substance is already available in a limited way for pain relief but the Misuse of Drugs (Medicinal Cannabis) Amendment Bill was about expanding that availability and providing freedom for people to use that substance for pain relief. I tell Mr Quinn that cannabis is not illegal for that purpose. There are avenues through which people can already use it. However we are not talking about that bill at the moment. I just wanted to reflect on that irony given that irony is something that Government members have been interested in. 
As I said the Liquor Advertising (Television and Radio) Bill is a public health measure and if I thought that it would have a positive effect on the public health issues around alcohol I would vote for it. However I do not think that this bill will achieve those outcomes so I will not be voting in favour of it this evening. I do not believe that a blanket ban on broadcast advertising will have that positive effect. I have some reservations about the ability of people in New Zealand who produce wine and boutique beers for sale on the market to advertise their products in a responsible way. I also have concerns that the bill would simply shift the advertising spend away from broadcast advertising into other avenues for advertising. 
I believe that the public health issues around alcohol are not as some speakers have spoken about tonight just about young people getting boozed and causing havoc. They are also about people who have mental health issues and about those who are chronically addicted to alcohol. They are about domestic violence. They are about a whole range of issues. We have spoken several times in this House about the economic effects of alcohol and its detrimental effects. I do not think that this measure will have the impact that the Green Party hopes it will have. For that reason I will not be able to vote for this bill this evening.