Laban Luamanuvao Winnie: Sale of Liquor (Youth Alcohol Harm Reduction) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Laban Luamanuvao Winnie: Sale of Liquor (Youth Alcohol Harm Reduction) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Sitting date: 17 June 2009. Volume:655;Page:4409. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon LUAMANUVAO WINNIE LABAN (Labour—Mana) 
: 
 Kia ora talofa lava and warm Pacific greetings. It is indeed my pleasure to stand in support of my colleague the MP for Christchurch Central Brendon Burns and his Sale of Liquor (Youth Alcohol Harm Reduction) Amendment Bill. 
This bill is very important because it confronts the reality that we all need to take collective responsibility to reduce the harm associated with alcohol advertising. Everyone in New Zealand—adults young people children families and communities—is affected by alcohol advertising. The two specific measures of this bill are to amend the watershed for liquor advertising from 8.30 p.m. to 10 p.m. and to return exclusive jurisdiction for liquor advertising to the Broadcasting Standards Authority. 
I have been really impressed with the amount of research and consultation my colleague Brendon Burns has done in relation to this legislation. He has worked with many groups including the New Zealand Drug Foundation and looked at alcohol advertising policy the  
Review of research on alcohol advertising and sponsorship 
 and the report of the steering group for the Review of the Regulation of Alcohol Advertising. One of the biggest reasons why we need to take collective responsibility is seen daily through the evidence particularly of our young people the impact on them of excessive alcohol consumption and also the huge influence of advertising. 
I want to point out some facts from the research and from the huge amount of consultation that Brendon has done for this bill. First of all we should approach this issue with the knowledge that 99 percent of New Zealand children watch television. In fact in many families television is a babysitter for our children. Ninety-two percent of 12 to 13-year-olds 68 percent of 9 to 11-year-olds and 24 percent of 6 to 8-year-olds are still up after 8.30 p.m. on weeknights and consequently are exposed to liquor advertising. The other point the research has brought out—and this research is all sourced—is that young people learn their drinking behaviours from those around them. The results of the secondary school survey conducted in 2007 showed that 72 percent of our students have tried alcohol and 54 percent of students sourced their alcohol from their parents. Dr Sue Bagshaw from Christchurch’s Youth Health Centre sees around 7000 teenagers every year. She says that for a teenager in New Zealand binge drinking is a rite of passage and that nothing will change until the marketing of alcohol and of alcopops in particular is restricted based on looking at what we have achieved with nicotine. 
A lot of the evidence of the impact of advertising on our children and young people is there. Of course we see evidence in relation not only to crime but also to drink-driving and binge drinking. In my own electorate of Mana there are nine alcohol outlets in Porirua East where the majority of the 19000 residents are aged between 15 and 24. We have seen huge evidence of the negative impacts of excessive alcohol advertising and easily accessible liquor outlets. Alcohol advertising will have contributed to the fact also that over the 10-year period from 1990 to 1999 14 to 17-year-olds doubled the amount they drank on a typical drinking occasion going from drinking two to three drinks to drinking five to six in later years. The information acquired by the Group Against Liquor Advertising from Statistics New Zealand showed that teenagers from 14 to 17 years of age drink about $2.7 million worth of alcohol per week. 
The other group that has concerns about this issue in relation to our young people are parents. Eighty-four percent of parents surveyed in the  
Seen and Heard: Children’s Media Use Exposure and Response 
 study from the Broadcasting Standards Authority in 2008 registered concern about their children’s exposure to television content. The steering group for the Review of the Regulation of Alcohol Advertising set up in 2007 after a recommendation from our Health Committee said that the goal of the review was “to see whether the existing regulatory framework for alcohol advertising fits with the Government’s alcohol policy.” At the core of the work of that steering group was the recommendation—a strong recommendation—to minimise the overall exposure of our children and young people under the minimum purchasing age to alcohol advertising. This is a big issue for us; it is the role of Government to look after the welfare of its citizens especially our young and especially our children. The review also showed that alcohol advertising plays a role in shaping the culture of drinking that has proliferated in New Zealand; it reflects and amplifies drinking practices in the context of a country’s social and economic and cultural history. It is important that we take responsibility for this issue as it is very very serious. 
The other thing with the Broadcasting Standards Authority jurisdiction is that voluntary health and community sectors have long advocated that alcohol-related harm is a public health issue best regulated by Government hence the importance of moving that advertising responsibility to the Broadcasting Standards Authority. It is a public health issue; it is an issue for all of us. 
What was also interesting from the work of the steering group was that it showed a call from our youth for Government regulation. Submissions from youth-orientated organisations all over New Zealand proposed that alcohol advertising should be Government regulated. These organisations wanted regulation of alcohol advertising within broadcast programming and other alcohol advertising brought under one body and that call came from the young people also. It is really important that we hear that call. 
One of the most important issues in relation to this bill sponsored by Brendon Burns and it is why I encourage everyone to use their conscience vote to support it is that we have to take responsibility. That is why we are in these public roles; that is why we are members of Parliament. Our role is to make sure that we minimise alcohol harm but also ensure that it is a public health issue—it is an issue for all of us. We are expected as parliamentarians to do our best to align these bills before the House; of course the Sale of Liquor (Youth Alcohol Harm Reduction) Amendment Bill complements the bill in the name of the Hon Simon Power the Sale and Supply of Liquor and Liquor Enforcement Bill. The spirit of being able to rise above party politics is to use our conscience vote in a way that can really make a difference. Thank you.