Nash Stuart: Alcohol Advisory Council Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Nash Stuart: Alcohol Advisory Council Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:652;Page:1816] 
STUART NASH (Labour) 
: 
 I stand in support of the Alcohol Advisory Council Amendment Bill. As I said when I spoke in favour of this bill during its second reading we should all be in favour of any legislation that promotes consistency across an industry or product especially when that consistency benefits an organisation with the public health mandate such as the one that the Alcohol Advisory Council (ALAC) has. Again I spoke at length on the council previously and my colleague Jacinda Ardern quoted its chief executive officer extensively in her recent speech in this Chamber. We should be even more in favour of the bill given that the proposed amendments will have minimal impact upon those who will pay this levy—that is the customers who purchase alcohol. Therefore industry consumers our communities and society benefit from this amendment bill. 
It is a technical amendment bill but that does not detract from its importance or its function. Basically as has already been alluded to this bill amends the Alcohol Advisory Council Act of 1976 by simplifying the current mechanisms for setting the Alcohol Advisory Council levy. It solves the problems that exist with the current levy-setting mechanisms by introducing an updated and simple calculation system that reflects the current alcohol market as well as future-proofs the levy against new types of alcoholic products. The amendment bill also provides for regulations to be made by Order in Council to fix the rate of levy payable. Of course the debate on this bill is not the occasion on which to debate the concern around alcohol-related harm but as with the last bill debated the Sale and Supply of Liquor and Liquor Enforcement Bill any legislation that helps our communities—in this case through the good work of ALAC—to be better served through education and enlightenment around the healthy and safe use of alcohol is a start. Our communities demand this and that is why the last Labour Government introduced this bill. 
I think we all agree that one of the positive aspects of this bill is that alcoholic beverages with a higher volume of alcohol will contribute a higher portion of the levy. This is salient in today’s environment where evidence shows that young drinkers are drinking the dreaded alcopops—in essence alcoholic fizzy drinks—and the role of ALAC has reached a new level of importance and relevance. The new system will not affect the total sum collected for the levy and the effect on prices for consumers through shifts in the levy payable between beverage types will not be significant—approximately 2c for a 750 ml bottle of spirits and a difference of less than 1c for a bottle of wine a six-pack of beer and a four-pack of ready-to-drink beverages. 
This bill has its genesis in the 2004 Ministry of Health review of the current levy-setting mechanisms of the Alcohol Advisory Council Act 1976 which found four major problems with the way in which ALAC’s levy was calculated and apportioned. The first problem was that it was outdated—the industry has changed considerably over the past 30-odd years. The second finding was that the spirits category required a calculation of proof litres; this concept is no longer in use. The third problem was that the current levy-setting mechanism was unnecessarily complex and the fourth was that section 27 of the Alcohol Advisory Council Act 1976 allowed the levy to be set by the Minister of Health by  
Gazette 
 notice; hence there was no process for Cabinet to be involved in the levy-setting process. This bill rectifies all those anomalies; therefore I support it wholeheartedly. Thank you.