Bridges Simon: Alcohol Reform Bill — In Committee 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Bridges Simon: Alcohol Reform Bill — In Committee 
[Sitting date: 30 August 2012. Volume:683;Page:5023. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon SIMON BRIDGES (Minister of Consumer Affairs) 
: 
 I was on the Justice and Electoral Committee for all of the last term and into this term and I sat through all of the hearings on alcohol that we heard. I heard hundreds of submitters as deputy chairman I listened intently and I am absolutely convinced there is not a single doubt in my mind that we should raise the age to 20. I agree with the members in this Chamber who have spoken. I do not always agree with the Rt Hon Winston Peters but I agreed with him when he said lowering it was the silliest thing we ever did. It was the silliest thing and one of the silliest things this House has ever done. 
I will come back to the evidence because it is a great irony that the other side of this Chamber likes to talk about evidence when it suits them but actually the evidence here is completely for raising it in total. I want to say this first: raising the age to 20 across the board is by far and away the most popular thing across the country electorate by electorate. Other than maybe Chris Hipkins Nikki Kaye Gareth Hughes and a few pimply Young Nats that is what the vast majority of New Zealanders want. That is what the vast majority of New Zealanders want. This is not— 
The CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy) 
: Order! Order! 
Hon Tau Henare 
: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. I take offence at being referred to as a pimply-faced Young Nat. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Eric Roy) 
: I do not believe the member was. 
Hon SIMON BRIDGES 
: As I was saying this is not a liberal or conservative issue. If you go into central Auckland or central Wellington let alone to the East Coast or Tauranga the overwhelming majority of New Zealanders support 20 across the board. That is because they have common sense and that is because they are right. The evidence backs them. The evidence backs them entirely. 
I defy the other side of this Chamber and the members who are voting for other options to point to evidence that goes against my proposition that 20/20 is the way to go. Let me cite just a couple of things that stood out to me as I was on the select committee. First the No. 1 expert on this in the world a man by the name of Professor Babor who came along to our select committee from America—and he is the cited expert in the world on alcohol and alcohol-related harms—made it very clear that they could deduce that when they raised the age of drinking to 21 in America state by state suddenly the levels of harm and the deaths on the roads for 12 13 14 and 15-year-olds dropped entirely away. That is a very strong reason indeed for changing this. It is not about 18 and 19-year-olds as much as it is actually about 17 16 15 14 13 12 and 11-year-olds and the alcohol that they drink. I am not saying this will solve the world’s problems but it will make a difference. 
We have already heard much from a number of members about the neurology and the evidence but it is abundantly clear that adolescents cannot take alcohol and it has a much more harmful effect on their brains than it does for older New Zealanders. I say again to this Committee that this is popular this is what the overwhelming majority of New Zealanders in every single electorate in this country want and the evidence backs 20/20 all the way.