Logie Jan: Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Rugby World Cup 2015 Extended Trading Hours) Amendment Bill — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeLogie Jan: Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Rugby World Cup 2015 Extended Trading Hours) Amendment Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 26 August 2015. Volume:708;Page:6221. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]JAN LOGIE (Green): In a very similar vein to my Labour colleague Poto Williams I rise to take a call in the third reading of the Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Rugby World Cup 2015 Extended Trading Hours) Bill. As I have said already the Green Party is opposing this bill and I am proud of that. I know that not everyone agrees with our position on this and that many people are presenting us as wowsers for our position but I am proud to stand and represent those who believe in local decision-making and those who want to unhinge the harmful relationship between alcohol and rugby particularly in relation to domestic violence in this country.As a country we do have a problematic drinking culture and there are strong links between alcohol and violence in this country. The police have reported that 33 percent of all family violence incidents involve alcohol and 50 percent of all serious violent crime involves alcohol. We know—the evidence tells us—that late-night and early-morning consumption of alcohol is linked with increased levels of intoxication and alcohol-related harm. That is the evidence. There is strong evidence that levels of risk and harm associated with family violence are increased when alcohol is involved and that extended opening hours increase alcohol-related harm.There is clear evidence that links the impacts of rugby and drinking and connects it to family violence—ask any women’s refuge after we have lost a match. They know and the women and children who are living through it know.According to the Family Violence Death Review Committee just last year 31 percent of family violence deaths in New Zealand between 2009 and 2012 occurred “in the context of a social gathering of people who had generally been drinking alcohol for an extended period of time—during the day and into the evening.” So here we are overriding an existing Act the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 where there are adequate provisions included to obtain special licences for special events such as the Rugby World Cup. Special events are associated with increased risk of alcohol-related harm and as such they require additional oversight and management. That was the agreement that this House came to in 2012 when it passed the Act that is currently being overridden in a very truncated process by this House. It was a 5-year process going through the Law Commission’s work and having extensive debate within this House that is now being overridden on a whim I would suggest. I have heard my colleague Kevin Hague say: “And so what will be next?”. Is it the Cricket World Cup? Will it be the Hockey World Cup? How many other times will we have this come to us?Marama Fox: Darts.JAN LOGIE: Darts we are having suggested here. I heard a National Party member saying “Well I hope so.” because that is actually the intent of this bill to override the legislation that took us 5 years of debate and so much public consultation to get to to help us reduce the harm that is caused by alcohol.When the Police presented to the Justice and Electoral Committee they informed the select committee that they did not support this bill because they believed that the measures in place at the moment enabled them to assess the risk in the community and ensure that appropriate provisions were put in place to ensure safe healthy drinking. Well now this Parliament and those politicians voting for this are saying they know better. They know better than the local communities they know better than the Law Commission they know better than all the people who submitted on the 2012 legislation and they know better than the Police after a few days of debate and discussion because they heard from the hospitality industry.The Green Party is proud to be opposing this and to stand up for that disconnecting of the sense that you need a drink to enjoy a game of rugby and that our national identity and patriotism is dependent on having a drink. It is not. We can be proud. There are some people saying: “You know look I’ll have a drink. I’ll be healthy—there’s no harm there.” Well I would then ask you to think of those few people for whom there will be harm those women and children and think about what you could do to support them and it is to vote against this bill.