Young Jonathan: Sale of Liquor (Youth Alcohol Harm Reduction) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Young Jonathan: Sale of Liquor (Youth Alcohol Harm Reduction) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Sitting date: 17 June 2009. Volume:655;Page:4403. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
JONATHAN YOUNG (National—New Plymouth) 
: 
 I want to clarify that there will be a personal vote not a party vote on this bill from the National side. The National members understand that. All sensible thinking people would agree that liquor abuse is a hugely vexatious issue for New Zealand. I commend the intention of the Sale of Liquor (Youth Alcohol Harm Reduction) Amendment Bill to reduce the harm caused by alcohol. The Government has made it clear to the Law Commission that liquor issues are a matter of priority for the Government. With direction from the Minister of Justice the Law Commission is working on documents regarding the whole issue which are becoming available to us as we seriously review the concerns that New Zealand society has about the harm caused by liquor especially to our young people. 
The intention of the bill before the House is to reduce the harm of liquor to the lives of young people—and who would not agree with that intention? Just as important the intention of the bill is also to reduce the harm on all those who are affected by young people under the adverse influence of liquor. The sponsor of the bill calls it a small step. I believe that the bill does not go to the lengths needed to effectively address the problem. 
The Sale and Supply of Liquor and Liquor Enforcement Amendment Bill that has been presented by the Government to the House also seeks to amend the Sale of Liquor Act 1989 and to address the issue of the harm of liquor to youths in a more comprehensive and integrated manner. Like a multitude of parents of teenage children I am extremely interested in legislation that will make our children’s worlds safer for them and their peers. About the time when teenage boys become interested in liquor they also become increasingly interested in fast cars which is a dangerous and volatile combination as we know. 
The Sale of Liquor (Youth Alcohol Harm Reduction) Amendment Bill sponsored by Mr Brendon Burns seeks to address the issue of advertising but in ways that I believe may—as my colleague mentioned before—make little change to liquor advertising or may possibly even increase the exposure of teenagers to liquor advertising. The bill seeks to restrict all advertising of liquor to the 10 p.m. to midnight time frame. However the probability that teenagers will not watch TV or listen to the radio between 10 p.m. and midnight is extremely remote. In fact if liquor advertisers have only that time frame in which to advertise it is likely that the concentration of liquor advertising during that time frame—a time when a lot of teenagers are viewing TV and listening to the radio—may increase. An unintended consequence of the bill could possibly be that teenagers actually get increased exposure to liquor advertising than is currently the case. Another title for the bill could be the “Compulsory 10 p.m. Bedtime for All Teenagers in New Zealand Bill”. 
Iain Lees-Galloway 
: What’s wrong with that? 
JONATHAN YOUNG 
: I was of course being facetious with that last comment. Research indicates that parents are the main suppliers of liquor to minors: 60 percent of minors identify parents as the primary source of their liquor supply. Around 30 percent of liquor is supplied by friends and 10 to 15 percent is purchased by minors from licensed premises. 
I will read out a quote from the New Zealand Medical Association’s  
New Zealand Medical Journal 
 from 2 June 2006: “The severely worsening statistics for alcohol harm especially for women and young teenagers call for radical thinking about the multiple causes and their long-term solution not just regulatory pricing or policing measures important though they are … Highly sophisticated advertising some electronic is largely ‘beneath the parental radar’ and promotes youth alcohol culture. Scottish researchers have found that the industry knows the distinct preferences of even 11-14 year olds (who like inexpensive sweet drinks and colourful wacky packaging) and 15-17 year olds (who prefer sophisticated adult brand names).” 
In reading that quote I am saying that there are issues and problems in our society regarding the consumption of liquor by young people—we do not doubt that—but the association says that there are multiple causes and that the long-term solution is not just regulation pricing or policing as important as they are. I believe that the association is referring to attitudinal changes that our society needs to embrace and adopt. The issue will not be addressed just by further regulation of TV and radio advertising. 
I believe that the problem has to do with the attitudes of the public at every level. For instance when a drink becomes popular amongst teenagers because it is called Cocaine—it is available in some local supermarkets—we ought to wonder not just about advertising times but about attitudes in our society whereby the name of a class A drug can be normalised in the pursuit of financial gain. We have to ask how far over the edge of the cliff we are willing to let our young people lean. 
Coming back to the issue of the harm of liquor to youths the fact that 60 percent of liquor is provided by parents puts the issue of liquor supply and potential harm strongly with the parents’ attitude to liquor. I believe that parents are the best way for teenagers to learn how to handle these sorts of issues and the responsibility regarding them in a very positive way. Although electronic advertising is not an issue to be ignored the biggest promoter of how to manage liquor is the lives and examples of parents and caregivers. Responsible attitudes to liquor are very important to the mature development of our young people. 
One principle of the code of advertising liquor from the Advertising Standards Authority is “Anyone visually prominent in a liquor advertisement depicting liquor being consumed shall be and shall appear to be at least 25 years of age with their behaviour and appearance clearly appropriate for people of that age or older.” That principle is to ensure that in advertising the consumption of liquor is seen as an adult activity and that the behaviour associated with it is deemed to be responsible in keeping with that age. 
A number of liquor advertising complaints have recently been made to the Advertising Standards Authority particularly about some of the adverts that are probably enjoyed most of all by teenagers. None of those complaints received by the Advertising Standards Authority was upheld. That does not mean that the complaints were superfluous by any means but rather reflects that in the balance of things the authority felt that the advertisers did not contravene the principles of the guidelines. One complaint that was upheld was an advertisement that stated “Sometimes you can have a hell of a day and still have a hell of a night.” The majority view of the authority was that the advert crossed the line by implying that liquor created a desirable change in mood—to turn a bad day into a good night—and as such did not meet the “high standard of social responsibility” required by principle 2 of the code of advertising liquor and was in breach of the guidelines. 
I believe that social responsibility is the key aspect we need to see in the thinking and attitudes of New Zealanders regarding the use of liquor and its associated influence on teenagers. Social responsibility is the one mitigating component that ensures that liquor consumption is not harmful to others. The National Government’s legislation takes a comprehensive approach that seeks to highlight social responsibility as the most powerful modifier of the abuse of liquor by seeking to support a more moderate drinking environment and a culture that reduces normalisation of youth drinking. 
I reiterate the New Zealand Medical Association’s comment: “The severely worsening statistics for alcohol harm especially for women and young teenagers call for radical thinking about the multiple causes and their long-term solution”. Although regulation is a means and a lever to address alcohol harm—and it touches on the issue of advertising—society itself and the environment of the home will provide the deeper and longer-lasting solution. Thank you very much.