McClay Todd: Alcohol Reform Bill — In Committee 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
McClay Todd: Alcohol Reform Bill — In Committee 
[Sitting date: 06 December 2012. Volume:686;Page:7285. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
TODD McCLAY (National—Rotorua) 
: 
 I want to take a fairly brief call on this bill the Alcohol Reform Bill because there are so many other members who too would like to speak on this bill. I do so because I think this is an extremely important piece of legislation. A previous speaker from somewhere in the Waikato not Hamilton—Ms Moroney—said that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Well it is not actually. Any Parliament could make changes and if we look back we see that many Parliaments have spoken about it. But we do have an important reason to try to get this right. 
I want to talk about personal responsibility and the tools that this legislation will offer parents and communities. In my electorate of Rotorua over the last 3 years or so I have consulted by way of survey and public meetings and have received feedback from more than 4000 voters mums and dads individuals and people below the drinking age of 18 and above it who have expressed their concern to me about the harm that alcohol is doing in so many parts of our community One theme that came up again and again was that of the provision of alcohol to those under the legal age at which you can purchase and in this case we know because of a previous decision of the House that that will be 18. 
I am a father of four children. My wife and I have four children and it will not be long until they get close to the age of 18. In fact my eldest son is 14 so he is starting to get to that period of his life when there will be pressures around him towards alcohol. I believe firmly that it is the responsibility of my wife and I to raise him in such a way that he has the tools to make the very best decisions that he can around the consumption of alcohol. It is irresponsible of others to provide alcohol to that boy—and I use the word “boy” intentionally—until he is 18 years of age without permission from my wife or me and indeed that is something that I would be upset about if it happened. 
I have a daughter who is now 8 and so she is 10 years away from our having to deal with her ability to purchase alcohol in New Zealand. By the way I voted for the age to go up because of the harm I have seen done in my community to those of around the age of 18 and younger than 18 when they consume alcohol. I do not think it is correct in this country that if my daughter had a boyfriend who was over the age of 18 he could provide her with alcohol without any question at all about what my wife or I wanted. So I am glad that this legislation gives a tool to parents to meet their obligation to young people in this country and to have a greater say around consent when it comes to alcohol being provided to them. 
Sadly there are far too many parents who do not take their responsibilities seriously as I believe my wife and I will. We had a very sad incident a year or so ago in Rotorua when two lives were ruined. A 14-year-old boy was killed in our streets at 2 o’clock in the morning by his 12-year-old friend. A member of their family had been providing alcohol to these two young children for the whole of the night. The newspaper suggested that this adult got in the car to go and buy more alcohol and bring it back to a 12-year-old and a 14-year-old. So I am glad that in this case the law when it passes will stand up for those two young people and say: “If you have the permission of a parent or guardian to provide alcohol to a person under the age of 18 you must do so responsibly or you have broken the law.” In this case the 12-year-old boy was so drunk that when his friend went to take a kitchen knife from him because he was threatening himself he lashed out. He cut the 14-year-old boy who bled to death on the streets of Rotorua in front of his house. That was a sad sad occasion. Those are two lives that have been ruined and lost—the boy who was killed of course and the 12-year-old who will now have to live with that for the whole of his life. 
A 12-year-old does not have the tools or ability to make the decisions about many things let alone alcohol consumption and that is why I say that I think there are too many people in our society who do not take their responsibilities as seriously as my wife and I do. I am not passing judgment on them; I am saying that we need to get this right because lives are lost and lives are ruined and young people are harmed. 
The final thing I want to speak on is the tools we are going to give to communities around local alcohol policies. I am glad this is happening and I hope all parts of this House will support it. The reason for that is that our communities are calling for greater control—[ 
Interruption 
] There we go; the Opposition members think they know what is best. Let us not get into their records. How about we do a little bit of listening?