Goudie Sandra: Sale and Supply of Liquor and Liquor Enforcement Bill — First Reading 
Goudie Sandra: Sale and Supply of Liquor and Liquor Enforcement Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:652;Page:1799] 
SANDRA GOUDIE (National—Coromandel) 
: 
 I am delighted to follow my most excellent colleague the Hon Simon Power who has done a magnificent job in this regard. It is interesting to note that this year actually marks the 10th anniversary of the lowering of the drinking age to 18 and the 20th anniversary of the Sale of Liquor Act which made it easier for dairies and superettes to sell alcohol so— 
Hon Lianne Dalziel 
: There is no drinking age. There never has been. 
SANDRA GOUDIE 
: Well the lowering of the drinking age to 18? 
Hon Lianne Dalziel 
: No there is no such thing as a drinking age. 
Hon Member 
: Purchase age. 
SANDRA GOUDIE 
: Oh purchase age. OK righty-o! Oh semantics! So in 2009 it is timely for New Zealanders to re-examine their tolerance or lack of tolerance of heavy drinking. It is also interesting to note that researchers are actually finding linkages between alcohol and some cancers as well as a raft of other health problems such as cirrhosis of the liver—well that is pretty well known—anxiety and psychological issues. 
The social costs are much harder to quantify but can be pretty substantial. The fatal and non-fatal road accidents that occur because someone is drunk behind the wheel are devastating for families. One constituent recently wrote to me expressing a huge amount of concern in that regard. He had lost his wife of 33 years and his children had lost their mother as a result of a drunk driver. It was quite a tragic situation. It would be tragic for anyone in that circumstance. 
The domestic violence the absenteeism the poor productivity and the decision to buy alcohol rather than groceries—these social costs are almost too huge to take into account. But it is good to note that some communities are already taking steps to help reduce the toll that alcohol is taking on their residents. In Clendon South Auckland a community support group organised a protest against a local superette applying for a liquor licence and that in turn led to some superette owners withdrawing their liquor licence applications. I think that is a worthy step in the right direction. 
Liquor bans that councils have adopted have been hugely successful throughout the country in many many communities. Families feel much safer being back in areas where they might not normally have congregated because of the amount of drinking and inebriation in the streets. I have to say that a place like the Coromandel is inundated with people during the summer period. The population increases to about 150000 throughout the district. The liquor bans have been very very successful in making members of the community feel that they are safe at that time of year when people are celebrating. 
So it is wonderful to be supporting the Sale and Supply of Liquor and Liquor Enforcement Bill which amends the Sale of Liquor Act 1989 the Summary Offences Act 1981 and the Land Transport Act 1998 to implement recommendations arising from recent reviews of the sale and supply of liquor to minors and the sale of liquor and liquor enforcement issues. It also introduces a new system of enforced self-regulation of alcohol advertising. 
When I was looking at the bill and listening to my colleague speaking earlier I saw that new section 84A “Territorial authorities may adopt local alcohol plans” is to be inserted in the Sale of Liquor Act by clause 37. This section has been mentioned by other speakers in the House. I am delighted to see that it states “may”. There is always a cost to local authorities when they enter into any of these sorts of processes so if we have the word “may” it means that they may or they may not do that. 
But if they decide to do that they may be able to recoup their costs through the liquor licensing process because there is a charge for that process. As members will be aware if a council is to adopt any sort of plan it has to go through a consultative process which is hugely costly. Councils have to weigh up whether the benefit of having the plan is worth the cost or whether they should just introduce some of those conditions at the time of issuing a licence. I am not clear on that point but I understood that when local authorities issue licences they specify some conditions around them. 
In seeking to address the drinking behaviour of minors an integrated approach is necessary. Solutions rely on changing the behaviour of individuals and communities and this involves a supportive regulatory environment public awareness and ownership of issues and an understanding of rights and responsibilities. There certainly is not enough of that in this country where individuals should better understand their responsibilities if they expect to have some rights. Consistent and effective enforcement is also important. Improving the compliance of the liquor industry will also make a contribution and the proposals in the bill are intended to contribute to this change. 
Research indicates that parents are the main suppliers of alcohol to minors. Sixty percent of minors identify their parents as the primary source of supply. That is of huge concern. Around 30 percent of the alcohol supplied is supplied by friends and 10 to 15 percent is purchased from licensed premises by minors themselves. That is 10 to 15 percent. In the context of these findings a large majority of parents—92 percent—agree that the primary responsibility for helping teenagers to learn how to handle alcohol responsibly belongs to parents and so it should. Again it is that word “responsibility”. Parents need to take some responsibility and to step up to the plate and that is what it is all about. 
Common locations where minors consume alcohol are their own home someone else’s home and public places. Well liquor bans can deal with the public places so parents and other people need to take responsibility when alcohol consumption is occurring in their home or in somebody else’s home. 
There is also increasing concern regarding the extent of alcohol-related harm and communities are frustrated by their inability to manage that harm. There is a need to improve local control over where to whom when and how alcohol can be sold in communities to ensure that social impact is taken into account in licensing conditions. In this context the policy objectives of the bill are to improve the compliance and responsibility of industry to increase community input into licensing decisions and to support a more moderate drinking environment and culture and to reduce the normalisation of youth drinking. As anybody knows a young person of 18 years of age is still not physiologically developed enough to really handle alcohol effectively. The bill is also designed to enhance the responsibility of friends and adults who supply alcohol to minors to increase youth responsibility and accountability and to clarify the types of premises that may hold off-licences. In addition this legislation introduces new offences for adults supplying liquor to minors without consent and it increases penalties and limits the defences available to those selling. 
There are amendments to the Land Transport Act 1998 as I mentioned earlier that inexperienced drivers are particularly at risk of alcohol-related crashes. These proposals aim to make it clear to young inexperienced drivers that alcohol and driving do not mix. So there can be no doubt that drivers aged under 20 years who do not have a full licence will have an alcohol limit of zero. I will just repeat that: if people are aged under 20 years and do not have a full licence they will have an alcohol limit of zero. People cannot have even one glass of beer if they are 20 or younger and driving. I think that is an appropriate condition in order to ensure that we reduce the level of incidence of young people who have been drinking and are behind the wheel and I know that this will be welcomed by many. However some young people say that often it is the older folk who are inclined to be drunk behind the wheel. 
There are other points to note. This legislation is a priority area for this Government which is looking at a variety of alcohol-related issues. We hope to pass this bill through its first reading to enable select committee hearings on it to commence in the not too distant future. 
In addition as members heard earlier from the Minister of Justice he has asked the Law Commission to speed up its in-depth review of the law concerning the sale and supply of liquor in New Zealand. The final report after feedback has been received is due by the end of June 2010 and depending on the outcome another bill could be introduced by the end of 2010. 
We are delighted to be supporting the passage of this legislation through the House and we know that the wider community of New Zealand is delighted about the content of this bill and will be looking forward to constraints being exercised around the sale and supply of liquor.