Sepuloni CarmelCARMEL SEPULONI (Labour—Kelston): I unfortunately have not been on the Justice and Electoral Committee for this particular bill but I was on the select committee back in the 2008-11 term when we were considering the Alcohol Reform Bill at that stage so it is interesting to see where we have got to now. Chris Bishop the member who just spoke before me said that the drinking situation—the drinking culture—in New Zealand has improved and that youth drinking has reduced and is much better. Well according to a study that I was just reading about as I was preparing for this speech the prevalence of hazardous drinking in New Zealand is actually on the increase. In 2005-06 it was at 18 percent then we did see a drop-off in 2010-11 when it dropped to 14.9 percent and in 2014-15 we were back up to 17.7 percent. We do need to be aware that the prevalence of hazardous drinking in New Zealand is on the rise again. It is important that we do take that into consideration. This bill is a bill that Labour does support. It corrects certain minor and technical issues that have emerged since the passage of the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act in 2012. The bill provides for the display or promotion of the advertisement for low-alcohol or non-alcoholic beer wine or mead within an alcohol area. The bill also provides that any company within the meaning of the Companies Act 1993 can hold an on-licence off-licence or special licence provided that it is not prevented by its own constitution from selling alcohol or holding a licence under the Act. With the 2013 alcohol reforms alcohol displays and promotions can be in only a single area in supermarkets and grocery stores. This is aimed at helping to limit how many shoppers are exposed to them. We are in a very different situation in west Auckland—sitting next to my colleague David Cunliffe—because actually we do not have alcohol sold in our bottle stores. It is all under the control of the Waitakere trusts. Some people might question whether that—Hon David Cunliffe: With many different venues.CARMEL SEPULONI: With many different venues. Some people may question whether or not that is appropriate but one thing that we can say about west Auckland is that we do not have alcohol sold in our supermarkets and we do not have bottle stores on every corner of our low-income areas like some other parts of Auckland. So in some ways I have to say it does provide some safeguards for our community at least with regard to the promotion of alcohol in our community and ensuring that it is not in your face wherever you go. The current definition of alcohol" means low-alcohol and non-alcohol beer and wine cannot be displayed in a single alcohol area which can hinder the promotion of responsible drinking. It has also caused some irritation for supermarkets and confusion among customers. I do not have a lot to say about this bill because of the fact that I have not seen all of the detail because I have not been on the select committee. I have read through the notes that my colleagues have prepared and it is very clear to me why we are supporting this bill. It just makes sense except for the fact that there are a few failures and I will point those out. The major concern that my colleagues did point out during the select committee process was the failure of the bill to deal with the minimum pricing issue and this was brought up the last time that this was considered during that 2008-11 period when I was on the select committee just with regard to considering that idea of minimum pricing. So in its final report the Law Commission stated: "We regard pricing policies as the essential plank of any reform package aimed at reducing alcohol-related harm." It is clear that inexpensive readily available alcohol is one of the key drivers of alcohol harm yet the Government has failed to address this issue so nothing has been done with regards to pricing—and that was an issue that was raised by colleagues. The availability of alcohol is another concern and we see this time and time again with colleagues in places like South Auckland—not just parliamentary colleagues but also local government representatives—who are constantly fighting the establishment of increasing numbers of alcohol outlets in their communities. They understand that the availability of alcohol has an impact on that community and all of the research points out that it does increase the levels of harm. The other issue that my colleagues pointed out was in respect of advertising and sponsorship. Those would be the major ones. So we do support this bill. There are some measures that the Government should still be taking into consideration to protect our community further from the harm inflicted by alcohol. Thank you."