Carter David: Sale of Liquor (Youth Alcohol Harm Reduction)  Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Carter David: Sale of Liquor (Youth Alcohol Harm Reduction)  Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:626;Page:21164] 
Hon DAVID CARTER (National) 
: 
 In the brief 5 minutes I have to debate this legislation I want to represent the great majority of the 118330 New Zealanders currently in the 18 and 19-year-old age group. Those people are resident in New Zealand and Parliament earlier gave them the right to go into our pubs clubs and bars. The great majority of those people have accepted that law responsibly. But here we have a bill advanced by Matt Robson who says that those 118000 New Zealanders have acted irresponsibly. Now he wants to take away a legal right that those young New Zealanders have. The issue is on the agenda now only because there is an election coming up and one political party which currently has two members of Parliament is looking for a life purpose. 
We have all heard the reasons being advanced as to why 18 and 19-year-olds should have the right to go into a pub and drink. They have the ability to marry. They have the legal ability to be in our armed forces and be sent overseas on peacekeeping missions or on missions to defend New Zealand. But here we have Matt Robson and no doubt a lot of other do-gooder parliamentarians later on this evening voting to say that these young New Zealanders are not mature enough to go into our pubs. 
What Parliament needs to realise is that this country does have a major issue with the culture of alcohol the large drinking population and people who cannot understand how to use that particular substance properly. That culture has developed over a large number of years. I would suggest that the most significant damaging aspect of the New Zealand culture of the use of alcohol was achieved in the time when we had the stupid 6 o’clock closing laws which thank God finished in 1967. But that difficulty in the culture and attitude associated with alcohol is not something that is specific to 18-year-olds and 19-year-olds; it is a problem that all New Zealanders need to own up to and face. I pay tribute to organisations such as the Alcohol Advisory Council which is now embarking on a very sensible education process that all New Zealanders have to sign up to; only then will we address the problems associated with alcohol and its overuse. 
I especially want to say that the parents of young New Zealanders need to take note. Some of those people display the very worst attitudes to alcohol in front of their own children at home. That is where this problem has to start to be corrected and that requires New Zealanders to sign up to it. But members should not come into the House tonight and pass silly legislation that takes a right off 18 and 19-year-olds because a few are irresponsible. That is irresponsible on Mr Robson’s behalf. 
If this bill were to go to a select committee and if this bill were to pass it would not change the drinking attitude of New Zealanders. It certainly would not stop 18 and 19-year-olds from drinking alcohol. At the very best what it would achieve is to drive those 18-year-olds away from our hotels to locations that are unpoliced and unsupervised. The important thing is that those 18 and 19-year-olds will drive their vehicles—their cars—to those particular locations where they will still drink and because they are unsupervised they will drink to excess and then they will drive their cars home again. I tell Mr Robson that nothing will be achieved by this. 
I finally want to talk on the other aspect of this bill which has received very little debate and that is the part where Mr Robson is again placing more restrictions—on liquor advertising and the broadcasting of liquor advertising. I tell Mr Robson to stop digging at this industry stop blaming this industry and accept that alcohol abuse is a New Zealand problem that must be signed up to by all New Zealanders. I tell Mr Robson that it is a matter of education. It is not about bashing the industry which on the whole recognises its responsibilities.