Beaumont Carol: Land Transport (Road Safety and Other Matters) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Beaumont Carol: Land Transport (Road Safety and Other Matters) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:671;Page:18054] 
CAROL BEAUMONT (Labour) 
: 
 I will talk about the provisions on zero-alcohol licences that are outlined in this part and the consequential changes that they require. Labour supports most of this bill the Land Transport (Road Safety and Other Matters) Amendment Bill including the provisions on having a zero blood-alcohol level for those who are repeat drink-drivers and for those who are under the age of 20. We think that those are positive moves that will make a real difference to alcohol harm and the cost it has in lives accidents injuries and families losing their loved ones. 
In that regard we are very supportive of these provisions and the required changes that will bring into place the zero-alcohol licences as outlined in this part. However the real concern is that this measure does not go far enough. In providing for zero-alcohol licences in these situations and retaining the 0.08 gram blood-alcohol limit in other situations—that is the non - zero-alcohol licences—we are well out of step with the research well out of step with what most of the public want and well out of step with what we need. My concern is that by failing to address that specific point the Government does not realise how seriously the public takes this matter. 
As somebody who has sat in on submissions on the Land Transport (Road Safety and Other Matters) Amendment Bill and who is currently involved in the select committee considering the Alcohol Reform Bill I have heard many many submitters. On the Alcohol Reform Bill we have had thousands of submissions and approximately 1000 of those people have wanted to make oral submissions. Most of them have submitted that they want to see the blood-alcohol level reduced from 0.08 grams to 0.05 grams. What is really concerning is that when dealing with that issue in relation to the Alcohol Reform Bill the select committee was told that reducing the blood-alcohol limit to 0.05 grams is out of its scope. It is out of scope for the Alcohol Reform Bill but in fact it was clearly within scope for this bill. We were told that it was out of scope for that bill because it was being dealt with as part of the Land Transport (Road Safety and Other Matters) Amendment Bill. Consequently we see that this bill has not made any change and that the Government has not been willing to do the right thing. 
Unlike a number of my colleagues I do not think this issue is about doing the brave thing. I think that on this issue the public’s mind is fairly clear: people want to see this change. They want to see it probably for the same reasons that my colleague Grant Robertson said: in their guts they know it is right. The public have seen the evidence of what it looks like when people have drunk enough alcohol to go over the limit at 0.08 grams and they know those people are drunk. Most people are drunk at that limit and should not be driving a vehicle. People know that. 
One of the perverse consequences of all the publicity and the media stunts on this issue that has probably shocked us all—I reckon most of the members in this Committee have probably been quite shocked as was the Minister in the chair the Minister of Transport—is the fact that one can drink so much and have one’s blood-alcohol level remain at under 0.08 grams. One of the perverse consequences of this which has shocked people is that more people now know that they can probably drink more than they thought they could and still drive. I hope that there is not an irresponsible section of the public who now use that information to go out on the road when those people previously would not have done so. 
The important thing about setting the blood-alcohol limit is that it sends a very important signal of what we think is acceptable. In setting a zero-alcohol limit for repeat drink-drivers and young drivers—which is provided for in this bill and which we wholeheartedly support—we are sending a very clear message as would be sent by dropping the blood-alcohol level to 0.05 grams. That specific matter could have been dealt with as part of this bill as well and that would have made a huge difference. I raised it both in terms of the Land Transport (Road Safety and Other Matters) Amendment Bill and in terms of the alcohol reform process. That opportunity is provided by—