Burns Brendon: Alcohol Advisory Council Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
Burns Brendon: Alcohol Advisory Council Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:652;Page:1898] 
BRENDON BURNS (Labour—Christchurch Central) 
: 
 I rise in support of the Alcohol Advisory Council Amendment Bill. This is as has been noted a rather technical bill but it is none the less a very important update for the Alcohol Advisory Council (ALAC). ALAC’s role is around the minimisation of the harm that alcohol causes and I believe it is a desperately needed agency in this nation of ours particularly when we see the many other people whose job it is to promote alcohol. Not very long ago—around the time when ALAC was first suggested in the early 1970s—our drinking culture revolved around the 6 o’clock swill. It was mostly focused on men aged at least 21 and on those much older than that. Now of course our drinking culture is evident around the clock—24 hours. Rather than just being about men in pubs it is very much focused on the availability around the clock of alcopops spirits wines and still beer—but 100-plus different varieties of beer. 
There is absolutely nothing wrong as most members of the House would agree with having a sophisticated drink—most of us enjoy it. Just last Thursday I had the pleasure of accompanying the Leader of the Opposition Phil Goff on a wander down The Strip in my electorate of Christchurch Central. It was very good natured—people were out enjoying an early evening drink. 
Hon Member 
: Did anyone recognise him? 
BRENDON BURNS 
: Lots of people recognised the Leader of the Opposition. Many people insisted on stopping and talking to him. He did not have a drink with them but he certainly had his photograph taken with them. That is the sort of sophistication that we all want to support and encourage. 
But unfortunately that is not the only picture we see with alcohol which is why ALAC is so important. In fact ALAC is a brick in the wall against alcohol. Our Sale of Liquor Act which has as its principal objective the minimisation of harm is really observed in the breach rather than in practice. In the city of Christchurch sometimes we do not have to look very far to see a manifest failure to realise the objective as specified in the Act of minimising harm. Obviously ALAC is the agency that tries to assist in that role. We all know that very very messy consequences arise from the prevalence of alcohol and its associated culture. If we have any doubts about that we can ask anybody who is at the mop-up end: police officers ambulance officers staff at accident and emergency departments health agencies and church and social workers. Our current wide-open liquor laws are driving many of the problems we face in our inner-city areas and Christchurch is no exception to that. The laws contribute to some of the damage that is done such as to our reputation as a tourist destination. All sorts of tougher sentences are being promoted and societal change and other issues are being aired. This bill is a small step in the right direction. 
I held a forum last June on the issue of alcohol availability and the harm that it has done—the sort of harm that ALAC is charged with trying to reduce. There was very wide consensus around the need for the minimisation of harm to actually take effect which this bill attempts to support. At that forum last June in Christchurch we had almost universal support from the then Minister Lianne Dalziel our mayor Bob Parker the police commander for Canterbury publicans youth workers and retirees. Barely a dissenting voice was heard at that forum; there was not even any real dissent around the issue of age. What was at stake and what was discussed was the harm that alcohol is doing—the very harm that this bill attempts to support ALAC in minimising. 
At around the same time I went with Lianne Dalziel who was then the Associate Minister of Justice and responsible for liquor laws on a tour through my inner-city area on a Saturday evening. It brought home in quite stark relief some of the issues we want to try to address around the minimisation of the harm that alcohol does. When we see a 15-year-old sprawled in her own vomit on a main street in Christchurch at 11 o’clock at night we begin to understand the scale of the issue we are facing. ALAC through the levy this bill confirms will help to try to reduce some of the problems that we as members of Parliament all see in our communities. 
In Christchurch one issue is around the number of liquor outlets. There are 1200 outlets across the city which is more than three times the number of 20 years ago. We can buy alcohol late at night from a supermarket at 3 a.m. in a bar and at 5 a.m. from a convenience store. I was pleased that just yesterday the Committee debated the Sale and Supply of Liquor and Liquor Enforcement Bill which begins to deal with some of those issues. Clearly Parliament never intended that dairies would be selling alcohol. We also want there to be a move towards the prosecution of people who supply alcohol to younger people which is also a subject of that bill. 
One issue that came up at the forum I held last year related to the input of youth. Alcohol abuse and the harm minimisation that is needed are not just youth issues. Our current laws create quite a volatile cocktail in respect of alcohol being glamorised. ALAC through its advertising campaign tries to offset that but it is really pushing it uphill with a rake to see the clever advertisements that are promoted by the liquor industry which basically say people cannot have fun unless they have a beer or alcohol in hand. Also ALAC very much has youth as its focus and that is why this bill is an important small step. We do not even have disagreement from the Hospitality Association. I believe it thinks that ALAC needs to be well funded and that we need to minimise the damage that alcohol is doing. 
One thing we need to acknowledge is that alcohol is our No. 1 drug problem as a nation. There is sometimes a lot of focus on P marijuana and other drugs but alcohol drives three-quarters of hospital admissions and weekend assault injuries and it is at the base of most of our domestic violence problems. For most of our crime in total it is probably a major factor. We need to acknowledge that liquor licences are very easy to get hold of. Basically people who apply for a liquor licence will get it unless they have a criminal conviction. Occasionally small victories can be won such as the rejection last year of an attempt by a Christchurch supermarket to get a full liquor licence for its Moorhouse Avenue store. 
The liquor laws are just one signal of what we face as a community and society. We need to develop a broad consensus for some change. I am pleased to see this bill as it is a small step in the right direction. If we are looking for changes we need to look at a number of ingredients: parental responsibility a change in community attitudes and education programmes. The availability pricing and supply of alcohol are also important. We need ALAC using the funding it will receive under this legislation to play its role. The Government of the day whatever its flavour may be also has to take responsibility. Obviously it receives a large amount of money through excise tax on the sale of alcohol. Therefore in the final analysis the Government is responsible for ensuring that the principal object of the Sale of Liquor Act which is the minimisation of harm is actually put in place and into law and that ALAC and other agencies are funded to assist in achieving that goal.