Jones Dail: Customs and Excise (Alcoholic Beverages) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee Third Reading 
Jones Dail: Customs and Excise (Alcoholic Beverages) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:608;Page:5364] 
DAIL JONES (NZ First) 
: 
 What a time to be introducing Budget legislation! What is so important about this legislation that it could not have been introduced next Thursday night? I believe that this particular Government is trying somehow to spin this bill through the system tonight rather than face up to its responsibilities. The Minister of Finance by not putting this legislation through next Thursday is not facing up to his responsibilities. Next Thursday he will say: “There was no rushed legislation as a result of my Budget.” The fact that he had already done all of it will perhaps escape some members of the public. 
The real problem with this legislation is that the last Labour Government allowed the reduction of the drinking age; that is really what this legislation is all about. Those Labour members of Parliament who were in the House last time are responsible for the fact that 14 to 17-year-olds are now drinking high-spirit alcohol. The last Labour Government had the opportunity to increase the drinking age and never did so. 
I say that if Labour were really concerned about the situation in the last 4 years it would have done something to increase the drinking age. All that it is doing under the guise of pretending to help young people is increase the taxes that young people will pay. It is very clear that this legislation will increase taxes by $18 million. I am not sure whether the Hon Jim Anderton made that point; is he aware that that is the case? I think he said so but I am not absolutely sure because of the way in which he rattled through the speech which appeared to have been written for Mr Rick Barker. Another $18 million will go into the coffers of the Government as a result of this legislation. It may be that $4 million will go back as a result of consumer price index adjustments but at the very least the Government will gain $14 million. 
Given that this measure is aimed at young people this Government will gain $14 million only if young people go out and spend their money. So under this Government we will still see young people drink alcohol with a high spirit content and this Government will make money out of it. This Government will make money out of young people who will be drinking the same amount of alcohol as they were drinking before but will be paying $18 million more in taxes. Is the Government denying that customs and excise taxes will go up by $18 million? There will be $18 million more from young people’s misery as a result of this Government’s legislation. There is no way that the Government can run away from that. If it wants to do anything about the problem of 14 to 17-year-olds drinking more it should support Ron Mark’s legislation to increase the drinking age and should take immediate action to put it on the Order Paper. 
The Government is really being very very cynical in this legislation. The member for United Future believes that the pricing of alcohol will affect how much young people drink but that is not the case. They will go out on Saturday Friday and Thursday nights and they will drink the same amount as usual. They have got money to spend and no responsibilities. Young people will go out and spend money on this alcohol. It will not be just 14 15 16 and 17-year-olds who do that; those who are over 20 will also spend their money on this alcohol. They will pay the same amount and they will pay it to the Minister of Finance. He will make money out of the misery of young people and United Future in supporting this legislation supports that misery. Judy Turner can smile as much as she likes but that is the fact of the matter. The Government will not make $18 million out of this legislation if young people are drinking less; it will make $18 million because young people will drink around the same amount if not more depending upon how they feel on the day. The Government will make 18 million dollars’ worth of misery. 
The other people who will suffer under this bill are the older people. We all know that on a cold winter’s night—and we will have a few cold winter nights—there is nothing better than tucking up with one’s half-g one’s flagon of sherry or port. People will need it under this Labour Government especially those in the South Island in seats like Waimakariri Invercargill and Otago. Those old people will be thumped by this Labour Government because the price of port and sherry will go up as a result of some effort by the Hon Mr Anderton to reduce the amount of alcohol being drunk by young people. Older people will suffer under this legislation. They will have to pay more for their port and sherry and does Labour care? What joys in life do people have when they get to 70 75 or 80? 
Simon Power 
: You can’t smoke under this Government. 
DAIL JONES 
: People cannot smoke. If someone is 75 or 80 what is better than a nice port or sherry of a night afternoon or morning? As we know this Labour Government changed the rules on drinking and it is now illegal to go to a shop and buy a half-g of sherry to take away. Has Labour changed the regulations that it introduced at the end of last year? As a result of those regulations it is a criminal offence for a person to take away a half-g of port or sherry from the off-licence. Those regulations made criminals of our older people and now the Government is making it very very difficult for them to enjoy their port and their sherry which as a result of Labour’s failed energy policies they need to keep them warm 
What sort of Government do we have? Where is Labour going? This is Nordmeyer’s “black” Budget come early for those people. Nowadays under this Labour Government those people suffer throughout the year. Not only on Budget night but prior to Budget night these Labour Party members of Parliament supported by United Future and I think the Greens want to hit the elderly people who can only occasionally enjoy a port and sherry to keep them going during the day the afternoon and the night as they are entitled to do. They have worked for New Zealand and they have probably supported this Labour Party for many many years. Now this is their reward. They are being kicked in the teeth by the Labour Party just as they come to the time of their life when they want to keep warm. They cannot turn on their heaters any more because of the energy crisis. They want to have a quiet drink but now they cannot. 
Hon Jim Anderton 
: It’s embarrassing listening to this speech. 
DAIL JONES 
: It may be embarrassing but that member will be listening to such speeches for a long time tonight because the Opposition in this House will make sure that Labour realises and the young people of New Zealand realise that they are being hit by Labour with yet another $18 million tax. How many taxes have we seen in the short space of time since the last Government? I am pretty sure that at the last election. Labour had credit cards and all sorts of things that said there would be no more taxes but here we go. This is a tax before the Budget. I think that must be some sort of record for most political parties. We are getting the type of tax that one would expect on Budget night more than a week before Budget night. 
The young people of New Zealand will be told that the reason the price of these drinks went up was that Labour increased the price. I support anything that will make young people drink responsibly but the main thing that would make them do that would be to increase the age at which they are entitled to get alcohol. The fact that they can get it at ages 14 to 17 now is because the legal age is 18. If we put the legal age back up to 20 as New Zealand First wants to see happen—and we get no support from Labour on that—young people would start drinking when they were closer to that age.