Ardern Jacinda: Sale and Supply of Liquor and Liquor Enforcement Bill — First Reading 
Ardern Jacinda: Sale and Supply of Liquor and Liquor Enforcement Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:652;Page:1812] 
JACINDA ARDERN (Labour) 
: 
 I am proud after many sitting weeks in this House to finally be discussing a bill that goes some way to addressing some of the social harms and social issues that contribute to crime. We in this House all know that crime has been a major topic of discussion and debate and I am pleased that we have moved on to alcohol as part of that wider discussion. 
The Minister the Hon Simon Power at some point I believe pointed out that between 80 percent and 89 percent of serious crime has some association with alcohol. There is an intrinsic link which means that this bill is particularly timely. There are of course other links with health and well-being which have been drawn out by previous speakers but I want to dwell on those with particular reference to young people. 
The Youth 2007 survey which I do not think has been raised in this House to date was recently released. It is one of the largest surveys conducted in New Zealand covering over 9000 young people who are currently attending high school. It is the most comprehensive youth health and well-being survey that we have. What did the most recent survey tell us? It told us what many have already asserted in this House—that 72 percent of students have tried alcohol. 
There is a difference though between those who have tried alcohol and those who consider themselves drinkers. Of those surveyed 61 percent currently consume alcohol and of those who drink a third do so weekly or more often. But that does not strictly bring them within the definition of binge drinking. Of those who do consume alcohol one-third has five or more drinks within a 4-hour period and for young people in New Zealand that is the definition of binge drinking. 
Obviously those results have consequences. We have already talked about the impact on crime but there are further consequences that we intuitively know. Young people are more likely to indulge in risky behaviour when they are under the influence of alcohol and the Youth 2007 survey told us that of current drinkers 14 percent have partaken in unsafe sex 7 percent have partaken in unwanted sex and 22 percent have suffered injuries whilst under the influence of alcohol. 
I think it is important that we put all of this into context. Not all young people are prolific drinkers. It is really important that we underline that fact in this House—not all young people are binge-drinkers. In fact the Youth 2007 survey showed us that in comparison with the Youth 2001 survey there has been a decrease in the number of young people who could be defined as binge-drinkers. But that does not mean that we do not still have an issue to deal with—we do and all of us in the House acknowledge that. 
I highlight again though that it is not a new issue and some members have highlighted that fact from their own personal experiences. Where we perhaps differ in some parts of this House is on how we address the problem. One thing I have heard many members acknowledge is that we have a cultural issue to address. Drinking is an issue of culture in New Zealand and 14 percent of young people drink to get drunk. Let us compare that with the adult figure of 9 percent. Some might perceive that there is a much bigger divide between the behaviour of our young people and the behaviour of adults—there is not; it is 14 percent versus 9 percent. 
This fact has been recognised by a number of our more eminent members of the sector. In fact the chief executive of the Alcohol Advisory Council (ALAC) Gerard Vaughan is quoted as saying that young people’s drinking has to be seen in the wider context of the adult drinking culture in New Zealand. He has said that young people learn their drinking behaviours from those around them and that until we change the adult drinking culture we will not change the behaviour of young people. 
This is the collective responsibility of community leaders recognised role models the youth sector and us. But what can we as legislators do in addition? Obviously we have an additional role beyond just being role models and exemplars. Availability is one of the issues that has been talked about already and that is addressed in this bill. Dr Sue Bagshaw from the 198 Youth Health Centre in Christchurch someone I have been lucky to meet with briefly has already identified the fact that nothing will change unless there is some restriction around the marketing of alcohol and alcopops in particular—alcopops being cheaper and more sugary versions of spirits which some young people consume. So I think that a wider debate is needed on that. 
The chief executive of ALAC also recognises the contribution of alcohol availability to our levels of consumption and this bill goes some way to addressing that. But the issues of availability and responsibility are also intrinsically linked. Some members will recall that when the issue of the purchasing age was debated the common perception was that if we lowered the age to 18 the supply age would drop by virtue of younger adults supplying their peers and those even younger still. I think that that was a bit of a distraction in that debate. 
If we look again at the Youth 2007 survey we see that 53 percent of young people claimed to be supplied with alcohol by friends. We do not know whether they were within the legal age. The bill looks at parental consent—and rightly so. Those young people will be drawn into the legislation as they will be required to have the consent of a parent before supplying a peer. But as already has been acknowledged parents are in fact the biggest suppliers. That is highlighted by the Youth 2007 survey which states that 54 percent of young people are supplied with alcohol by their parents. 
We cannot assume that parents always act responsibly when they supply their children with alcohol. To say they do I think is a fallacy. In fact Deb Fraser the manager of Dunedin’s Mirror Counselling Service has stated: “Parents will sometimes provide their children with a 1 litre bottle of vodka and not actually follow up where their child is going. At times it is challenging to educate those parents because they drink and smoke in the same way as their kids. It is not about not supplying alcohol at all but doing it in a responsible way and leading by example.” Again that has been highlighted in the House and it is something I wanted to reiterate. 
The final source of supply is someone else buying alcohol on a young person’s behalf and the bill addresses that issue also by tightening up and clarifying I would say the requirements around a retailer checking ID. A defendant will now have to prove that what seemed to be evidence of age was produced and that that defendant could believe on reasonable grounds that the evidence was in fact legitimate. 
There are two major points I want to conclude on. A journal article recently—in fact last year—on social science and medicine found that marketing and pro-alcohol advertising in social features created an environment where drinking to a state of intoxication was naturalised and it concluded that action was needed to regulate exposure. That is another area that the bill addresses through self-enforced regulation. 
The point I want to finish on and to underline the House comes off the back of some evaluation work that has recently gone on around youth access to alcohol projects that have been undertaken in 30 communities. Early evaluation from those programmes has again demonstrated that parents continue to be our major challenge in this area and I would also assume based on my experience of growing up in a provincial and rural area that off-licence consumption is also one of our bigger challenges. That evaluation work also found that involving young people is integral to the success of the programmes. 
 We cannot vilify young people in this debate. If we vilify young people it will impact upon our success and act as a distraction from the real issues. Instead young people must be involved in this debate. They must be a part of finding the solutions. I challenge the Minister to ensure that that is exactly what happens in the continuing development and work around this bill. We will find solutions that minimise the harm caused by alcohol only if we continue to go beyond the first steps of this bill.