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Hospitality Magazine Victory for advocacy and common sense The defeat of the bill proposing to increase the age of purchase of alcohol from 18 to 20 might be common sense but it was not won without significant advocacy from the Hospitality Association team. What continues to astound is that many New Zealanders and Members of Parliament seem to misunderstand that it is perfectly legal for anybody of any age to consume alcohol. What New Zealand’s current legislation does is limit anybody’s ability to purchase alcohol until they’re 18. In discussion with many Members of Parliament, this seemed a major revelation. What made the real difference was that Members of Parliament came to see was that the bill did not address the problem concerning the public. What concerns the public is the number of 13 & 14 year olds drinking alcohol to excess often in a public place. Members of Parliament came to understand that raising the age at which a person can purchase alcohol would not make any difference to the drinking patterns of 13 & 14 year olds. Had the bill been successful, it would have continued to be perfectly legal for those under the age of 20 to consume alcohol and consume as much alcohol as they wish. Parents and other adults are currently responsible for providing around 87 % of the alcohol consumed by those under the age of 18. It would have been a major surprise if raising the purchase age from 18 to 20 had changed that. Ministers O’Connor and Burton have provided the opportunity for the real issue to be addressed. There is no doubt that some young people are getting access to inappropriate amounts of alcohol and consuming to excess. The O’Connor Burton review needs to address this issue specifically. This debate needs to include a discussion on whether New Zealand wants a drinking age as opposed to a purchase age. It needs to consider whether we need to reintroduce intoxication in a public place as an offence and revisit the issue of whether we have gone too far in making alcohol available via supermarkets and corner stores. A battle has been won but the war continues. Bruce H Robertson |
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