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Archbishop John Dew, of Wellington New Zealand, is one 37 community leaders who have signed the Call for Action on Alcohol statement, asking for new laws to restrict the sale of alcohol.
Among them are representatives from medical colleges and organisations, universities, churches, the Heart Foundation and the Cancer Society.
The petitioners have identified four priority actions:
- Phase out alcohol advertising
- Phase out alcohol sponsorship
- Institute a minimum unit price for alcohol
- Increase the tax on alcohol
“This Call for Action has resulted from concern about the continuing damage alcohol misuse is causing too many New Zealanders” says Dr Geoff Robinson, medical spokesperson for Alcohol Action NZ, which has led the initiative.
“Current evidence supports the effectiveness of these four actions to reduce the levels of violence, abuse, illness and addiction that result from the way New Zealanders are drinking,” says Professor Jennie Connor, another medical spokesperson of Alcohol Action NZ.
“The group estimates that close to 1000 deaths a year occur in New Zealand due to alcohol abuse and that a quarter of Kiwis over the age of 15 “have a sustained pattern of problematic drinking”.
The Auckland City Council has recently proposed some law changes regarding the purchase and use of alcohol.
Peter Lyons writing in the New Zealand Herald describes the proposed changes as “a policy that fails to address the underlying issues around alcohol abuse.”
“The proposed local alcohol policy for Auckland City involves a move back to setting closing times. Outer-city drinking establishments will close at 1am whereas inner-city establishments will all close at 3am.”
“This will create an interesting meet-and-greet environment for door staff in inner-city bars around this time. Watches will need to be synchronised to prevent bitter disputes. It is a policy that could be described as back to the future.”
“The real culprits in the damage caused by excessive alcohol consumption are the alcohol producers and distributors and the off-licence retail outlets.”
“The pubs, nightclubs and other drinking establishments are the unwitting victims of very effective lobbying at the national level. This is now being played out in local government alcohol policies,” said Lyons
Peter Lyons, an economics teacher at St Peter’s College in Auckland
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News category: New Zealand.
