The government has ruled out an increase in excise tax as part of its response to the Law Commission's report, Alcohol in Our Lives: Curbing the Harm. Less than an hour after its release, Justice Minister Simon Power has ruled out one of the key recommend
The government has ruled out an increase in excise tax as part of its response to the Law Commission’s report, Alcohol in Our Lives: Curbing the Harm.
Less than an hour after its release, Justice Minister Simon Power has ruled out one of the key recommendations, saying, “It is extremely unlikely that the government will move to raise excise tax as part of its alcohol reform agenda.”
However, the government does intend to make other legislative changes arising from the 154 recommendations before the end of next year.
“The government is carefully considering the report and the response is likely to be framed as regulatory in nature, with an emphasis on alcohol availability and licensing,” Mr Power said.
He also intended to meet the deadline of 120 working days for an official response.
"Reducing alcohol-related harm has been identified as a priority for addressing the drivers of crime, with police reporting it is a factor in nearly a third of all recorded crime. That's why I asked the Law Commission to report back on this a year earlier than originally intended.”
The Hospitality Association, representing hotels and bars, has described the report as “patronising, moralistic and ineffective.”
It says less than 30% of alcohol is consumed in licensed premises and applying more regulation, restrictions and compliance costs will not affect drinking behaviour.
Association chief executive Bruce Robertson says keeping the drinking age at 18 but making it an offence to be drunk in a public place would have targeted the major issues of minors and alcohol and binge drinking.
Until individuals take responsibility for their own actions rather than blaming alcohol or those that serve them, then New Zealand’s drinking culture will not change, the association says.
It adds that the proposed restrictions are in direct opposition to the government’s wish to use the Rugby World Cup to portray New Zealand as a sophisticated, modern destination.
“It is ironic that some of the measures will be welcome by the on-premise industry as they are good for business, even though they won’t achieve the Law Commission’s objective of reducing harm.”
The Alcohol Advisory Council (Alac) has welcomed the Law Commission’s recommendations saying they are carefully constructed and target those who drink in a harmful way while designed to have minimal impact on those who drink moderately.
Professor Doug Sellman, director of the National Addiction Centre, describes the report as a “tour de force” that is likely to guide major change to the way alcohol is supplied, marketed and sold over the next few years,
“The heavy drinking culture is going to be brought under much greater control and gradually dismantled," Professor Sellman says.
“The Law Commission is to be congratulated for such a courageous stand for rationality and evidence against some of the fiercest lobbying in the country – the lobbying of the alcohol industry including the alcohol advertising industry.”
