Hon Peter Dunne
Associate Minister of Health

Thursday, 30 July 2009 Media Release

Dunne: Alcohol report ‘comprehensive and thought-provoking’

UnitedFuture leader and Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne has welcomed the Law Commission’s report, Alcohol in Our Lives, released today.

“The report is both thorough and thought-provoking,” Mr Dunne said.

“It contains a chilling chronicle of the effects of alcohol misuse by a significant minority, and proposes a comprehensive suite of recommendations which merit careful consideration,” he said.

Mr Dunne said it is now important for real New Zealanders to have their say on the report’s conclusions.

“The Law Commission’s report provides a useful starting point, but the genuine debate it is seeking will only be successful if the extremists and zealots at both ends of the spectrum who have been too strident and dominant for too long shut up, and let the view of real New Zealanders be heard.

“It will be important that any new legislation that emerges from this process strikes a careful balance between the rights of most New Zealanders who enjoy alcohol without any problems, and the minority who suffer serious personal harm and adverse social consequences from their misuse of alcohol,” he said.

ENDS

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