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Well done politicians?

Reformation TestimonyGarnet Milne PhD

Note; the views expressed in this press release are not necessarily those of Scoop Media

Well done politicians?

We can only applaud parliament’s resolve to increase the drinking age. However, this turnaround demonstrates the hopeless manner in which secularist politicians make decisions. Robson along with the majority of MPs previously argued that it was a good thing to lower the drinking age.

They used arguments like: the teenagers would be in bars where they can be supervised; eighteen year olds are a lot more mature than they used to be; other civilised countries have lower drinking ages; teenagers are going to drink anyway; and if they are sensible enough to vote in parliamentary elections, we should trust them with booze. Of course, we all knew that the main reason was that politicians wanted the eighteen-year-old vote.

All those reasons seemed good to the politicians of the day, such as Robson. Now, however, they have decided for equally pragmatic reasons that the decision to allow eighteen-year-olds access to drink was wrong. It is always good when politicians admit that they are wrong, but what provoked this turnaround? Robson gives as a justification for the u-turn, the “unacceptable social statistics and personal tragedies that we read about daily in our newspapers”.

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Of course, we told the politicians at the time that this would be the outcome. They also knew that this would be the outcome, because anyone with half a brain, who knows anything about New Zealand’s drinking culture knows what happens when teenagers are given carte blanche access to alcohol. The reason the politicians voted for lowering the drinking age is exactly the same reason they are now pushing to raise it. It is a convenient political decision which will reap rewards in the electorate on voting day.

We must assume that the politicians who lowered the drinking age polled the country and discovered it had a lot of support. Now with several years of teenage binge drinking; horrific car crashes; boy racers and other high-risk behaviour among young hoons embarrassing the present Labour/Progressive government, we must assume again that the politicians detect some political capital in appearing concerned and worried about all these poor teenagers. I don’t buy it.

If these elected men and women were principled, they would repeal the legalisation which legalised prostitution - already a social menace on a par with teenage alcohol abuse; the availability of pornography through our homosexual film censor; the legalising of homosexuality and a myriad of other legislation which is allowing evil to eat away at society like a cancer. Yes, good on you for lifting the drinking age, but show us that you really are concerned about all the other social problems you have imposed upon a gullible society before it is too late.

ENDS

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