Politicians came to right decision, says HANZ

Politicians came to right decision, says HANZ

The decision not to change the legislation relating to 18 and 19 years old consumers’ right to purchase alcohol is a victory for common sense.

That’s the opinion of the Hospitality Association of New Zealand (HANZ), which lobbied strongly in recent months to retain the status quo.

“The issue is 14, 15 and 16 year olds consuming alcohol and consuming to excess and this bill would not have fixed that,” says Bruce Robertson, chief executive of HANZ.

“Under 20 year olds would still have been able to obtain alcohol but then would have been drinking in unsupervised circumstances, and if anything, it would have led to a worse situation than we now have,” he said.

The hospitality industry says there is a need for there to be a better educated young consumer, just as there is a need for all New Zealanders to take responsibility for the manner in which they conduct themselves.

“But to believe that you will force younger drinkers to fall into line simply by making legislative changes would have been naive and unjust,” Mr Robertson says.

The industry looks forward to working with the Government on their promised review to achieve solutions which will actually address the problem.

ends

© Scoop Media