Young Nats Respond to Sir Geoffrey Palmer

The Young Nats oppose the Law Commission’s recommendation to increase the purchase age of alcohol to 20.

“At the age of 18 a person bears all of the responsibilities of adulthood, there is no justification for the state then restricting their rights beyond those afforded to other adults”, says Daniel Fielding, Young Nats President.

“This report suggests 18 and 19 years olds require a higher level of maturity to purchase a bottle of wine then they need to vote for a Member of Parliament.”

“What the report makes clear is that drinking to intoxication remains a dominant feature of our drinking culture and this behavior is not confined to a minority.”

“Youths are a convenient scape-goat, but criminalising the 140,000 18 and 19 year olds is a distraction from addressing the real problems of alcohol abuse and changing the drinking culture in New Zealand.”

“Solutions need to focus on problem drinkers, not punish all drinkers. A blanket measure of raising the drinking age will not change the drinking culture. This can only be achieved by introducing measures that places responsibility back onto the individual.”

“This is why the Young Nats welcome the Law Commission’s recommendation of increasing personal responsibility for unacceptable or harmful behavior induced by alcohol.”

“The lack of emphasis on individual responsibility in the current law means the intoxicated individual who engages in violent, disorderly, antisocial behaviour, or drinks to excess and ends up in hospital escapes the real cost and consequences of their behaviour.”

“If a person gets served whilst intoxicated the bar owner gets fined, if that person then goes out and smashes up a window they can get ACC and a day off work. The report states ACC estimates up to 22% of claims it receives have alcohol as contributing factor.”

“The other problem with the current law is the ineffective attempts to enforce ‘moderate drinking’. The Law Commission acknowledges there is room for considerable improvement in this area.”

“There were only 91 prosecutions for supply to a minor last year (resulting in 27 convictions), and only one for supply to an intoxicated person.”

ENDS

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