Alcohol Law Reform a Big Disappointment

Wednesday 12th December

“Good enough to support, but could and should have been a hell of a lot better” said MANA Leader and MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Hone Harawira, about the Alcohol Law Reform Bill up for its third and final reading in Parliament today.

“It’s really disappointing that what should have been a major overhaul of the buying and selling of alcohol to better safeguard our whānau from drinking-related harm has turned out to be more tinkering than real change”.

“And it’s especially disappointing that all of the improvements proposed by Labour, the Greens, the Māori Party, and MANA were all voted down. I take my hat off to my parliamentary colleagues for their efforts to keep us at arm’s length from the booze barons and to give our communities more of a say about where and how alcohol is sold in their neighbourhoods”.

MANA tabled an amendment to enable a review of the alcohol purchase age to be reviewed in five years. If passed, it would have provided an opportunity to look at whether harmful drinking had lessened as a result of the new laws and whether increasing the purchase age back to 20 years was needed.

ENDS

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