Prohibition is not the answer!

*Tuesday, 19 August 2008,

*Press Release: Workers Party NZ*

The extension of the Wellington City Council's liquor ban into Aro St and Aro Park is not the answer, says Wellington Central Workers Party candidate Don Franks.

"Banning alcohol in public is not the answer" says Franks

"This is a class issue. As more and more people find it harder to buy a drink in the pub, they have to try harder and harder to find somewhere that doesn't charge them an arm and a leg."

"Mayor Kerry Prendergast says that the bylaw will only affect those who display anti-social behaviour. Public drinking is not anti-social behaviour." says Franks.

"It's true, there is an issue of homeless people in the parks," said Franks.

"Many of those people will never afford housing at current costs".

"We live in an alienating capitalist system, which actually restricts people's choice", states Franks.

"If I get elected to represent Wellington Central I'll restore the option of half a dozen public bars with plastic jugs of cheap draft, damp sticky carpets, bar tables you can lean on and a covered part with a heater somewhere where you can smoke. There will be quart bottles, meat raffles, an old upright piano, a pie warmer and a guitar behind the bar."

ENDS.

© Scoop Media