Alcohol Advisory Council Amendment Bill

I rise to support the Alcohol Advisory Council Amendment Bill in the Committee stage. However, the title “Alcohol Advisory Council Amendment Bill“ is a little misleading. The bill does not amend the Alcohol Advisory Council (ALAC). It is a technical amendment to the method of calculation of the levy that is applied to alcohol in New Zealand, and that is used to support ALAC. This amendment updates, simplifies, and streamlines the levy calculation to make it easier, and to make the process more transparent.

The method of calculation takes the existing levy and aligns it with the separate excise and excise-equivalent duties that are also calculated on alcohol. This levy was first applied back in 1972 when the council was set up. The method of calculation was designed to reflect the drinking culture of the 1970s. Since then our drinking habits—where we drink, what we drink, and how we drink—have changed dramatically, and probably not for the better. It is time to update the calculation. The new calculation is future-proofed in that it is flexible enough to adapt to future changes in drinking habits, new products, and new ways of consuming alcohol.

The money from the levy is used positively by ALAC. When ALAC was set up it was designed to educate New Zealanders to use alcohol sensibly, and to reduce alcohol-related harm. It does that in four different ways. It does it by commissioning research about alcohol—about how we are drinking, and what we are drinking. It disseminates information. The ALAC website is a treasure trove of information about alcohol. It allows us to make good decisions about what we should be doing with alcohol in our society. It also develops education programmes, which are delivered in schools, in the community, and also on television and through other media.

The very hard-hitting ALAC message of how “It’s not the drinking. It’s how we’re drinking.” accompanies these ads. About 94 percent of all New Zealanders remember those ads. They are very powerful ads; in fact, they are a little bit sickening. I do not know about other members, but when I see them on television I tend to turn away. The one that is particularly disturbing is the story of a family barbecue, with a young father playing with his son. At the beginning of the ad there is a lot of fun, there is a lot of laughter, and everybody is having a good time. But as the evening progresses and the father drinks more and more, he becomes drunk. He then plays with his son, there is a nasty accident, and the thud of the child’s head hitting the furniture is absolutely shocking.

We are shocked by those ads. They are very powerful. In fact, ALAC has won an award for producing such well-remembered ads. I think that even if people occasionally complain and say that they are too realistic, we need to face the fact that this sort of behaviour is going on, night after night, in our communities. The ads reflect what happens when dad is a drunk, maybe mum is a drunk, or maybe somebody in the extended family does not know how to manage alcohol.

ALAC is doing very effective work in our community, and this new bill will ensure that the levy that underpins its work is collected in the most cost-effective, simple, and efficient way. Therefore, I support the bill.

Clause 1 agreed to.

Clause 2 agreed to.

Clause 3 agreed to.

Bill reported with amendment.

Report adopted.