Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Anzac Day Trading Hours for Licensed RNZRSA Clubs) Amendment Bill

Tēnā koe, e Te Mana Wakawā. I move, That the Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Anzac Day Trading Hours for Licensed RNZRSA Clubs) Amendment Bill be now read a third time. In seeking to have this legislation passed, I would like to remember my grandfather Thomas Gordon Bell, who served in the Home Guard during the war. As a farmer he was considered unavailable to go off to serve overseas, but he did his duty by protecting the shoreline of New Zealand from the threat—the very real threat—of attack from Japan. I would like to remember my great-uncle Leonard Bell, who went off to the deserts of North Africa in the Second World War and saw some horrendous things there. He was fortunate enough to survive the battles, returned to New Zealand and lived a long life here, and was a lifetime member of the RSA. I would like to remember my great-great-grandfather Ayers Robert Foster, whose name I bear, who served in the First World War in a number of theatres.

Hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders over the course of the last century have sacrificed much, often their lives, so that we can live free in this country. This legislation is the very least that we can do for the organisation that represents the interests of those veterans, the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services’ Association, in this, its centennial year. So, not wanting to prolong this debate any further, I commend this bill to the House.

Can I join Paul Foster-Bell in making a brief contribution in this third reading debate to commend the Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Anzac Day Trading Hours for Licensed RNZRSA Clubs) Amendment Bill to the House. Like Paul Foster-Bell, when Anzac Day rolls round I too think of the people who have come before me, in my family, who have made contributions in those many battles that he mentioned. When I walk into some of the RSAs in my electorate and, in fact, around the country, I reflect on the enormous contribution that those previous war generations have made to the building of this country. They went off to war and, in many cases, they then came back and they continued to work hard for the betterment of this society. They built the RSAs, and it is those very RSAs that we are now working here in the House to protect, and to defend their right to hold their Anzac Day commemorations in the way that they always have. So I think it is appropriate that we do so in this House. I think it is appropriate that we do so in the spirit of bipartisanship that we have seen around the House today. I simply commend this bill to the House.

In my contribution on the first reading, I spoke about the process for this bill, which I consider to be profoundly unsatisfactory. I assure the House that the Green Party will be working to ensure that it does not set a precedent for other legislation. I want to talk now about some of the substance.

The reason for the special treatment that we convey in our law for Anzac Day and, in particular, for the morning of Anzac Day, is the need to commemorate the war dead and those who sacrificed much on our behalf, to express our respect, and for a ritual, indeed, of respect. The reason that RSAs wish to be able to serve alcohol on Anzac Day morning is also that respect and commemoration. So the exemption that would normally apply on Anzac Day morning ought to be reversed for the position of the RSAs.

In general, the Green Party has been concerned about trying to strike the correct balance in alcohol legislation between autonomy over an individual’s body and their freedom of choice, and protecting society from the harm associated with alcohol.

In general, in alcohol-related legislation, we are concerned to minimise the harm caused by alcohol, and one of the ways that that can best be done is by restricting the number of outlets and the number of hours that alcohol is available to the community. There is clear evidence that that reduces the harm that eventuates from the consumption of alcohol. So we believe that the Act that this bill amends did not go far enough in restricting supply—I want to place that on record.

I also want, in this contribution, to contrast our position on this bill with the position that we took on the last bill amending the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act, which was the one to remove entirely the need for special licences in relation to Rugby World Cup games. That bill applied to all licensed premises, and made a very major extension in licensed hours, and we believed that that extension went too far. In contrast, this bill applies to only a very small subset of licensed premises and makes one brief annual extension of licensed hours, and we believe that that is appropriate.

I want to just briefly note our concern that the explanatory note of this bill is quite dismissive of alcohol-related harm, and we believe that that is inappropriate. There are many people who are returned service people, who came back from the War, or came back from their active service, having sustained a damaged relationship with alcohol—or, indeed, with other drugs—and I want, in this contribution, to salute those RSAs and other organisations that are actively taking steps to try to reduce that damage and reduce that harm, and that implement effective harm-reduction steps in their licensed premises. I believe that they deserve this House’s support.

In closing, I want to record that the Green Party, along with, I think, every other party in this House, does not begrudge those returned service people a drink on Anzac Day morning. So to them, I say “Cheers.”

This bill has certainly been speedily expedited through the House today, and for good reason. There are occasions where we feel the need to put things through rather quickly.

I just want to point out to the people in the House, and people at home, that there is a large number of New Zealanders who actually believe that Anzac Day is the one true public holiday that should be hero-ed about all others. There are some different faiths, backgrounds, and religions that have apathetic approaches to other days we put down as special days for trading, etc., but Anzac Day is a day that really does represent our history, and to acknowledge that history and the tradition of Anzac Day that goes on and follows it—this bill actually allows that to continue.

Actually, it gets into the enablement of a celebration of life and of the sacrifices made by our returned service people. Of course, those people who are currently in that situation are now supporting our country’s position, both nationally and internationally, with our navy, our very small air force, and, of course, our army. So for that reason I think this bill goes a long way, and, certainly, to speed this through the House today makes good sense.

We have said before—in fact, in August of last year, when we were talking about the Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Rugby World Cup 2015 Extended Trading Hours) Amendment Act—that we need to get this legislation in its entirety back into the House for discussion, and we find ourselves, 7 months later, having the same discussion, writing more little wee codicils and more little wee additions into a piece of legislation that is clearly not fit for purpose. We hope that the Government hears that message loud and clear, and we hope that it actually does something about it as we move forward.

We really have not a lot else to add to this except to say that New Zealand First does support this bill fully. We look forward to having an Anzac Day of celebration. We hope that the weather is good. It is a hundred years since the establishment of our local RSAs, and I hope that everybody continues to drink responsibly and celebrate the day as it was designed to be, not just this year but also in hundreds of years to come, for the people who have given their service to this country. Thank you.

Bill read a third time.