Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Display of Low-alcohol Beverages and Other Remedial Matters) Amendment Bill

Oh, I think the member’s time has expired.

💬 Kris Faafoi: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. My understanding of the situation is that it is the split call that sometimes the Greens and Labour can take, and that Mr Henare took the first 5 minutes and was, therefore, entitled to the next 5 minutes as well.

The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard): Had the member started the next 5 minutes?

💬 Kris Faafoi: That is my understanding.

The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard): The notes that I have been—I am slightly embarrassed because I think I was in the Chair at the time. But the notes—

💬 Kris Faafoi: Well, my understanding of the situation is that if he had not started the next 5 minutes, he would still have about 15 seconds to go and could then start the next 5 minutes.

The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard): I think what he will find is that the Green Party might want to use the other 5 minutes.

💬 Gareth Hughes: My understanding is that Kevin Hague took slot 9A, so the second traditional Labour slot should still be available.

The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard): Kevin Hague took the first of the Green slots, which was the sixth call on the bill. Normally the Greens take, and are allocated, the first of the 5-minute slots. No one took it, so Mr Henare took it, and I think he would be entitled to go on if he had started the second half. But, actually, with the way the rules are, it is a 5-minute call. My time sheet says the member started at 9.55—unless it was 9.55 and a half, which I did not record. Then I think we are going to go on to a Green call, unless someone can convince me otherwise.

I seek leave for the second 5-minute call to be taken by Mr Henare.

Is there any objection to that? There appears not to be.

Tēnā koe, Mr Assistant Speaker. As I was saying on that cold Wednesday night back in August last year—and to refresh the memory of the House—I take this opportunity to remind the House that Labour does indeed support this bill. However, we support this bill with a tinge of sadness. That sadness is that in 2010 the Law Commission produced a report around alcohol sale and supply, and from that we know that the legislation in 2012 came out, and here we are today revisiting that piece of legislation to fix some of the technical and minor issues that have arisen from that bill and been noticed over the past wee while. This is why we come to this point in time and are now debating this particular bill. Why we express that dismay is that the report went quite a bit further with regard to alcohol harm.

One only needs to remember that in the not too far distant past there were some horrible scenes of brawls in downtown Auckland, and these brawls contained disturbing images broadcast across our country that showed male on male violence, and male on female violence. That is naturally of concern to all of us. We on this side of the House argue that this particular piece of legislation does not go quite far enough, and we would like to see, perhaps, the Government really confront this issue around alcohol harm.

I do believe I am correct when I say that most young people—in fact, most people in general—before they head out for a great night in town to catch the late night footie, a bit of league, bit of rugby, or maybe a bit of trans-Tasman netball are going to drink drinks at home. They are going to pre-load, which is what they call it. They are going to drink these drinks at home, and the reason that they are able to do that, and do it excessively, is that the prices are so dirt cheap. You can buy alcohol almost anywhere. A particularly huge concern in South Auckland is that on just about every corner where there is a dairy there is also an alcohol supply store. You buy this alcohol dirt cheap, you go home, you pre-load on Cody’s—otherwise known as a “court case in a can”—and then you head out into town. If you ask most people what the score was at the end of the rugby game, they will not even know. Those scenes were broadcast across the country recently and should be of huge concern to us.

In respect of fixing some of the technical and minor issues in the legislation, we in Labour are supporting the bill, so that low-alcohol beverages are advertised and sold only in those certain areas in the supermarkets where they will not be exposed to our young people, our kids, and those who are following mum and dad through the supermarkets. What was mentioned in the debate back on that night in August was that it was also fantastic to see a huge growth in low-alcohol beverages available to the public, so that those who do pre-load also have other options where they can perhaps take a more reasonable approach to their drinking—have one or two low-alcohol beverages—and, of course, these will be readily available to them in that certain area of the supermarket.

In conclusion, we support this bill. Once again, we are slightly dismayed that more of the recommendations from the report are not being considered. However, this particular bill is a sensible step to take around the sale of low-alcohol beverages, and we support this bill.

Debate interrupted.