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Anyone who provides liquor to an under-18-year-old without the consent of the young person's parent will be liable to a fine of up to $2,000.
The surprise move was part of a major shake-up of New Zealand's alcohol laws that would change the way Kiwis buy and sell liquor, in a bid to change a binge drinking culture.
Justice Minister Simon Power today announced the government's well-signposted alcohol law reform package and as expected, it targeted young people, after recommendations by the Law Commission. The government will adopt more than 120 recomendations made by the Commission.
Key features of the package include:
- Introducing a graduated approach to purchasing alcohol - 18 years of age for on-licences and 20 years of age for off-licences.
- Restricting RTDs to 5% alcohol content and limiting RTDs to containers holding no more than 1.5 standard drinks.
- Making it an offence for anyone other than a parent or guardian to provide alcohol to an under-18-year-old without a parent or guardian's consent.
- Where alcohol is provided to an under-18-year-old, the parent, guardian or authorised person will need to ensure the alcohol is supplied in a responsible manner.
- Allowing the Minister of Justice, in consultation with the Minister of Health, to ban alcohol products which are particularly appealing to minors or particularly dangerous to health.
- Setting national default maximum hours of 7am - 11pm for off-licences and 8am - 4am for on-licence, club licence, and special licences for local authorities who do not adopt a local alcohol policy.
Read some questions and answers on the Cabinet paper on alcohol reform (pdf).
The government said there was concern about alcohol at school after-ball parties.
While it was illegal to purchase alcohol with the intention of supplying it to a minor, that does not apply if it was purchased with the intention of supplying it to a minor who was attending a private social gathering.
To stop this, the government is proposing to make it an offence for anyone other than a parent or guardian to provide alcohol to an under-18-year-old without a parent's or guardian's consent.
Where alcohol is provided to an under-18-year-old, the parent, guardian or authorised person will need to ensure the alcohol is supplied in a "responsible manner".
If someone breached the requirements of parental consent and responsible supply, they would be liable for a fine of up to $2,000 and any conviction would be entered on their criminal record.
It is hoped that threat would be enough to put parents off hosting parties for under-age drinkers.
However, parents ONE News spoke to were not convinced it would work.
"No, absolutely not. I've got two teenage daughters and it's not going to work," said one parent.
Another said parents have a responsibility to be involved.
Prime Minister John Key said he was already applying the policy.
"I don't want other parents to supply our children with alcohol unless we have given consent. We're actually quite careful with our children in terms of taking them to parties and picking them up and if we do have a party at our place, we don't supply alcohol to other youngsters unless there's consent given."
Recommendations picked up
The government would introduce 126 of the 153 recommendations by the Law Commission in its report Alcohol in Our Lives: Curbing the Harm, and had added other proposals of its own.
Power said the statistics can't be ignored and clearly showed a problem with alcohol that must be addressed.
He said that according to police, the highest proportion of alleged offenders affected by alcohol are aged between 17 and 20, and it's statistics like that, that had driven the government to make youth drinking a focus of the law reform package.
But Power pointed out the government's aim was to reduce alcohol harm across all sectors, not just youth.
He said the country needed to focus on a reduction on alcohol-related ACC claims and other incidents that reflected our binge-drinking culture.
Alcohol was estimated to contribute to 1,000 deaths a year, and was a major driver of crime, being implicated in 30% of all police recorded offences, 34% of recorded family violence, and 50% of all homicides.
"What the government has heard from the New Zealand public is that the pendulum has swung too far towards relaxation of alcohol laws," Power said.
He said the government was responding to the "public's call for action".
"It focuses on minimising alcohol-related harm, including crime, disorder, and public health problems, and zeros in on where harm is occurring - particularly around youth.
"But there is a balance to be struck between not unfairly affecting responsible drinkers and dealing with the considerable harm alcohol causes."
Input from local communities
Power said the changes will include empowering local communities to decide on the concentration, location, and hours of alcohol outlets for both on and off-licences in their area, through the adoption of local alcohol policies.
Other changes include:
- Strengthening the law on the type of stores eligible for an off-licence to reinforce the current approach that dairies and convenience stores are not eligible.
- Increasing penalties for a range of licence breaches, including allowing an intoxicated person to be on licensed premises, allowing violent behaviour to take place on premises, and running an irresponsible promotion.
- Widening the definition of "public place" in liquor bans to include car parks, school grounds and other private spaces to which the public has legitimate access.
- Making it an offence to promote alcohol in a way that has special appeal to people under the purchase age. These changes would apply to any promotion, including TV advertising and billboards.
Power said the the package was a starting point for parliament's consideration of alcohol laws and that the government would listen carefully to the public through the select committee process.
The legislation was expected to be introduced in parliament in October and passed into law before the end of this parliamentary term.
What do you think of the changes? Have your say on our messageboard below.
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Add a Comment:
Post new commentthirdangel said on 2010-08-24 @ 14:08 NZDT: Report abusive post
I don't think changing the drinking age is going to change anything. If a teenager is determined to drink then they will find a way to do so. Raising the prices however, in my opinion, would curveball the drinking more than this, as it would stop kids spending pocket money from their parents, or work on alcohol. A 40 ounce of vodka being $30? Not just RTDs but concentrated alcohol too. It's pointless and this is not going to stop anything.
go2mount said on 2010-08-24 @ 00:55 NZDT: Report abusive post
It is obvious that alcohol to some people is a dangerous toy...if your child had a dangerous toy would you not take it away...Thats how I feel about Alcohol. It kills people...I know because it killed my daughter only 4 months ago..
Willedser said on 2010-08-23 @ 21:26 NZDT: Report abusive post
im 18 and have been arrested to detox and sent to hospital for alch posioning, aswell as been done for drink driving (on a motor bike, would never in a car).. and from there i admitted things needed to change for me, the rest of my mates havent taken the same attitude. the culture within some (not all) 18-19 year olds is hideous and needs to be changed.. and i welcome them to be honest.
Noddy samurai said on 2010-08-23 @ 19:23 NZDT: Report abusive post
Just rubbish
Noddy samurai said on 2010-08-23 @ 19:12 NZDT: Report abusive post
What a waste of time and effort we need some one with a spine to make real changes.