Speech to Spirits and Brewers Association

  • Peter Dunne
Health

I would like to acknowledge Robert Brewer and the governing executive of Spirits New Zealand, the representatives from Hospitality New Zealand, New Zealand Winegrowers, and the Brewers Association of Australia and New Zealand.

The brief I was given for today was “regulation of alcohol and alcohol policy”.

I will start with a statement of the obvious - most New Zealanders do not drink to excess. Many New Zealanders enjoy a drink or two, and there is nothing wrong with that.  But there is a minority of drinkers for whom that is not the case. 

One in three 18-24 year olds drink in a way which is hazardous to their health, and 30 per cent of fatal car accidents have alcohol as a contributing factor. 

So while alcohol is not a problem for most people, when it does cause harm, the harm can be grave, something I am only too aware of as Associate Minister of Health responsible for alcohol and drug issues.

But I am also aware of the need to balance actions to address this harm without imposing unnecessary restrictions on the overwhelming majority of   responsible New Zealanders. 

But that is not what I am going to talk to you about today. Rather, I want to talk to you about where alcohol fits in relation to the Government’s overall priorities.

The Government’s main focus is on reducing long-term welfare dependence, supporting vulnerable children, boosting skills and employment, and reducing crime. 

But when we dig beneath the surface of these issues, we find that the misuse of alcohol and other drugs is a major factor in each of these areas. 

The statistics make for grim reading.

Hazardous drinking costs New Zealand billions of dollars per year. Alcohol continues to make a well-publicised contribution to violent and sexual offences. As many as a third of all violent offences occur after the offender has consumed alcohol. 

Other physical harm, such as from car crashes and other injuries, are often alcohol related as well. 

Sadly, it is our most vulnerable that bear the brunt of alcohol-related harm. 

Children raised by alcohol-dependent parents are:

  • more likely to be injured or hospitalised
  • more likely to develop mental health issues, and
  • more likely to become dependent on alcohol themselves. 

Pre-birth alcohol exposure can cause permanent damage to a baby’s brain and body, and is the leading preventable cause of intellectual disability in New Zealand.

So changing society’s attitudes towards drinking is crucial if we are going to reduce harmful alcohol use. But that is not just the Government’s responsibility. 

This attitudinal change must be a joint effort from Government and industry. We have already had some successes and I particularly congratulate the members of the Tomorrow Project on their excellent “Cheers” programme. 

That acknowledges the enjoyment and social role of drinking while also providing helpful tips to ensure that it is done safely.

As I am sure you are aware, the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act came fully into force in December 2013. It provides for some additional restrictions on alcohol displays, promotions and license applications. It also places more control in the hands of local communities to determine alcohol policies in their area. 

These restrictions are already having a real impact on the way alcohol is consumed in New Zealand and helping to reduce hazardous drinking. For example, the new maximum trading hours have been followed by decreases in assaults between 4am and 8am on weekends.

The introduction of Alcohol Infringement Notices has also been positive. These allow Police to intervene more easily when people drink in breach of an alcohol ban. 

The key here is to make sure that the rules target people who drink illegally or irresponsibly, without stopping ordinary people from enjoying a couple of drinks.

There are also some areas where the full potential of the Act to reduce alcohol-related harm has yet to be realised. 

The Act introduced a broad range of changes, but has been in force for less than two years, so some aspects of its implementation are still being worked through. 

But as District Licensing Committees get accustomed to their new functions regarding licensing decisions, and the Act is tested legally, these challenges should diminish.

Over and above the legal changes, I am also encouraged to see the progress we have made more generally at reducing alcohol harm. Hazardous consumption of alcohol has actually decreased over the last six years, from 18 to 16 percent across the whole population. 

The decrease was even larger among young people. Drink-driving continues to become less and less socially acceptable, partly because of a number of highly effective media campaigns.

The next significant development in the alcohol and drug space will be the upcoming launch of the new National Drug Policy. The Policy sets out, at a high level, the ways in which the Government is going to continue to respond to alcohol and other drug issues. Its overriding goal  is to minimise the harm that occurs from alcohol and other drugs. 

There are three main ways it aims to do this:

  • by trying to limit the problems that occur when people drink
  • by reducing the amount of drinking by those who shouldn’t be drinking at all, and
  • by placing reasonable restrictions on the supply of alcohol such as opening hours and location restrictions.

These strategies are known as problem limitation, demand reduction and supply control and have been the central pillars of previous drug policies. 

The Policy also contains a range of non-regulatory actions designed to address alcohol issues, as well as those which relate to other drugs. 

These include:

  • continuing existing campaigns to promote a more responsible drinking culture, and encourage people to seek help when they need it
  • supporting schools to better respond to students struggling with alcohol issues
  • implementing a comprehensive Action Plan for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.

The Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, or FASD, Action Plan is a particular priority.

We simply do not have good information on the prevalence of FASD, though we know it is far too high – possibly numbering in the thousands. 

These children will have lifelong problems, including behavioural issues, learning impairments and heart defects. These disorders cannot be cured, but they can be prevented. 

The FASD Action Plan will build upon existing government work in this area, and will contain initiatives aimed at prevention, identification and support. 

You have a particular part to play in prevention.

This government has stated that it is focused on ensuring that children get the best possible start in life, and we have implemented a range of policies and initiatives in this endeavour.

However for those who are exposed to alcohol during their development, they are often starting life with significant disadvantages.

I have stated publicly my view on this, and I will reiterate it to you here – there is no known safe level of alcohol consumption during pregnancy, and this message needs to be broadcast, undiluted, to society. This is not just a message for mothers to be, but for those around them who should be supporting them – from their families and friends to their health professionals.

Education, understanding and support, rather than vilification, I believe will deliver the best results.

We have already made some progress together with the uptake of voluntary pregnancy labelling, but I believe your industry should make this labelling mandatory amongst its members as more needs to be done in order to send the message that drinking while pregnant may seriously harm your child .

So I challenge you here today to continue to make the changes that matter. Do not wait for the government to regulate for change, rather, show us that self-regulation does work and that you are a responsive and understanding industry.

My door is always open to discuss initiatives and ideas that you may have.

I plan to release the National Drug Policy in late August. As I say, it will provide a framework for government to use when thinking about alcohol and drug issues. 

I encourage organisations like yourselves to use it when you design things like the “Cheers” campaign, or other awareness programmes. Because developing a Policy achieves little if the Government and industry then do not action it. 

It is easy to keep asking for more and tighter rules on advertising, higher drinking ages, and minimum alcohol prices, as though these are instant solutions to the problems alcohol causes in our society. 

They are actually the approach of the intellectually lazy and the sloppy.

Rather, I strongly believe that we need to assess the impact of all the recent changes, having given them time to bed down, before we embark on further regulation. To do otherwise would be folly.

The Government and industry have been doing good work together already and there are some really positive signs emerging that we are starting to make a real difference. 

We have made a start, but I there is more to be done, and I expect you, as the producers, to play your part in helping reduce the incidence of hazardous drinking. 

None of us benefit from hazardous drinking, none of us benefit when children are damaged and mistreated because their parents are drinking. 

We all want healthier attitudes towards alcohol and we - the Government and the industry - share overriding responsibility for achieving that.