Looking at the Liberal

Chief executive of the Alcohol Advisory Council Gerard Vaughan says that because New Zealand is a small country, an issue can get on the public agenda quickly and then become part of public debate, and that this is what has happened with alcohol. The 1989 Sale of Liquor Act allowed for the 24/7 sale of alcohol and permitted supermarkets to sell wine. Ten years later, the drinking age was lowered to 18 and supermarkets were allowed to sell beer; they are still not allowed to sell hard liquor. There was “a genuine belief for people at the time that if we liberalised our laws we would suddenly develop a responsible drinking culture like France or Spain,” Vaughan said. “What’s come to a head is the public mood,” Vaughan said. There is “a consensus … that the pendulum has swung too far with liberalisation and it needs to swing back.”