Letter to the Editor Thursday August 28, 2014

Female hands at the keyboard of a laptop

One small step

For the first time since licensing began in this country, a local authority now has the power to determine how the liquor industry serves the community so that the least harm is created by both the sale and hours of consumption.

DHB statistics prove the correlation between availability and accidents and/or crime. But we already knew that, but won't face up to unpleasant facts.

The district council's liquor licensing authority has read and listened to over 100 submissions. The bulk of these came from the industry itself, which naturally advanced the industry's best interests. It has been ever thus for more than 100 years.

Dr Clair Mills and her team presented a compelling case as to why harmful effects of alcoholism need to be drastically reduced. Deaths, injuries, domestic abuse and mental disorders all have a direct correlation to the availability of supply and access to alcohol. It follows, then, that a reduction in the number of outlets and hours of sale could equate to less harm.

Groceries and supermarkets have no place in selling alcohol. It is not their core business, not an essential commodity, and never has been.

If Sir Geoffrey Palmer can openly admit to "getting it wrong" when they last looked at the licensing laws, and then not take steps to correct the errors made, it makes eminently good sense to at least address some of the issues when the opportunity is presented. While it is the state's prerogative to set the drinking age, and then not have the courage to address the issue when there is overwhelmingly hard evidence that the public would support the raising of that age back to 20, if not 21, then when it hands an opportunity for the local licensing authority to at least mitigate the harm caused by alcohol it must back the decisions made.

The trade might not approve, but it is a step in the right direction. "One small step ... but a giant leap ... "

The findings of our own district licensing authority are awaited with great interest. They may even prove to be trail-blazers.

SK REILLY

Kaikohe