Drink-age hike 'irrational'

The Hospitality Association has criticised suggestions to raise the legal drinking age as "unreasonable and irrational".

The Sale of Liquor (Youth Alcohol Harm Reduction) Amendment Bill seeks to raise the drinking age from 18 to 20, and strengthen provisions covering the supply of liquor to minors.

MPs considering the bill are looking at distinguishing between on- and off-licences.

That would mean 18-year-olds could buy alcohol at a licensed premise such as a bar, but not at an off-licence premise such as a bottle store. The minimum age for buying liquor at an off-licence premise would be 20.

Hospitality Association chief executive Bruce Robertson said raising the purchase age to 20, or splitting the age requirement, was unreasonable and irrational.

"We believe the age of purchase should stay where it is [at 18]," he said.

Mr Robertson said it was an absurd contradiction that 18-year-olds were given responsibilities in most other facets of their lives, but not when it came to buying a drink.

"It's completely unreasonable that you could have an 18-year-old elected to a city council or Parliament and yet they aren't responsible enough to buy a drink and make their own decisions.

"Some of our members would probably support splitting the age requirement ... but it's still completely irrational," he said.

"Raising the age of purchase is not going to stop people drinking. They are still going to get access."

- NZPA