Liquor reform call out within two weeks

Prime Minister John Key. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Changes to alcohol legislation are likely to be announced by the Government within the next two weeks, Prime Minister John Key said following today's Cabinet meeting.

"Basically Cabinet has now considered the issue, there is a set of recommendations, we are looking to work alongside other political parties to build some support so we can introduce those recommendations to Parliament..."

Mr Key would not single out any recommendations adopted from a comprehensive Law Commission report released in April, but said they would target the issues surrounding alcohol which the Government believed were causing the most harm in communities.

He said the view was that most New Zealanders were responsible about drinking, but it was obvious there were significant concerns coming from the behaviour of underage drinkers as young as 13, and there was also a lot of "delinquent" behaviour from the 18-24 year bracket.

Any changes to drinking and purchasing ages was likely to be put to a conscience vote in Parliament.

Yesterday about 300 advocates of alcohol law reform protested in Manukau, south Auckland, to put pressure on the Government to adopt all of the 153 Law Commission's recommendations.

Major Campbell Roberts of the Salvation Army, which helped to organise the rally, said the Government needed to stand up against an alcohol industry that had an inappropriate influence on decision-makers.

"We're worried that the decisive and determined support that we expected from politicians for these excellent Law Commission recommendations has not been decisive and determined, it's been dithering and duck shoving," he said.

- NZPA