Leak suggests minister's U-turn on alcohol sales reform
A leaked Cabinet paper shows the government was planning to restrict the hours bottle stores and supermarkets could sell alcohol but then backed away to focus on reforms more friendly to the alcohol industry.
The Associate Justice Minister - ACT's Nicole McKee - is reforming the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act and had said that part of her focus would be reducing alcohol harm, which currently costs the country $9.1 billion a year.
But documents leaked to RNZ, including a draft Cabinet paper, suggest the minister is now switching the focus of her reforms to making business easier for the alcohol industry.
The documents show McKee initially proposed to change off-licence sale hours, from the current 7am to 11pm, to only allow alcohol sales between 9am and 9pm.
The draft Cabinet paper says restricting opening hours could have had a major impact on violent crime - preventing 2400 "violent victimisations" each year.
But that move has now been axed.
A Ministry of Justice email, also leaked to RNZ, shows justice officials "were directed by Minister McKee to proceed with speed to lodge a revised Cabinet paper" to go before a Cabinet committee on August 13.
"The focus of the paper had changed during negotiations - it is now on reducing regulatory burden with some of the harm reduction measures no longer included - e.g. reducing maximum default trading hours."
McKee told RNZ it was regrettable her draft Cabinet paper was leaked.
"I won't be discussing a few cherry-picked parts of a draft paper through the media before I've even had an opportunity to discuss the issue with my Cabinet colleagues," she said in a statement to RNZ.
"I am extremely disappointed that a draft Cabinet paper has been shared with media. This undermines the integrity of the public service and erodes New Zealanders' trust in public servants."
'Strong correlation' between off-licence opening hours and violent crime
The leaks show that in an early version of her Cabinet paper, McKee proposed to restrict bottle store opening hours to between 9am and 9pm in a bid to reduce violent crime.
"I am focused on hazardous drinking which can lead to violent crime. Evidence shows a strong correlation between later opening hours for off-licences and violent crime," the Cabinet paper originally said.
"Ministry of Justice analysis indicates that bringing forward the closing hour to 9pm could see up to 2400 fewer violent victimisations annually."
The paper said restricting opening hours would reduce sales revenue for off-licences, as about 20 percent of sales were made between 8pm and 11pm and about 2 percent before 9am.
The paper originally said the impacts on business had been "weighed carefully" against the benefits of reducing violent crime.
But the leaks show this was changed in a later version.
"I am not proposing any changes to the maximum trading hours for licence holders," McKee wrote in the updated paper, noting Auckland and Christchurch had already set a 9pm closing time under their Local Alcohol Policies.
"I consider that this is sufficient to manage concerns around licence hours."
Focus now on 'reducing red tape' for law-abiding businesses
McKee would not be interviewed by RNZ, but confirmed her reforms would now focus on making it easier for businesses in the alcohol industry.
"My focus is on reducing red tape restricting businesses and New Zealanders who play by the rules. The law Labour left us with is a mess," she said.
The draft Cabinet paper obtained by RNZ shows McKee is now proposing to make it easier for clubs and bars to serve alcohol outside normal trading hours when screening major sport or cultural events.
McKee's Cabinet paper also proposes giving the alcohol industry more power when faced with objections to liquor licences.
The paper says changes in 2023 allowed any person or group to oppose a liquor licence but that McKee wants to overturn this so objections only come from the community impacted.
"To better balance community voice and impacts on business I seek agreement to only allow objections to licensing applications by people or groups and organisations in the same territorial authority as the premises."
There are also moves to protect businesses impacted by changes to a council's Local Alcohol Policy (LAP) - where communities determine when and how alcohol is sold.
"To protect existing businesses if a LAP is adopted or amended I also seek agreement to prevent a DLC (District Licensing Committee) from declining a renewal application if the licence would be inconsistent with the relevant LAP."
The changes would also give applicants for a liquor licence a right of reply to objections received in DLC hearings.
Andrew Galloway, executive director of Alcohol Healthwatch, funded by the Ministry of Health, said reducing trading hours for bottle stores and supermarkets would have had a major impact on reducing alcohol harm.
"Off-licences sell over 80 percent of alcohol in Aotearoa and these off-licences are over-concentrated in the most deprived areas. Restricting off-licence supply of alcohol would be especially important in reducing alcohol-related harm."
Galloway said that when he became aware the government was looking at restricting off-licence trading hours he said to his team "we should prepare for a U-turn" once industry lobbying swung into action.
"We will continue to miss every meaningful opportunity to reduce or prevent alcohol harm in New Zealand if we continue to allow unbridled access to power for harmful commodity industries."
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