Greig Wilson: Wellington bar owner baffled as council bans him from advertising to students at O-week

A Wellington bar owner's bewildered he can't hand out pamphlets advertising his bars during O-week. 

Victoria University of Wellington's Students Association has complained to the council licensing team.

The council has told Greig Wilson they believe licensees must not target students to draw them to bars.

Wilson says he's distributed the flyers for years.

"The idea is to drive students into the bars before 12 o'clock, where we can better manage intoxication control in a controlled environment and monitor their drinking, rather than them being in a flat in Mount Cook with a bottle of vodka." 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Bit of a start in the capitol over where the
booze should be advertised to university students. I know, I
thought they were like peas in a pod. Bar owner
Greg Wilson has been handing out flyers to students with
O Week specials on them. But the Victoria University Students Association, yes,
the group that represents the students, didn't like it. Complained
to the council, who told Wilson that he can't target

(00:21):
students anymore. Greg Wilson is with me, Hi, Greg da Ryan,
explain this madness to me.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Oh, look, so every year we hand out flyers to
the university students that descend upon the city. Of course,
Wellington being a student city, we think it's only right
that we let them know what's going on at the
bars for O Week. We have musical bingo nights and
trivia nights and so themed parties of course during the

(00:49):
Old Week. And so we handed out the flyers at
university and they're not too happy about it, tapping up
and down about it.

Speaker 1 (00:56):
So you went on onto the campus, you went onto
the camp with some flyers. There was a disc what
was a discount?

Speaker 2 (01:03):
Yeah, it was twenty five twenty four point nine percent discounts.
It's the maximum we can advertise. So we had a
discount and attached to that ryan was that they had
to turn up before midnight. So the idea is to
drive the students into the bars before twelve o'clock where
we can better manage intoxication control in a controlled environment

(01:23):
and monetory they're drinking. Rather than being in a flat
and mount cock with a bottle of vodka, we think
it's better to have them in the earlier the premises
in the earlier evening.

Speaker 1 (01:30):
Fair enough you had, you had a party bus ready
to go, all right, so you handed out and fly
on there. You get the complaint? Were you surprised to
hear it was actually from the student's association?

Speaker 2 (01:42):
Yeah, be wildered, to be honest, bewildered.

Speaker 1 (01:46):
What was the reasoning?

Speaker 2 (01:48):
Well, they're saying they think it's illegal that would to
for us to be advertising to monitor to minors because
some of the students are under eighteen. Well a word,
say that all the vast majority are at least eighteen.
And in fact, if you ask any parents in New Zeelands,
where they'd rather their eighteen year old daughter be drinking
at a flat and mountain back or a mount cop
or drinking a licensed premise. Now I know what the
answer is.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
So the is it the council? So that the Students
Association goes to the Union, the UNI goes to the council,
the council comes to you. So what exactly is the
council saying you can't do?

Speaker 2 (02:17):
The council have told us that we need to stop
handing out this fly as they're telling us it's illegal
for us to be promoting alcohol to these students.

Speaker 1 (02:27):
Okay, is that their job? Is that their job?

Speaker 2 (02:30):
Well, that's the thing. You've got so much bureaucracy Ryan.
Here in Wellington, it's the home of bureaucracy, and one
thing for sure, we're not going to let bureaucrats run
our businesses. And so we'll take some legal advice on
it because we want to buy by the law and
we always do in our businesses. We run excellent hospitality
outlets here in Wellington. So we'll take some advice. See

(02:50):
where it ends up.

Speaker 1 (02:50):
Good luck, Greg, Greg Wilson, Wellington bar owner, just gone
twenty after five year on news talk bit. You'll tell
you what there would be no counselor no that could
come between me and we go out to the vodka
when I was at university. Especially with twenty five percent off,
What a bargain for More from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive,
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