Dr Grant Hewison: Lawyer and Secretary of Communities Against Alcohol Harm, on changes to alcohol sales in Auckland

Tougher alcohol laws for Auckland, including banning sales in supermarkets and liquor stores after 9pm, could be in place by December. 

The council designed Local Alcohol Policy is aiming to reduce alcohol harm, and will come up for a council vote at the end of the month. 

The policy would also see a two-year ban on new bottle stores in the central city and 23 other areas, unless they meet a very high threshold. 

Sports Clubs and RSAs would also have stop selling alcohol after 1am, while bars and other on-licenses would have to stop at 4am in the CBD and 3am everywhere else. 

Lawyer and Secretary of Communities Against Alcohol Harm, Dr Grant Hewison told Francesca Rudkin they welcome these changes. 

He says Auckland, particularly the City Centre faces significant issues around alcohol related harm.  

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Kerry Wood of Morning's podcast from
News Talk SEDB.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
So we've been talking about the tougher alcohol laws for Auckland,
including banning sales and supermarkets and liquor stores after nine pm.
This could be in place by December. The council designed
the local Alcohol Policy. Its aim is to reduce alcohol harm.
It's going to come up for a council vote at
the end of this month. The policy would also see
a two year ban on new bottle stools in the

(00:32):
central city and twenty three other areas unless they meet
a very high threshold. As we've discussed. Sports clubs and
RSAs would also have to stop selling alcohol after one am,
while bars and other on licenses would have to stop
four am and the CBD and three am everywhere else.
Doctor Grant Hughison as a lawyer and secretary of Communities
Against Alcohol Harm, and he joins me, now, good morning.

Speaker 3 (00:54):
Good morning.

Speaker 2 (00:55):
What difference do you think that these changes will make?

Speaker 3 (01:00):
Are they going to reduce alcohorelated harm in Auckland. I
think some of them will be quite significant in terms
of that the harm reduction that they achieved. So we're
really welcoming. These changes are there across the board, so
it means that operate different operators will have to operate
against the same rules. But yeah, we really welcome these changes. Auckland's,

(01:24):
particularly down in the city center, faces really significant issues
around our correlated harm and these changes will have a
very positive impact in my view, in those areas and
in other areas of Auckland.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
So grant, if we're talking about the central city and
the CBD, would you think that's going to make a
difference bringing those those times that they're able to you
know that we have to stop selling alcohol to four
am and three am or do you think the damage
is already done?

Speaker 3 (01:51):
Oh? Look, I think on the on licenses, Look, there
are issues there, but really where the big problem we
have with our correlated harm, you know in New Zealand
generally is the sale of alcohol through off licenses. I
mean in Auckland we have five hundred and twenty bottle
stores across the whole of Auckland and one hundred and
eighty five supermarkets and grocery stores that sell alcohol as well.

(02:14):
It's a lot of alcohol being sold across our communities
and residential areas of our communities. The shift from eleven
PM back to nine pm means that just that access
to alcohol late in the evening where things get more
risky and things think you often don't go well, We're
just going to going to reduce that and make that

(02:36):
produce that harm that comes from those risks really late
at night. And I think will all be welcoming that.

Speaker 2 (02:42):
When we talk about alcohol related harm, what are we
talking about?

Speaker 3 (02:47):
Oh? Look, I mean just the most obvious things are
drink driving, you know and in some cases unfortunately causing
the death of other people. There's a whole range of
violence that comes comes through alcohol or is exacerbated by alcohol,
Domestic violence and then just people becoming unwell, ending up

(03:10):
in A and E and overwhelming that system to long
term effects from our costs such as cancer.

Speaker 2 (03:18):
Are you happy with this policy? Do you think they've
gone far enough?

Speaker 3 (03:23):
Look, this policy had its origins back in twenty thirteen fourteen,
and it's taken ten years for Auckland Council to you know,
stand up to the challenges that they based right to
the Supreme Court. So huge pudos to Auckland Council for
staying the course and doing that. It's if look, if

(03:45):
we're looking at this afresh in twenty twenty four, we'd
probably say they need to be a range of other
things in this policy. But that's the next step. Let's
get this one's going to get in place. Let's see
how it plays out, particularly over summer. I think that
reduction and off license ours will make a significant difference

(04:06):
that period betted in and then let's look to a review,
which you're allowed to do pretty much straight after a
policies and adopted. In this case, because it's taken ten years,
I think it's opportunity to actually look at some changes
that could be made to that relatively quickly and to
take it through that next stage of the process. There's

(04:28):
a lot of laps and other parts of the country
that have a range of other measures in them that
go further than Auckland. So we can take some of
the experience from other parts of the country and think
about what are the further changes we need to make
in Auckland to just reduce that significant harm that we
have from alcohol in our communities.

Speaker 2 (04:48):
Is there anything else that you're seeing around the country
specifically that you do.

Speaker 3 (04:52):
Like, Yes, well, some of the councils that have not
put in place in lap yet christ Church, for example, Hamilton,
they tried, they got down the process and then they
were appealed or their laps were threatened with an appeal,
or there was a challenge to it, and they said, look,

(05:13):
we can't afford to take it right through to the
Supreme Court, so we're just going to stop. See where
Auckland's gets to. I think those counts, some of those
larger councils are now going, yes, let's now look really
seriously how we can take this forward. And as I said,
I think one of the things that you can achieve
relatively quickly and in a straightforward way is to reduce

(05:37):
those off license hours back from the eleven pm the
fault standard back to nine pm. The Supreme Court was
very supportive of Auckland Council in terms of the evidence
base that had to make that decision. So I think
those councils could do something relatively simple and say that's
where we can achieve a lot and just get that

(05:58):
in place quite quickly and then then look at the
more complex issues that alps need to act dress in
a second phase.

Speaker 2 (06:08):
Grant, what do you to say to someone who argues
that it's up to individuals, and individuals choices as to
whether they buy alcohol or not and how they treat alcohol.

Speaker 3 (06:18):
Well. Alcohol is a drug. It causes serious amounts of
harm across our communities. We've decided really throughout most of
its history that we should regulated and this new or
the Silenusply of Alcohol Act is the latest version of
the way in which we feel we should be regulating

(06:38):
alcohol as a dangerous drug. So, you know, I think
we all accept that there needs to be this regulation
of this product, and these laps allow communities across New
Zealand to have different ways in which they can do
that and that suits their community and suits the way

(07:00):
in which alcohol is bought and sold and consumed in
their community. So I think we're already already beyond that
stayage of or have been for some time. It's just
been about individual responsibility. We need to we need to
or we've decided as a society collectively we need to
regulate the drug and make sure that the harm from

(07:20):
it is reduced, you know, as much as we can.

Speaker 2 (07:24):
Oh, Doctor Grant Hewison, thank you so much for your
time this morning. Very much appreciate it. Doctor Heweson. There
is the lawyer and Secretary of Communities Against Alcohol Harm,
just you know, exclussing how they feel about the move
that the council has made. Tim good morning.

Speaker 4 (07:41):
Brianchester, And all my years I never thought I would
be read up congratulating New Auckland Council. I think it's
incomprehensibly good. I almost feel bad so something positive about
a council anywhere, But I think it's fantastic result and
I think we'll upland and everybody will reap the benefits

(08:02):
and we'll see that by the end of the summer,
just kicking the alea the hospital statistics, it will start
to show. I don't think any good comes of anything
sold after nine o'clock if you haven't organized yourself by them,
and it'll be you know, anything after nine o'clock in
your sales after it. I don't think their end use
would be particularly good for ugand or violence or society

(08:24):
or anything. And I think that it's just a sensational
thing they've done. And I've bet to the statistics of
the hospitals and everything. And as for the lady who's
worried about his son at the liquor store losing one
hundred dollars. I bet it will be three or four
hundred less people assaulted at the liquor stores after nine o'clock.
I've beted the vast majority of the troubles that after night.

Speaker 2 (08:49):
Yeah and yeah, I've got a few texts that I'll
talk about that too in just a moment. Term. Look,
I agree with you. I really admire their persistence with this.
I mean, eight years fighting the supermarkets in courts is
you know, they clearly believe that, you know, they have
the data and the information that tells them that this
is going to make it diffence. And I mean the

(09:10):
Council does deal with the consequences of you know, of
it so often.

Speaker 3 (09:14):
So I've you know, they had.

Speaker 4 (09:18):
A joint two back, spent eight years making the SUPREMEUS
Court would suggest the shared volume is huge. I mean,
if I were selling plusties, they wouldn't have bothered.

Speaker 2 (09:28):
That certainly wouldn't nice to hear from your term. And
I'm glad that Auckland Council has delivered for you. I
actually agree with Tim. I sort of think to myself,
if it was ten o'clock and I thought that I
needed to pop up to the liquor store to get
it to get a bottle of wine, then I probably
don't need it.

Speaker 1 (09:45):
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