Prime Minister John Key:

PM confirms doubts about minimum price for alcohol

Prime Minister John Key said a minimum price for alcohol would not curb youth binge drinking but targeted lower income drinkers.

Mr Key said at post-Cabinet conference he did not think an excise tax would stop people “pre-loading”, binge-drinking before entering bars and pubs.

Charles Chauvel (Labour Spokesperson for Justice):

A minimum pricing regime could simply target that product, say by providing for a ceiling or cap of say $12 per bottle of wine so that other beverages were not affected.  That would still double the price of the cheapest existing wine which can be bought at the moment for $6.  Or it could be more complex.

I listened to all the submissions to the Select Committee.  Apart from those from the alcohol industry itself, they overwhelmingly called for legislation that would better target binge drinking.  The evidence was that a careful combination of rules about price, availability and advertising could do that while still allowing everyone else to continue to drink responsibly.  All this SOP would do is allow price to go into the mix.

Te Ururoa Flavell (Maori Party, Waiariki)

Minimum price per unit of alcohol sold (which will be set by Minister of Health) – this follows the model proposed in Scotland.

See: Maori Party on the Alcohol Reform Bill

I emailed all MPs asking: “Will you support a SOP that empowers the Minister to impose a minimum price on alcohol?”

Kevin Hague (Green Party) “I speak on behalf of all Green MPs on this issue”:

We support using price as a mechanism to reduce consumption, including both minimum prices and excise tax increases and, preferably, a combination of both.

We support all the measures in Te Ururoa’s SOP but haven’t yet looked at what Labour proposes.

Our own SOPs augment the Maori Party SOP, strengthening the penalties for selling to people under age and making local alcohol plans mandatory. We looked at increasing excise tax but concluded this would be ruled out of order, so of rhetorical value only.

Tau Henare (National): No

Maryan Street (Labour): Yes

Metiria Turei (Green Party co-leader): Yes

Trever Mallard (Labour): A soft yes

Tracey Martin (NZ First): I am yet to read the full SOP and discuss with my caucus so am unable to answer your question at this time.

Iain Lees-Galloway (Labour): Yes

Jo Goodhew (National):  I will be taking your views and those expressed in the links you sent me into account when this bill is discussed.

Peter Dunne (United Future leader) Q+A interview:

SHANE TAURIMA Let’s take a look at some of the issues that are coming up, like the alcohol reforms. Do you support a minimum price for alcohol?

PETER DUNNE  I certainly don’t support the Labour Party’s amendment, which I think is remarkably elitist. To say that we’ll have a minimum price of $12 for a bottle of wine because people who can’t afford to pay $12 shouldn’t pay a lesser price, but Chardonnay socialists who can pay $25, $30 for a bottle of wine will still be able to get their wine. I think that’s a really elitist and ridiculous argument.

SHANE So you don’t support a regime?

PETER I don’t support a minimum pricing regime as currently proposed. Were there to be evidence that would suggest a workable scheme, I would look at it. But I have to say, putting my hat on as Associate Health Minister for a moment, a lot of the material that I’ve seen from other jurisdictions raises more doubts than support for the issue of minimum alcohol pricing.