Law, Liquor, and Love

This article discusses attempts at alcohol law reform in New Zealand between 2008 and 2017. First, it describes a major review of alcohol by the New Zealand Law Commission, headed by Sir Geoffrey Palmer, who had overseen liberalisation of alcohol regulation 25 years earlier. The main recommendations of the commission’s final report featured progressive reform of the alcohol laws regulating marketing, price, accessibility and age of purchase. Second, it outlines the response to the commission’s report by the Nationalled government, including an Alcohol Reform Bill that ignored the key recommendations of the commission. This ‘non-reform’ bill was the outcome of a political process of obfuscation, delay and inaction led by then prime minister, John Key. Third, the article describes the factors that have contributed to the lack of effective alcohol law reform, despite the review and high public support for change over the past decade. We conclude that ‘the love of money’ is at the heart of the barriers to change. Finally, we propose three main policies that would make a significant difference to reducing alcohol-related harm in New Zealand and suggest how these could be advanced.