David Seymour had his day in the sun... Who doesn't love a bloke who want to open a pub so we can have an ale and watch the All Blacks at the World Cup?
It seems extremely odd this presents itself as a last minute sort of problem. Surely as they busied themselves looking to lock down our liquor laws, someone somewhere said, "Hey guys, what about special events, special events in other parts of the world and other time zones?"
Oh, like what?
I don't know... The Rugby World Cup in Britain. Do you reckon there might be a few people up in the early hours for that?
Now we don't have what they call anti-siphoning laws in this country. Australia does. Britain does. It's law that requires owners of the rights to big events to put it out in some way free to air. You might remember the last World Cup. They cut a deal where all free to air broadcasters got to show All Black games.
This time that's not happening. So there are genuine free to air issues for people who don't have Sky.
So where do they go? To the pub of course. To share the joy and the comradery. Now as obvious as all this might sound, no one's thought of it. So a month out from our most important sporting event, they're scrambling to sort something out.
Up pops David Seymour of Act with a good idea. Trouble is to pass a law under urgency you need everyone's support. In step the Greens and block it. What a bunch of anti-fun wowsers. James Shaw, who looked relatively normal up 'til this point, starts banging on about mums dropping kids to school at the same time as boozed footy fans pile into the streets and cause mayhem.
Man that boy's got an imagination. Heaven forbid we should think positively about things and actually think people might be enjoying themselves. Was he not here last time? Did he not see the patriotism and joy and togetherness the Cup inspired?
Anyway, that's that. But all is not lost. National can pick it up and make it a Government Bill. They say they're looking at it. What's to look at? The only decision that needs to be made is whether the law change would effect All Black games or all games.
Common sense would indicate all games, wouldn't it? Given tourism and migration, a multi-cultural country, surely with the connections we have would lead you to believe there would be good demand for a lot of those games.
And really, what's the hurdle? It's a one off. It's a special event. Do we really have to spend our life legislating for the minority? Are there idiots around booze? Of course there are. But most of us aren't. Most of us just want to watch the All Blacks in a place with a whole bunch of other fans. Is that really a crime?
Debate on this article is now closed.