Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times / Opinion

Dr Tony Farrell: Documentary on booze confronting but necessary

Bay of Plenty Times
1 Jul, 2022 10:00 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

In his new special, Patrick Gower: On Booze, Gower investigates the Kiwi drinking culture. Video / Three
Tony Farrell
Opinion by Tony Farrell
Tony is a columnist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post


OPINION

Paddy Gower's TV3 documentary June 14 on booze was confronting and necessary.

Through drunkenness, bingeing and counselling sessions, Gower bravely disclosed his story of a loss of control with alcohol and ambivalence towards changing his behaviour.

Internalising comments of his friend, Corin Dann, and with help from his counsellor his ambivalence was converted to action. Paddy then chose abstinence.

I wish Gower well with his health and his sobriety, as in New Zealand alcohol dependence is fraught with many challenges in an alcohol-soaked environment. Generally speaking, relapse is likely and very common for this condition, which becomes progressively more severe without successful treatment.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

This was a positive outcome of the programme, but there were aspects that disturbed me and compel my comment on our culture around booze in this country. The documentary featured Crate Day - the "cultural" event of an annual deliberate overdose of alcohol.

Assuming 4 per cent alcohol by volume, many young men consume 30 standard drinks over the course of the day.

A potentially lethal dose of alcohol for most people is between 20 and 30 standard drinks.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The documentary resulted in a TikTok video with more than 1 million likes, and in my opinion, essentially contributed to the promotion of alcohol and its overuse.

I am hoping this was unintended as, in my view, it was a very effective contribution to social media and TV marketing of alcohol and Crate Day.

Discover more

Opinion

Comment: Access to vaping needs to be balanced

04 Jun 12:00 AM
Opinion

Dr Tony Farrell: Reining in alcohol industry will reduce health burden

07 May 11:00 PM
New Zealand

Dr Tony Farrell: Why I'm concerned about long Covid

08 Apr 11:00 PM
New Zealand

Long Covid impacts 'could be significant', Bay health authorities warn

29 Mar 06:00 PM

Exposure to alcohol marketing has been shown to be a cause of young people starting to drink earlier and drinking larger quantities.

Half of the alcohol abuse and dependence cases in Aotearoa New Zealand are developed by the age of 20 and 70 per cent by the age of 25.

Heavy drinking episodes make up 40 per cent of total alcohol sold in New Zealand, so on one hand the documentary raised awareness about our booze culture, but on the other hand, in my opinion, it glamourised and encouraged excessive drinking.

To make matters worse, a champion binge drinker, Kyree, who reportedly was able to chug down the equivalent of three times the potential deadly dose in a long sitting, was interviewed on the programme.

Also on display was Kyree's arsenal of beer bongs and rapid-pressure overdose devices for the open throat of young impressionable drinkers. The response to this included proposing another TikTok video, indicating how normalised acceptance of alcohol excess has become.

I believe this, unfortunately, diminished the shocking impact of Kyree's disclosure.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Young people who can tolerate large doses of alcohol often receive social acclaim from their peers, a significant reinforcer of binge drinking. Unfortunately having this "gift" is a predictor of alcoholism.

Kyree's "prowess" was covered on nationwide TV, most likely fostering more peer encouragement for him.

Journalist Paddy Gower has a new investigation documentary on booze. Photo / NZME
Journalist Paddy Gower has a new investigation documentary on booze. Photo / NZME

Gower got his important intervention but, in my opinion, the documentary did not appear to show sufficient care for Kyree.

A person dies from an overdose of alcohol every fortnight in this country. I believe this coverage was somewhat disrespectful as it appeared to me this young man was left at high risk to himself and those around him.

The subsequent panel discussion on Newshub, on June 15, had merits. A cross-section of New Zealanders from different walks of life discussed potential solutions to our nation's obvious drinking problem.

Dave Letele was a strong voice for reducing accessibility to alcohol and pointed out how inequitably the harm from alcohol falls on poor and marginalised communities.

Police Assistant Commissioner Chris de Wattignar echoed that alcohol is too easy to get with his concerns about online access.

Media entrepreneur Brodie Kane stated that the ease of accessibility was "actually ridiculous" and alcohol is now too cheap. Matt McGaughlin from the hospitality sector agreed.

I disagree with 42 Below founder Geoff Ross, who said alcohol doesn't really benefit from advertising and we could do without it and that the influence to drink alcohol comes from people's peers, not necessarily marketing.

Hapai Te Hauora CEO Selah Hart stated concerns about children being exposed to alcohol culture, and normalising a risky substance.

There were also calls for raising the purchase age to 20, as well as revisiting the recommendations of the Law Commission's 2010 document, "Alcohol in our lives". Essentially this group had discussed the 5+ Solution, the evidence-based action plan that Alcohol Action NZ has been calling on successive Governments to institute for 12 years.

It is as if we know what to do but have not got around to doing it.

There is public support for the solution, but it has not translated into political action.

It was wonderful to hear the confidence and optimism of Alcohol Healthwatch's Dr Nicki Jackson, who gave an overview of the panel discussion afterwards on the late-night Newshub slot.

We have so much to gain as a nation, and it is hard to see the downside of a public-health approach.

While the documentary and panel discussion did not get everything right, they were needed. Now what is required is a legislative change to stop the continuing harm.

Tony Farrell has been a general practitioner for 30 years. He is a Mount Medical Centre director and a Fellow ofthe Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners. Tony has a special interest in mental health and addiction and is a trustee of Hanmer Clinic and chair ofAlcohol Action NZ.
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

'Current hotspot': Back-to-back national titles for Tauranga basketballers

10 Jul 06:13 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

Kaitiaki fight pathogen endangering iconic Mauao pōhutukawa

10 Jul 06:03 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

'Highly venomous': Deadly sea snake washes up on Coromandel beach

10 Jul 05:38 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

'Current hotspot': Back-to-back national titles for Tauranga basketballers

'Current hotspot': Back-to-back national titles for Tauranga basketballers

10 Jul 06:13 AM

The Under-18 and Under-20 women's teams won their championships.

Kaitiaki fight pathogen endangering iconic Mauao pōhutukawa

Kaitiaki fight pathogen endangering iconic Mauao pōhutukawa

10 Jul 06:03 AM
'Highly venomous': Deadly sea snake washes up on Coromandel beach

'Highly venomous': Deadly sea snake washes up on Coromandel beach

10 Jul 05:38 AM
Heavy rain warning likely for BoP – MetService

Heavy rain warning likely for BoP – MetService

10 Jul 12:40 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP