“I did want people to know that you don’t have to be lying in the gutter drinking vodka to have an issue with alcohol. And for a lot of us, maybe even 20 per cent, a million New Zealanders, maybe alcohol doesn’t suit us. And we should be able to be open to the signs that that’s us and we can live well and without pressure, without alcohol.”
Espiner’s relationship with alcohol inspired his new book, The Drinking Game, which looks not only at his own struggles with drinking, but at the alcohol industry in New Zealand and the country’s relationship with booze.
He said that he often thinks of his daughter when it comes to alcohol, and what sort of drinking culture she’ll be growing up into - and wants other parents to have honest conversations with their kids as well.
“With alcohol, we say, ‘oh, it’s a social lubricant’. Come on, that’s just bullshit. What does that mean? It’s a drug. It gets you high. And I think we should be honest about that and I, I think that humans have always wanted that feeling. I think that that’s okay, I think we should acknowledge that, but that it’s used, in a treat sense for a nice feeling not to be abused and used all the time.
“I think we need some honesty around that conversation that we don’t get at all, and I think that hopefully, [my daughter is] in a world where it’s okay not to drink and lots of people don’t drink and you shouldn’t feel the way that we would’ve felt as teenagers, which is that you were a weirdo if you didn’t drink alcohol. That’s the country I wanna live in.”
Bennett always found that she could handle her alcohol well, able to go weeks without a drink and then party when she wanted to, but entering politics made her curtail her drinking.
“I can honestly tell you I never went into the House of Parliament after one glass of wine, Others could have a glass at dinner and it didn’t affect them.”
She recalled drinking interfered with her job. Bennett was at a staff Christmas party and John Key’s chief of staff who asked her to go on the radio to respond to an Opposition criticism involving one of her portfolios.
“I said, ‘I’m sorry, I’ve had a couple of drinks and so I can’t go on the radio’. And I remember at the time thinking that will never happen to me again in my career,” Bennett said.
“It’s embarrassing to have to say that to my prime minister and quite frankly, he respected me for being honest and not actually going on and making a dick of myself. But I was actually really embarrassed and I just thought, ‘God, I’m helping run this bloody country and I can’t do it, ‘cause I’ve had three drinks’.”
Epsiner said that it all ties back to our cultural expectations that “you can’t have a party without alcohol”.
Listen to the full podcast for more on Guyon’s relationship with alcohol and what he learned from working on his book - plus, he and Paula reflect on their shared memories from Parliament and broadcasting - including where Paula may have kept a handy Bic lighter!
The Drinking Game by Guyon Espiner is in stores now.
Ask Me Anything is a NZ Herald podcast, hosted by Paula Bennett. New episodes are out every Sunday.
You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
