Editorial: Mayor right first time on alcohol rules

Auckland Mayor Len Brown was largely on the mark a year ago when he talked about the right balance. Photo / Dean Purcell

Opinion

A year ago, Mayor Len Brown proclaimed that the Auckland Council had "struck the right balance" in its draft alcohol policy. The rules for bars and other businesses selling liquor would reduce alcohol-related harm while still providing the vibrant night-life of an international city, he said. Now, the council is singing a very different tune. A period of public consultation has resulted in a policy substantially changed from the draft proposals, much to the dismay of the police and health authorities.

Under the new provisional policy, bars and restaurants in the city centre can open until 4am, while those in suburban areas will have to shut their doors an hour earlier. The draft policy would have seen inner-city bars closing at 3am and those in the suburbs at 1am. The latter was described by Hospitality New Zealand as "draconian".

In fact, the draft policy was anything but that. It fell some way short of what was wanted by the police, health authorities, and others appalled by the level of early-morning drunken disorder and violence in the city centre. There was, for example, no one-way door policy of the sort introduced in Sydney bars to curb the potential for disturbances. A two-hour extension was also to be offered to reward establishments with good practices, allowing them to remain open until 5am.

Certainly, the draft policy was more stringent than that proposed by the Wellington council, for example, under the 2013 Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act. But the whole point of this law was to allow local responses to local circumstances. The police believe that in Auckland there is every reason for tighter restrictions. In six days last week, said acting Assistant Commissioner Richard Chambers, at least seven alcohol-related serious assaults occurred in the city centre, with five victims hospitalised and three people arrested, with more charges likely. So much for the idea that unrestricted opening hours would usher in civilised and mature drinking.

Nevertheless, strong lobbying by Hospitality NZ, whose members stand, of course, to profit from longer opening hours, has won out over the view of the police and health authorities. It can probably hardly believe its luck. Understandably, its chief executive, Bruce Robertson, said he accepted the council's decision. And commenting on the appeal against the new policy by the police and the Auckland Regional Public Health Service, he said: "It's a shame the police and Crown public health won't do likewise and are just going to put the council and a whole lot of other parties through a whole lot of extra expense."

If that comment smacks of triumphalism, it is understandable. Several cities across the Tasman have implemented far stricter approaches than even Auckland's draft policy. Hospitality NZ's members had some reason to be worried about what was coming. Mr Brown was largely on the mark a year ago when he talked about the right balance. In all likelihood, the city's entertainment scene would not have been greatly affected. And any fears about that could have been answered by a council commitment to a review after a year.