Video: Parliament debates solutions to crimeKEY POINTS:
Manurewa MP George Hawkins and Act MP Heather Roy are set to play a political game of cat and mouse in Parliament tonight.
Mr Hawkins is to seek leave of the House to introduce his bill aimed at restricting the number of liquor outlets. MPs can only introduce
bills with the agreement of Parliament and just one dissenting MP can block it - something ACT has pledged to do.
Mr Hawkins previously failed to get progress on the bill but now has political support following the fatal shooting of Navtej Singh, 30, during a robbery at his Manurewa liquor store on June 7.
There have been other homicides and violence in the area in recent days which some have linked to drugs and alcohol.
Asked when he intended to seek leave, Mr Hawkins told reporters: "It depends on who is in the house at various times ... I doubt that any member is going to sit there from 2 o'clock until 10 o'clock."
On further questioning, he said: "I will come down at the appropriate time and see if I can get it into the House."
Officials are looking at a range of measures including capping the number of liquor licences and widening the grounds on which the public could object to a licence being granted.
Prime Minister Helen Clark said the police had grave concerns about the role alcohol was playing in violent offending.
She said the number of alcohol outlets nationwide had soared since rules were relaxed in 1989 and new research linked outlet density with binge drinking and alcohol-related harm.
Helen Clark said it was possible the Government would adopt the bill.
Ms Roy said it would make no difference.
"This is a knee jerk reaction to a terrible tragedy that could have been prevented but wasn't.
"I think there are difficulties with alcohol in the way that we consume alcohol but this isn't the way to tackle the problem. Close a shop in one area another one will open somewhere else."
Ms Roy said education was needed and long term solutions to welfare dependency and a lack of enforcement of current laws rather than the areas Miss Clark was looking at.
"This is a cynical attempt in an election year to be seen to be doing something," she said.
"This will not prevent another death like Mr Singh's. Closing liquor outlets down will not solve the problem at all. People will go and find other outlets. What are we saying that in fact this man was responsible for his own death because he had a liquor store? That is absolutely ludicrous."
National leader John Key said his party would support the legislation as it would give communities more choice. His party prefers a wider select committee inquiry to look at law and order taking in the liquor use and licensing issues.
"Is it the solution to the problems we are seeing in parts of South Auckland and the rest of the country? Absolutely not. Do we think that there needs to be a comprehensive select committee inquiry? Yes. But this is something we can look at."
Mr Key said Act's stance on the bill was disappointing.
"It's out of synch with where public opinion would be at this time, which is New Zealanders want answers. Quite frankly they are fed up and want Parliament to do something about it."
Mr Key said National was prepared to work constructively with the Government on the issue but he said the Government had failed to act on a promise to review the number of liquor outlets that had come out of its 2006 inquiry into alcohol issues.
The number of licensed premises had gone from 6295 to 14,970 since the legislation was passed.
- NZPA
