Salvation Army Urges Government to Revisit Alcohol Sale Hours After Policy U-Turn

The Salvation Army has called on the government to reconsider its decision to abandon plans to reduce alcohol sale hours, following a policy reversal that has raised concerns about public health and safety.

Originally, the government had proposed reducing off-licence sale hours from 16 to 12 hours per day, with sales limited to between 9am and 9pm. The reform was part of a broader overhaul of the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act, aimed at curbing alcohol-related harm.

According to Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee, the proposed changes could have prevented an estimated 2,400 violent crimes annually. However, a leaked cabinet paper revealed that the government has now shifted its focus, prioritizing regulatory ease for the alcohol industry over public health measures.

Dr. Bonnie Robinson, director of the Salvation Army’s social policy and parliamentary unit, expressed disappointment at the reversal. 'We don’t know why we’ve ended up with a draft cabinet paper that looks quite different to what we were expecting,' she said. 'Certainly, the alcohol industry lobbies the government and has a lot of resources behind it.'

Robinson emphasized the ongoing impact of alcohol-related harm, noting that it costs the country $9.1 billion annually. 'We’re really concerned if we’re not going to take this opportunity to reduce harm from alcohol,' she said. 'We see the harm from alcohol every single day at our services. We know that we need to do more to reduce the harm from alcohol, so it will be disappointing if we miss this opportunity.'

The Salvation Army is planning to write to the minister, urging her to reconsider the reforms and focus on alcohol harm reduction. 'We’ll be talking to other ministers, because this is a public health issue. It’s also a crime and family violence issue, it goes across a lot of issues that government is concerned about,' Robinson said.

While over 20 councils across the country were working on their own local alcohol policies, only three have implemented them so far in Auckland, Christchurch, and Hastings. Other councils, including Grey District and Hamilton City, have abandoned their plans due to financial and legal challenges.

In 2022, Hamilton City Council had passed a private members’ bill aimed at increasing controls on alcohol sales, but it later withdrew the policy after negotiations failed and significant costs were incurred.

Robinson argued that a national law change to the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act would alleviate the burden on local councils. 'It strengthens the arm of councils when they also want to make adjustments in their communities,' she said. 'Without that, each council does have to do that policy themselves. It’s very inefficient in terms of lawmaking and, for smaller councils particularly, it can be very expensive for them to do it.'

She highlighted Rotorua as a case study, where 60% of bottle shops are located in the most deprived areas, which account for only 11% of the population but one-third of alcohol-related hospital admissions. 'Behind those stats are real people, who are suffering, because they are being harmed by alcohol and addiction to alcohol,' Robinson said.

Robinson pointed to international evidence showing that reducing trading hours can lower alcohol-related harm, particularly in vulnerable communities. 'The less alcohol is available, the less harmful drinking we have and the less harm from alcohol we have — the research is very clear on this. That’s why we do need to protect these vulnerable communities. We need to make sure there isn’t a proliferation of off-licences in them and we need to reduce the hours that the existing off-licences can operate, and that will reduce harm.'

With the current policy shift, the Salvation Army is urging the government to take a more proactive stance in addressing alcohol-related harm. 'We do have the opportunity to reduce that harm. It’s not going to eliminate it, but we can at least make some dents in that harm, if we do some really good reform, especially around trading hours,' Robinson said.