Yesterday I presented our submission on Alcohol Law Reform to the select committee. The committee was chaired by Chester Burrows (National), Charles Chauvel (labour), Sue Kedgley (Green) and Paul Quinn (National). After presenting for about ten minutes and choking up when I came to say ‘our community is hurting right now in the wake of the earthquake’ they had very little to say but were open and sympathetic. The chairman, Chester Burrows, thanked us for a very thorough and well presented submission (big thanks to John McNeil our writer) and for the personal presentation. Charles Chauvel pointed out that not all the issues we raised would be looked at in this select committee process but we should continue to make our views clear to MP’s.
I told them about our concerns as a church, explained how we were involved in the community and outlined the key points of our submission which strongly endorsed law changes around the price, availability and provisions for liquor advertising. I also told them about the experience of going out after midnight with the police to see the damage and risks alcohol put people under. It was good to do and a privilege to be able to present the submission.
