Hospitality industry news

News Release 23 August 2010

Proposed alcohol reforms very Tepid

says Wellington hospitality group

Wellington hospitality company, Trinity Group, says the government’s announcements on alcohol reform are very tepid.

Jeremy Smith, Trinity Group’s managing director, says, “We’re pleased that the government wants to increase the age that young people can buy alcohol from off-licences from 18 years old to 20. Trinity also supports what looks like a government compromise in retaining the current alcohol purchase age in an on-licence at 18 years old. Licensed premises encourage eating, drinking and socialising in a pleasant and controlled setting, under the supervision of experienced staff and other adult patrons.”

The government wants to restrict opening hours for licensed premises from 8am to 4am the following morning. Jeremy Smith says, “This proposal has some unintended consequences as many on-licenses open early to serve breakfast. Making it illegal to open until 8am shows the government’s lack of understanding of the environment in which licensed premises operate. We don’t open just to sell alcohol. Running an on-license means providing a social and hospitable environment in which our patrons enjoy having a meal – whether it is breakfast, morning coffee, lunch or dinner – irrespective of whether they have a drink or not.

“The proposed restrictions of on-licence hours will also have a major impact on the screening of live international sports events that, due to the international time differences, are watched at times that frequently fall outside those prescribed hours. Yesterday’s Tri-Nations rugby game between New Zealand and South Africa screened at 2.30am-5am is a good example of that.”

The government has also indicated that liquor licenses will be more difficult to obtain and easier to lose. It wants to introduce a ‘three strikes and you’re out’ regime where a bar owner or operator can lose their license after three prosecutions for, say, serving an under-age drinker whilst the offender will not be held responsible.

Jeremy Smith adds, “Our major disappointment is that the government is not encouraging personal responsibility and accountability. Underage drinkers should be prosecuted and fined for offences such as presenting false ID. The onus should be on the person buying alcohol to prove their age and responsibility, not for the bar owner to be prosecuted, and perhaps ultimately lose their licence, for serving someone whose ID appears to be legal. It simply does not pass the fairness test.”

. . . / 2

Trinity Group is frustrated that the government has not introduced measures to make it illegal to be intoxicated in a public place. It believes the government has missed the opportunity to send a very clear and powerful message to all New Zealanders, that intoxication, wherever it occurs is unacceptable.

Trinity Group says that whilst a good start has been made on alcohol reform, it believes the government has not gone far enough. “Making drinkers more responsible and accountable for their behaviour and not accepting irresponsible drinking must be urgently addressed. The government must take that step to ensure we have well-considered and fair alcohol legislation. This is the one chance New Zealand has to get it right, so the government must ensure that it does,” says Jeremy Smith.

Jeremy Smith - Managing Director, Trinity Group Holdings

Trinity Group Ltd: Background

Trinity Group is a specialist hospitality company based in Wellington. It owns and operates bars, restaurants, bottle stores, and hotels and motels in the lower half of the North Island; it also owns and operates two resorts in Vanuatu.

Trinity Group hosted a public forum on Tuesday, 27 July at Wellington’s St Johns Bar that put forward its views on the Law Commission’s recommendations. Led by Jeremy Smith, the Hon Peter Dunne, Leader of United Future Party and Associate Minister of Health and Gerard Vaughan, CEO of the Alcohol Advisory Council of NZ also spoke at the forum before it was thrown open to the floor for questions and commentary.

Trinity Group is a supporter of www.drinkresponsibly.co.nz

19 July, 2010:

Hospitality group takes on Law Commission - Responsible drinking: who’s responsible?

Bars and restaurants are being blamed for a youth binge drinking culture, when the real culprit is the failure of personal responsibility, says Jeremy Smith, managing director of Trinity Group, which owns and operates bars, restaurants and bottle stores mostly in the lower North Island.

Whilst Trinity Group concurs with some aspects of the Law Commission’s May report “Alcohol in our Lives; Curbing the Harm”, it strongly opposes the recommended raising of the alcohol purchase age to 20 years of age.

Jeremy Smith says, “The hospitality industry is tired of being blamed for the excess drinking of young people. There are too many under-18s who are supplied with alcohol by friends and parents, and their bodies and minds are not mature enough to cope with it. We believe a minimum drinking age of 18 years old should be set which would match the current alcohol purchase age of 18.”

Establishing a minimum drinking age of 18 would help parents set limits around their children’s behavior and help them enforce those limits. It will put the control of distributing alcohol firmly back in parents’ hands.

“Around the world countries have a mix of purchasing and drinking ages. We believe that New Zealand should take a leadership role and have 18 years old for both the purchase and the drinking age. In New Zealand, at 18 you are an adult. You can vote, enter into contracts, apply for a credit card, join the police and make a Will. It should also be the age that you can legally drink and buy alcohol,” says Jeremy Smith.

Trinity Group wants to encourage personal responsibility and accountability. Trinity wants it to be an offence to be intoxicated in a public place and in licensed premises, for under-age drinkers to be prosecuted, and to not allow underage people entering licensed premises unless they are accompanied by their parents or guardian.

“The vast majority of people who drink, do so responsibly. Those who don’t, or can’t drink sensibly and within the law, should be held responsible for that behaviour and they should be penalised. Without making a drinker accountable for their conduct, the foolish behaviour and the binge drinking mentality embraced by a minority of drinkers will not change,” says Jeremy Smith.

“News coverage of intoxicated young people in central city ‘entertainment centres’ has created a perception that bars, restaurants and other licensed premises are responsible for this bad behaviour. This is not the case at all, there are already heavy penalties for licensees who serve intoxicated people,” says Jeremy Smith.

“In fact more than two thirds of alcohol is consumed at home or at friends’ places, not in licensed premises 1. There’s ample anecdotal evidence that drunken teenagers have got into that condition by ‘front-loading’ before coming into town. Licensed premises are already highly regulated, well-managed and policed. They provide a supervised environment that prohibits them from selling alcohol to intoxicated people, and irresponsible drinking is not acceptable or tolerated.”

‘Youth’, ‘binge’ and ‘alcohol’ are topics constantly hitting the headlines. The hospitality industry provides a socially appropriate alternative to a drinking culture that urgently needs stamping out.

“Keep the alcohol purchase age at 18, and introduce a drinking age for 18 year olds and over. Make drinkers accountable and responsible for their behaviour. It’s our investment in the future of New Zealand – we owe this to young people,” says Jeremy Smith.

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