The front page headline of the BOP Times on Friday indicates gruesome family harm (News, January 21).
On the next page we find a story about the good people of Te Puna fighting a new liquor licence.
These stories are inextricably linked, but I believe the community will have low odds going into battle with the liquor industry.
The 2019 Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority annual report said the number of applications refused for new licences is very low compared to the number of applications being granted.
In my view, this is due to an appeals process that favours a well-resourced industry.
There is some hope on the horizon: The Honorable Kris Faafoi has pledged to review the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act, and Chlöe Swarbrick has put the Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Harm Minimisation) Amendment Bill into the members’ ballot.
If we want safer communities the solution will be led at the policy level.
Dr Tony Farrell
Mount Maunganui
