Banning the Bottle: Liquor Bans in New Zealand

Publications

Banning the Bottle: Liquor Bans in New Zealand

Date of publication: May 2004

Conference paper, Alice Springs, Australia. By Michael Webb, Paul Marriott-Lloyd and Marty Grenfell.

Alcohol-related crime, disorder and anti-social behaviour cause concern in many New Zealand communities. The growing incidence of drinking in public places, especially by young people, has been a particular source of anxiety; as are reports of alcohol-fuelled street violence.

With the decriminalisation of public drunkenness in the early 1980s, some observers have pointed to a lack of tools which frontline police can use to 'nip trouble in the bud', leading to calls for local councils to pass by-laws which prohibit the possession or consumption of alcohol in defined public places.

In response to such calls, liquor bans have been imposed in a large number of municipal and provincial centres. This paper details the development of liquor bans in New Zealand, underlining the importance of a community partnership approach involving police, local authorities, health agencies, and often formal alcohol accords or liquor liaison groups.

Using a case-study approach, evidence of the effectiveness (or otherwise) of such controls on the physical availability of alcohol is examined.

The paper also addresses arguments about possible displacement effects, and tensions perceived between liquor bans and the 'democracy of public places', and between liquor bans and induction of people (especially young people, including young Maori) into the formal criminal justice system.

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Banning the Bottle: Liquor Bans in New Zealand (PDF, 358 KB)

National Drug Policy New Zealand

Publications

Banning the Bottle: Liquor Bans in New Zealand