Pleasure, Profit and Pain Alcohol in New Zealand and the Contemporary Culture of Intoxication
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PLEASURE, PROFIT AND PAIN Alcohol in New Zealand and the Contemporary Culture of Intoxication Dr Brett McEwan, Dr Maxine Campbell, Dr Antonia Lyons, Dr David Swain (Front cover design by Robert Moore and Maree Aldridge) Published in 2013 University of Waikato Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences Hamilton, New Zealand. Book layout by Waikato Print University of Waikato. National Library of New Zealand Cataloguing-in-Publication Data: McEwan, B; Campbell, M; Lyons, Antonia; Swain, D. Pleasure, Profit and Pain: alcohol in New Zealand and the contemporary culture of intoxication. ISBN: 978-0-473-26123-8 Text © Brett McEwan, Maxine Campbell, Antonia Lyons & David Swain. Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders of photographs and illustrations. Pleasure, Profit and Pain is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original work is properly cited. All commercial rights reserved: without permission in writing from the authors no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, for commercial use. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would like to thank the copyright owners of For his skill in formatting this publication, the many photographs and cartoons included in we are indebted to Tim Ingle, graphic designer this text for their generosity in allowing us to use at Waikato Print (University of Waikato), along their images and Jenni Chrisstoffels, Research with the University of Waikato’s Faculty of Arts Librarian at the Alexander Turnbull Library and Social Sciences, who funded this process. We (National Library of New Zealand) for her aid in would also like to thank Robert Moore and Maree locating copyright approval. Aldridge for the front cover design. We are very grateful to staff at the Health Finally, we would like to thank the many Promotion Agency (formerly at the Alcohol health and social science researchers whose alcohol- Advisory Council now part of HPA) for their focused research work has informed the book’s assistance in accessing resources, particularly recommendations. Oriana Chin for her expertise in retrieving historical images, posters and pamphlets, and Margaret Chartres and Phillip Parkinson for their valuable feedback and support. Table OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements ii Drinking Influences 47 Table of Contents iii 6. The Perfect Storm – local and global 49 Introduction 1 Commodity or Drug? 49 7. Nurturing Practices - social influences 53 Alcohol in New Zealand 3 Baby-Boomers 53 1. Grog, God and Politics – conflicted beginnings 5 Youth Culture 53 Colonial Settlements 5 Women’s Movement 55 Rise of the Temperance Alliance 7 Student Culture 56 National Prohibition Campaign 10 Drug Culture 58 Alcohol Industry Response 12 Family 59 2. Risk and Regulations - a nation 8. Statutes, Supply and Sales - grows up 17 legislative and commercial influences 61 1917 Six o’clock Swill 17 Liquor Outlets 61 1948 Licensing Control Commission 20 Supermarket and Grocery Stores 61 1960 Taverns and Licensed Restaurants 23 Alcohol-Hospitality Industry 65 1989 Sale of Liquor Act 28 Global Alcohol Production 66 3. The Good, the adB and the Ugly – the 9. A Complex World - promotional national drinking culture 31 influences 69 Historical Preferences 31 Consumerism 69 Consumption 32 Advertising and Sponsorship 70 Drinking Patterns 33 Brand Identity 70 4. Culture of Intoxication – intentional drunkenness 37 Alcohol Product Identity 71 Acceptable Intoxication 38 Drinking Identities 73 Predetermined Intoxication 39 World Wide Web 74 Desired Intoxication 40 10. The Liquid Drug - alcoholism 77 5. From Individual to Social – Summary 77 alcohol-related harm 43 Costs 43 Responsibility 46 6 CONTENTS Competing Interests 79 Appendix One – Binge Drinking 123 11. Interventions 81 Appendix Two – Changes In Drinking Behaviour 124 1900s 81 Appendix Three – Branding Northern Health Focus 82 Gold Cannabis 125 12. The Alcoholic Liquor Advisory Council 85 Appendix Four – ALAC Research 126 Structure 85 Appendix Five – ALAC Treatment 127 Research 87 Appendix Six – ALAC Alcohol Policies 129 Individual Drinker Interventions 87 Appendix Seven – National Alcohol Strategy 130 Drinking Environment Interventions 91 Authors Details 131 National Drinking Population Interventions 96 Table of Figures 132 13. Alcohol Reform Bill – the prequel 101 Community and Industry Response 104 Bibliography 137 14. Alcohol Reform Bill – the outcome 107 Endnotes 146 Public Health and Community Response 107 15. Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012- the future 109 Drinking and Driving 113 Minimum Purchasing Age 113 Pricing 113 Alcohol Promotion 115 16. Pleasure, Pain and Profit – the challenges 119 The Public Good 120 INTRODUCTION Alcohol arrived in New Zealand with the first Amendments.i European explorers and since that time it has Today, alcohol is available for sale in grocery remained an integral feature of our national culture. stores, supermarkets and numerous suburban For many New Zealanders alcohol is a source of bottle-store outlets; alongside pubs, bars, cafes and abundant pleasure, for some, an opportunity to restaurants. Alcohol is promoted in print, radio, profit, and for others a cause of tremendous pain. television, billboard and electronic media, and This book details the rich, complex and often through sponsorship contracts with a vast range of contested role of alcohol in New Zealand society. sporting, concert and lifestyle teams/events. Never It identifies the three fundamental alcohol rights before has New Zealand society been so saturated that have perpetually fought for dominance of the with alcohol outlets and alcohol promotion. The national drinking culture: the rights of individual production, sale, supply and marketing of alcohol drinkers to enjoy the pleasures of alcohol, the is today estimated to be a $4-5 billion dollar rights of society to protect itself from the harms of market. alcohol, and the rights of the alcohol industry to Alongside the personal and social pleasures of profit from the sale of a legal commodity. alcohol consumption, the history of our drinking The story begins in 1800s New Zealand, culture is also a story of high levels of intoxication where alcohol, often of dubious quality, was freely amongst a significant minority of drinkers. available and intoxication was common amongst Historically, most of our intoxicated drinkers were some members of the European and Māori adult males and drinking was typically separated populations. In response to problems associated from family, food and entertainment. With the with alcohol, a temperance movement was formed sweeping social changes of the 1960s and 1970s, and for over fifty years this social movement actively women and later young people, increasingly fought for the rights of society to be protected from engaged with alcohol. A growing proportion of alcohol-related harm. these groups have since joined men in a culture of From the mid-1900s, the story becomes intoxication, or binge drinking culture as it is often one of increasing liberalisation, not simply of our termed. New Zealand is not alone however in liquor laws, but also of our attitudes to drinking. having a culture of intoxication, as similar alcohol These developments occurred during a period of consumption patterns have emerged in many tremendous social and economic change. While other developed nations. This book identifies the the alcohol industry had always been an influential local and the global influences that have affected lobby group, the opportunities created by the New Zealand society (and much of the rest of widespread economic, social and political reforms the world) since the late 1900s and details how of the late twentieth century further privileged these influences have sustained the contemporary the rights of business to sell and promote alcohol, culture of intoxication. and the rights of individual drinkers to access While it would be unfair to imply that alcohol and consume alcohol when and wherever they i The New Zealand Law Commission in a 2010 report described wished. The pinnacle of this liberalisation was the this period of liquor legislation development as the “unbridled passing of the 1989 Sale of Liquor Act and its 1999 commercialisation of alcohol”. 2 INTRODUCTION is the cause of all New Zealand’s social problems, and much conflict. It is vital therefore that our there is strong evidence to argue that it is, in many understandings are based upon the best available instances, a significant contributing factor. Police evidence. In the twenty-first century, we are data show that alcohol use is involved in one-half fortunate to have an increasingly sophisticated array of homicides, one-third of family violence, one- of research data tracking changes in our national third of violent crime, one-third of road fatalities drinking patterns and identifying which alcohol- and one-fifth of (recorded) sexual offences. Health related interventions are most likely to support figures reveal that alcohol contributes directly a more moderate national drinking culture. For to over 60 different diseases and cancers, and is this reason, a liberal supply of endnotes has been attributable to 800 premature deaths annually. inserted throughout this book to reference the very Sir Geoffery Palmer, past President of the New best national and international