09 December 2024, 5:58 PM
It is now a little bit harder to buy beer, wine and spirits in Auckland.On Monday, a new council rule comes into force stopping bottle stores, dairies and supermarkets from selling alcohol after 9pm.Aucklanders in the central city told RNZ they were not too bothered by the change."My age demographic, we're all in bed by 9:30pm unfortunately, or we're organised," one woman said."I would have thought my 24-year-old daughter and my 21-year-old son would disagree with me."Most did not think it would do much to reduce alcohol harm."I think people will just get pre-drunk or buy earlier in the day, or just shop earlier, it won't make a difference," one said."If you really want that drink, and you're already half-tanked and that's why you're at the bottle shop after 9pm, you're going to potentially break in," another said."Probably a double-edged sword."One woman told RNZ the issue did not have an easy fix."There's a wider issue with alcohol harm, and I guess that step-change interventions on their own probably are not going to correct, if that's the right word, some of the behaviours that we see," she said.Danny Narayan from Dominion Wines and Spirits said most issues happened during daylight hours."The problem doesn't arise after 9pm," he said."The problem is the daytime problem. The shoplifters come [in the] daytime, night-time is pretty cruisy, no problem happens at night-time."Narayan said he had been operating for over 20 years and never had a problem during the night.Before the change, his store opened until 10pm on Wednesday and Thursday nights and 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays.He said losing crucial selling hours was going to be bad for business."We'll lose out on business hours, and the staff lose about a good eight hours of working time."That hurts his pocket, the rent has to be paid, all the overheads are still there, but the guys are losing the job you know?"He thought different hours might have worked better."If it was, like, 10pm everyday closing might be good, but the law is the law, we have to follow it and see what happens."Auckland Council unanimously voted through the policy earlier this year, saying it would help reduce the harm associated with drinking such as injuries, violence and car crashes.SInce September, stricter rules for new off-licences in the central city and 23 suburbs meant most applications were likely to be declined unless they met a very high thresholdCouncillor Josephine Bartley hoped the changes would make a difference."What we hope to see is a reduction in alcohol harm experienced in our communities, from people who are buying alcohol late at night from liquor stores, then going into the parks, and drinking and fighting," she said.She appreciated the businesses that were keeping shoppers informed of the change."I've seen the emails come through from my local supermarket, letting people know that alcohol won't be sold after 9pm," Bartley said."You're letting people know, so you're not surprised at the checkout or the liquor store when you try to buy your alcohol after 9pm."
