To: Justice Select Committee
From: Āti Awa Toa Hauora Partnership Board
Introduction
The Āti Awa Toa Hauora Partnership Board opposes aspects of the proposed Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Improving Alcohol Regulation) Amendment Bill, particularly changes that would significantly narrow who may object to new alcohol licence applications.
We are concerned the proposed changes risk weakening community participation, undermining Local Alcohol Policies, and reducing protections for communities already experiencing disproportionate levels of alcohol-related harm.
Key Concern: The proposed 1km rule is arbitrary and does not reflect how communities experience alcohol harm
The Bill proposes limiting objections largely to people living, working, or owning property within 1 kilometre of a proposed alcohol outlet.
A suburb, town or community is not a neat 1km square on a map.
Whānau move through schools, marae, sports clubs, workplaces and shared public spaces every day. Alcohol-related harm is experienced across wider whānau and communities, not only by people living immediately beside an outlet.
For example, the proposed changes could mean:
- a family living more than 1km from their child’s school may not be able to object to a bottle store opening opposite the school
- marae communities outside the boundary may lose their ability to object
- sports clubs, churches or community organisations affected by outlet clustering may no longer have standing
- people impacted through wider whānau networks may lose their voice in licensing decisions
Our environments help shape our health outcomes.
Our Whaitua tool demonstrates that health outcomes are shaped by the environments communities live within.
Across our rohe, some communities are already disproportionately exposed to:
- higher concentrations of alcohol outlets
- vape stores
- poorer access to healthcare and healthy infrastructure
- higher deprivation and poorer health outcomes
These conditions are not accidental. They reflect cumulative policy and planning decisions over time.
Restricting community participation in alcohol licensing decisions risks further entrenching inequities already visible through Whaitua.
Community voice remains critical
The communities most affected by alcohol harm should not have less ability to speak into licensing decisions.
Local Alcohol Policies and community participation remain important mechanisms for protecting community wellbeing and reducing alcohol-related harm.
While we acknowledge the desire to streamline licensing processes, replacing so-called red tape with rigid bureaucratic boundaries risks silencing communities already carrying disproportionate levels of harm.
Recommendations
We recommend the Committee:
remove or substantially revise the proposed 1km standing restriction
retain broad community participation rights in alcohol licensing decisions
strengthen rather than weaken Local Alcohol Policies
ensure alcohol regulation better reflects cumulative community harm and equity impacts
recognise the importance of community voice in shaping healthy environments
Conclusion
Whaitua was developed so communities can better understand the systems shaping their health and wellbeing.
Restricting who can object to alcohol outlets risks reducing community voice at the very time communities are gaining better tools to advocate for healthier futures.
Alcohol harm does not stop at 1km – and neither should community voice.