Drink ad. curb plan

Press, 16 May 1978, Page 6

Drink ad. curb plan

PA

Wellington

. The Government is considering introducing legislation to ban liquor and tobacco advertising by private radio stations. The Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) said yesterday that the Cabinet had asked the Minister of Broadcasting (Mr Templeton) to bring forward proposals “for legislative amendments regarding the advertising of liquor and smoking.”

The Cabinet believed that it should'be made “firm and clear” that such advertising was «Qt desirable, he said. The planned action follows a recent decision by the Special Broadcasting Rules Committee to allow liquor advertising on radio.

Mr Muldoon said that the committee’s decision had come as “something of a shock to the Government,”

which considered the ban on radio advertising for liquor and tobacco “as more or, less a convention.”

The Broadcasting Corporation had said it did. not propose advertising liquor on Radio New Zealand, so any legislation would be directed at private. radio stations, Mr Muldoon said the amending legislation would have the effect of preserujpg the status quo of liquor advertising. He said Mr Templeton would report back to the Cabinet in a week or two and legislation would be introduced into Parliament as soon as possible after the Address-in-Reply Debate and the Budget debate. According to Mr Noel Wesney, station manager of Radio Avon and chairman of the Independent Broadcaster’s Association, the wish to cite brand names of liquor

is the main reason behind the private stations’ move. In the past stations had run ‘‘point ’of sale” liquor advertisments round Christmas, but had refrained from advertising specific brands. Mr Wesney said there was already widespread tacit brand-name advertising by sponsorships’ being cited on radio and television, and if Mr Muldoon wanted to amend the legislation he should do it for all media. He said it would be several weeks before the policy change took effect—it took time to formulate and circulate the new policy, and to sell the new advertising.

Asked when Radio Avon would adopt the change, he said that the station’s board of directors had not yet discussed the matter, but “he supposed that at some stage it would.”