Prohibition a dead issue — Minister

Press, 19 August 1978, Page 3

Prohibition a dead issue — Minister

Prohibition is a dead issue as far as most New Zealanders are concerned and the triennial liquor poll might well be abolished, the Minister of Justice (Mr Thomson) has told a Wanganui man, reports the Press Association. Mr Alan Little, of Ararnoho, has begun a local campaign to promote understanding and awareness of the poll. He told Mr Thomson in a letter that he believed voters, particularly those voting for the first time, might not understand the significance of the poll because it was overshadowed by the party vote at general elections. “Somehow we need to amplify what is being said publicly about the use and abuse of alcohol and stimulate open discussion on the whole complex question,” said Mr Little.

In reply, Mir Thomson said that by 1948 the prohibition vote had declined to 25.8 per cent. It had

reached its lowest point of 13.31 per cent in 1969. In 1972, 14.7 per cent had favoured prohibition and the vote had risen slightly to 15.8 per cent in 1875. The figures for State purchase and control were 20.1 per cent, 18.34 per cent, 17.68 per cent, and 14.89 per cent respectively. In spite of recent fluctuations, there seemed to be little chance of the prohibition vote’s achieving the prominence it had 50 years ago. “As to your question of how an individual or group might effectively promote understanding of the poll, I am firmly of the view that, looked at in its historical perspective, the poll is redundant and might well be abolished,” said Mr Thomson. “I believe the issue of prohibition to be dead as far as most New Zealanders are concerned and I do not consider State control either practicable or desirable.”