THE PRESS THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 1979. Liquor sales by sports clubs

Press, 23 August 1979, Page 16

THE PRESS THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 1979. Liquor sales by sports clubs

When the ancillary licensing regulations were introduced in 1976 it was the intention of Parliament that they should make legal, for players and club supporters, the familiar custom of “having a few drinks after the match.” After three years, some sports clubs are giving the impression that they would like to be able to transform themselves into drinking clubs, some of whose members play a sport from time to time.

That was certainly not the intention of the lawmakers. It would not satisfy the rest of the community now when the control of the sale of liquor, especially to young people, is a sore and pressing issue. The Parliamentary select committee which is investigating the way in which the regulations are working should be particularly cautious about heeding the voice of what is becoming a vigorous “sports liquor lobby.”

The chairman of the select committee, Mr J. H. Elworthy, said in Christchurch this week that it was not necessarily the number of outlets for the sale of liquor which was responsible for abuse and accidents: rather, the type of outlets had to be considered. While the regulations impose considerable restraints on sports clubs which want to sell liquor to their members, there can be little doubt that any increase in the licensing hours, for clubs or any other outlets, and in the number of outlets, brings greater problems of supervision of the law’. In many areas the number of places at which liquor is sold greatly exceeds the number of traditional retail outlets —hotels and taverns.

Some clubs might argue that more liquor sales would help them to finance better facilities for their sport and its

players. Experience abroad, however, suggest that profits from liquor sales tend to go to building even more impressive clubs in which to sell more liquor. The connection between club membership and participation in the sport for which the club was originally formed becomes more and more tenuous.

No doubt the rules as they stand are complicated and even unsatisfactory. and they need to be clarified and simplified. Sports which are seasonal, such as rugby, appear to suffer by comparison with sports which are played the year round or over a long period of the day. Perhaps no comprehensive regulations that are fair to all sports clubs can be devised: but it is difficult to see the force of an argument for out-of-season liquor sales. This argument implies that sport has become ancillary to drinking.

When the select committee reports later this year it should be trying to keep sensible, controlled drinking in a place that can never be more than secondary to the sport with which it is associated. Even that place will be rated too high by many people. It is unlikely to earn the support of the community, or of Parliament, with proposals for any significant extension of the hours or places at which liquor is available.

The introduction of ancillary licences was itself a significant change in New Zealand’s licensing laws. Such changes generally need to be made gradually, and work best if plenty ,of time is allowed to review their operations in practice. Three years is hardly an adequate trial period. The most that clubs should expect from the current review is a tidying of the law.