Liquor council denies lobbying

Press, 12 July 1980, Page 12

Liquor council denies lobbying

The Liquor Industry Council has denied exerting pressure to liberalise liquor advertising on radio and television.

A new deal for liquor advertising was described by a North Canterbury Hospital Board member, Dr W. J. Pryor, as “a triumph for the liquor lobby” in a report in “The Press” of July 9. But the council’s director, Mr J. W. Thompson, denied that the liquor lobby had influenced the recent change in broadcasting policy. “I don’t know hovv Dr Pryor formed this opinion for it is totally and absolutely wrong,” he said. “Obviously Dr Pryor has made this statement without taking the trouble to verify his facts which, as a professional man and a former office-holder of a national organisation (he is past president of the Medical Association), I would have expected him t 0 do.” ~ . . Mr Thompson said that if Dr Pryor checked his allegations with the Minister of Broadcasting (Mr Templeton) and the Broadcasting Tribunal, he would find that the attitude of members of the Liquor Industry Council to the ban on advertising ranged from resignation to indifference. Under new regulations broadcasters will be allowed a reasonable

degree of legitimate commercial advertising of liquor outlets and services but direct advertising of brand-name products will still be banned.