In-flight liquor remit passed by Nat. branch

Press, 28 May 1984, Page 9

In-flight liquor remit passed by Nat. branch

The Government should legislate to allow liquor to be served on passenger aircraft, the Canterbury-West-land division of the National Party was told at the weekend. Mr Bob Allen, from the Lyttelton branch, told the division’s annual conference in Nelson that an amendment to the Police Offences Act about two years ago prohibited the carrying, supply and sale of alcohol on all public transport There were certain exceptions, such as the railways and the Cook Strait ferries. The move was brought about because of two incidents in 1980, which attracted publicity over the consumption of liquor on chartered buses. After the law was passed, it was found that aircraft were included in the ban. It appeared to be a mistake in the drafting of the legislation which was not picked up by the select committee. Mr Allen said that the Mount Cook Line was forced to stop serving free wine on its flights. In spite of repre-

sentations to the Government, there was no sign of a move to change the law. The international division of Air New Zealand might be transgressing the law by serving liquor or allowing passengers to take liquor on board flights in New Zealand. He said that liquor was accepted on airlines throughout the world, both on international and domestic flights. There was no reason why New Zealand should be different. Some delegates said they objected to alcohol being more freely available, but a remit calling for a change in the law was passed by the conference. The Minister of Tourism, Mr Talbot, later commented that it was ridiculous that airlines could not serve liquor if they chose. He would support a relaxation of the law. The change would probably be made when the Sale of Liquor Act was next amended, although this was not likely during this year’s session of Parliament.