No Liquor Store in Te Hana

E ngā Manukura, e ngā Whatukura o te Kaunihera o Whangarei, nei rā te rere o te mihi nui ki a koutou. Ka rere te mihi ki a koutou mō tō koutou kaha, tō māia, tō manawanui hoki ki te āta aromatawaitia te take nei arā, ko Local Alcohol Application. Kāore e kore, he tino take whakahirahira tēnei.

This Letter is prepared by Antony Thompson (Practice Leader), for Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whātua Maori Public Health unit. I thank the convener for the opportunity to provide comment on The Te Hana liquor application and commend the decision to allow the community to have a voice in the matter.

First and foremost, alcohol consumption is not part of tikanga Māori of our tūpuna. Alcohol in Māori society is a part of the process of colonisation that Māori were and continue to be subjected to. Since first contact with British settlers, Māori have expressed concerns about alcohol harm and drinking behaviours. These concerns made up the many that Māori had about British settlement that led to the development of He Whakaputanga in 1835 and later Te Tīriti o Wāitangi. These concerns continued through the 1900s and Māori leaders such as Princess Te Puia led Mārae initiatives to reduce harm from alcohol. Despite this, to this day Māori do not enjoy the same level of health as non- Māori that was guaranteed in Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Regardless, Māori have a right to live, work and play in health endorsing environments. Environments free of exposure to alcohol advertising, sponsorship and alcohol harm.

For these reasons, we support current and further restrictions on alcohol accessibility and availability in Te Hana. We know the burden of alcohol harm falls disproportionately and inequitably on indigenous populations, the young, and those who experience disparities.

Therefore, given Māori health rights and needs combined with the expressed aspirations of Māori communities within Te Tai Tokerau, for greater controls of alcohol in the community, our organisations would like to strongly emphasise the need for The District Licensing Council to continue to prioritise the addressing of inequities when assessing new liquor applications thus constructing options for the reduction of harm from alcohol and ensure that the LAP does all it should reasonably do to reduce harm to Māori via reducing availability of alcohol.

Aligning with Māori rights and needs and data on increased hazardous drinking patterns for Māori (Ministry of Health, 2012), we are supportive that the needs of the local community who primarily are Māori are met.

Density issues and location of the premise is important to us, given disproportionate harm from alcohol to Māori, issues with density must be taken seriously. Research shows the availability of alcohol is related to heavy drinking and alcohol-related harms (Huckle, et al, 2008 and Connor et al, 2011). Violence and other problems are frequently cited as harms associated with changes in outlet density (Babor, et al, 2010). Density of premises have been shown to be strongly associated with greater assaults and violence (Lipton and Gruenwald, 2002; Gruenwald and Remer, 2006). Additionally, density of premises in small neighbouring communities is also positively associated with violence (Gruenwald and Remer, 2006).

Importantly for the high Māori population in Te Taitokerau, recent studies found that density of clubs and bars vs population is significantly positively associated with violent offences, family violence, drug and alcohol offences, property damage, property abuse and antisocial behaviour (Cameron, et al, 2012).

I support the local community and its leaders in the opposition of an off licence application for:
(OFF-19270Kudrat Holdings Limited -Known as Te Hana Liquor Store)