If axing Lotto funding is a possibility, why not alcohol sponsorship?
Labour MP Arena Williams will receive a petition today urging MPs to pass Chlöe Swarbrick's Alcohol Harm Reduction bill. Swarbrick needs Labour support to make that a reality.
Mōrena and welcome to The Bulletin for Wednesday, September 28, by Anna Rawhiti-Connell. Presented in partnership with Z Energy.
In today’s edition: never write off Winston Peters; government lifts RSE worker intake numbers; new sanctions for Putin-linked individuals; but first, petition urging MPs to support alcohol bill goes to parliament today.
John Key celebrates with a beer and the All Blacks in 2011 after their win over France, a country that banned alcohol advertising on television in 1991 (Image: Getty)
Alcohol Harm Reduction bill supporters call on parliament today
Beer and rugby. So synonymous that we have a whole catalogue of former prime minister John Key enjoying a cold one in the changing rooms with the All Blacks. Chlöe Swarbrick wants to change that with her Alcohol Harm Reduction bill. A 6000-signature petition will be presented to parliament today, urging MPs to pass the bill. The bill calls for a phasing out of alcohol advertising and sponsorship for broadcast sports, and the abolition of appeals on councils' local alcohol policies. The Herald’s Issac Davison (paywalled) has an excellent rundown on the bill and reports that its success will rely on support from Labour MPs. It’s a conscience vote. Labour MP Arena Williams will accept the petition today.
Te Whatu Ora chair supports the bill
It has the backing of a number of councils, public health, community groups and Te Whatu Ora (Health NZ) chair Rob Campbell. He defended his right to have a personal view on it, despite his official role and despite another public health official getting a “please explain” from health minister Andrew Little for his support of it. Sports minister Grant Robertson has said he will vote against the bill. He’s supportive of the proposal to strengthen local alcohol policies, but is concerned the law change could cut off funding for sports groups without a clear plan for how that funding would be replaced. Swarbrick has argued that the “cut off” would be phased and has offered some possible ways to plug the gap.
Swarbrick argues alcohol sponsorship not the lifeline you might think
Robertson’s concern about cutting off funding has echoes of comments from then-justice minister Amy Adams in 2014. That was in response to a report from a panel chaired by Sir Graham Lowe who made recommendations on banning alcohol sponsorship in sport then. Advocates for the bill might say that there has been ample time to consider how any funding gap would be filled. The last estimate of the value of alcohol sponsorship in sports was around $20m. Swarbrick presented evidence in August that alcohol sponsorship is not the lifeline for grassroots teams that we might think it is. The figures used only reflect the value of what the alcohol industry puts into sport rather than what they get out of sports sponsorship. A study last year found people were subjected to 754 alcohol advertisements during a single rugby game. It’s a fair amount of exposure to audiences young and old that could go by the wayside.
Lotto funding of sport up for review
Robertson’s comments make an interesting contrast to Jan Tinetti’s recent comments about the profits from another source of funding for sport, Lotto. Tinetti is the minister for internal affairs and in Guyon Espiner’s recent series about Lotto, Tinetti said she was considering cutting the link between gambling and charity. "I'm not saying that that's a fait accompli, but that would be one option," she told RNZ. Last year, Sport NZ got 40% of its funding from Lotto profits, just over $26m in 2020/2021. It does look as if it's possible to plan for filling one fairly large funding gap if it's cut off, which might beg the questions as to why it can’t, or hasn’t been done, for another. France has had the loi Évin, a ban on alcohol advertising on television and in cinemas, since 1991. The Heineken Cup is known as the H Cup in France.
Let me know what you think about this one and I’ll publish the results of this highly unscientific poll tomorrow.
The perfect starting point
James Fuller, founder of accounting business Hnry has a very specific favourite time and place in Wellington: winter, early morning, down by the waterfront. “This amazing harbour with the sun coming up across it, you can’t help but stop what you’re doing and just admire it for a few minutes.” He’s built a hugely successful business in Wellington, relying on the tight knit communities and relationships that he says could have only been born in our little capital. Learn more about Fuller's Wellington story here, and find the sculpture inspired by his Hnry journey using this handy map (sponsored).
Never Write Off Winston Peters
Listening to the latest poll results on the way home last night, I concluded that either the Uffindell and Sharma dramas don’t really matter to voters as inflation bites and the kiwi dollar slides, or they neutralised each other. National is on 37%, Labour on 34% and both Act and the Greens are on 9%. A poll that either everyone is happy about or isn’t “fabulous for anyone”, as Jessica Mutch McKay concluded. My ears did prick up at 3% for New Zealand First though. So, it seems, did Toby Manhire’s –his assessment of last night’s TV1 Kantar poll is here. The age-old New Zealand political adage of ‘Never Write Off Winston Peters’ (NWOWP –abbreviating now as suspect it’ll get a decent run in the next year) remains true. Manhire writes that “3% is more than decent a year from an election; if the party [NZ First] jumps a point in the next poll or two, they’ll get the bit very much between the teeth”.
Government expands RSE worker intake to largest ever
Yesterday the government announced it would increase the number of RSE workers able to work in New Zealand to 19,000, up from 16,000. The government has also mandated that employers provide the workers with sick leave. It seems that surprise as a reaction to that not being a provision for RSE workers already isn’t just reserved for people like me, but also people who employ RSE workers. Hawke's Bay company Yummy Fruit general manager Paul Paynter said he was shocked sick leave was not already mandatory. Paynter also said getting accommodation sorted for any more RSE workers would be challenging “We have accommodation only for the ones we've previously got,” he said.
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New Zealand adds Putin-backed Chechen leader to sanctions regime
Foreign minister, Nanaia Mahuta announced yesterday that 19 individuals linked to Russian president Vladimir Putin have been added to New Zealand’s sanctions regime over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The list includes Ramzan Kadyrov—the controversial Putin-backed Chechen leader accused of numerous human rights violations over his 15 years in office. Kadyrov appeared to say he was resigning in early September. Forbes has this brief background on him. Overnight, reports of explosions being heard near the damaged Nord Stream gas pipelines have come in. Sweden is launching an investigation into possible sabotage of the pipes which are now leaking gas into the Baltic Sea.
Click and collect
Leader of the opposition and prime minister say we will become a republic, but not now. 50% of people polled in last night’s 1News Kantar poll say no to republic.
I’m not allowed to watch the film Deep Impact anymore –- it causes me to sob irrationally and it’s not even that good. For a real life version of NASA testing our ability to stop a large object hitting earth, watch here.
Costco opens in Auckland today. There will be a new queue to report on. Self-proclaimed “Costco crazies” are already in it.
Financial support for Covid-19 cases required to isolate could be removed in late October.
Solomon Islands defends China relations at UN assembly.
Got some feedback about The Bulletin, or anything in the news? Get in touch with me at thebulletin@thespinoff.co.nz.
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Italians Didn’t Exactly Vote for Fascism
Long read today comes from The Atlantic and looks at the election of Giorgia Meloni and her party, Brothers of Italy in the Italian elections. Yascha Mounk argues that Meloni’s victory has less to do with nostalgia for Italy’s fascist past than with anger at the country’s parlous present. An Italian woman spoken to by Mounk had this to say: “In the end, the new government won’t be that different from all the others. It’ll fail to get much of anything done. And then it’ll collapse.”
