By 3 News online staff
MPs have chosen, by 68 votes to 53, to keep the drinking age at 18.
The decision was made after two rounds of voting and a fierce period of debate in Parliament.
There were initially three possible options for reforming the drinking age: keep it at 18, raise it to 20, or introduce a ‘split age’ so 18-year-olds could only buy alcohol at pubs, bars and restaurants.
In the first round of voting only 33 MPs opted for the ‘split age’ option, while 38 voted for raising the age to 20 and 50 voted to keep it at 18.
As it had the fewest votes, the split age option was then dropped and the second round of voting took place with MPs asked to choose between keeping the age at 18 or raising it to 20.
The issue was a conscience vote so each MP could vote how they liked.
3 News asked MPs how they would vote on the bill before they went into the House.
Those voting to increase the drinking age included National’s Tim Macindoe, Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi, Mike Sabin and NZ First’s Asenati Lole-Taylor, Richard Prosser and Dennis O’Rourke.
MPs voting for a split age included Justice Minister Judith Collins, Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman, Courts Minister Chester Borrows and ACT leader John Banks.
Voting for keeping it at 18 were Social Development Minister Paula Bennett, Treaty Settlement Minister Chris Finlayson and National MP Melissa Lee.
Prime Minister John Key was planning to vote for a split age.
MPs have their say before the vote
Labour’s Lianne Dalziel says the vote makes it look as though age is the only problem.
“It’s not the only problem we have,” she says. “There are much more important issues [like] minimum prices for alcohol, the closing time for off-licences and proximity of off-licences to schools.”
However NZ First’s Dennis O’Rourke says the only way to combat the issue is to raise the bar to 20, with the other options being a “cop-out”.
“We see them every night in every bar in every town misbehaving and drinking excessively […] so the latest possible age is best and that age is 20.”
The Green Party’s Gareth Hughes says raising it won’t be effective and won’t deal with the culture of binge drinking, and pointed to MPs themselves as binge-drinkers.
“I used to work as a bartender across the road at Backbenchers and there I saw the problem - it wasn’t youth drinking, it was inappropriate drinking,” he says.
“I saw MPs binge drinking and intoxicated across the road.”
Labour’s Iain Lees-Galloway says he has no enthusiasm for any of the options.
“After this vote, we will be no closer to dealing with alcohol-related harm as we were at the beginning of the day.
“I argue it will have almost no impact on alcohol-related harm.”
Police Minister Anne Tolley says she’s interacted wide and far with her East Coast constituents about how to address the issues with alcohol and binge drinking.
“Around 80-85 percent of the respondents in my electorate said please, put the drinking-age back to 20,” says Ms Tolley.
“That includes, interestingly, young students who have told me, ‘Please help us because so many of our friends are unable to manage themselves.'”
3 News