Raising the price of liquor would penalise everyone who buys a drink and boost liquor company profits, ACT leader John Banks says.
He's urging MPs to reject a Labour Party amendment to the Alcohol Law Reform bill which would give the minister of justice the power to bring in minimum pricing - something the Government has been reluctant to consider.
Justice spokesman Charles Chauvel says a price hike is the only way to curb binge drinking and without it the bill won't have an impact on the problem.
Mr Banks, a Government ally, says it would punish responsible drinkers.
"A minimum price is not a tax," he said.
"All the additional revenue from a price increase will flow straight out of consumers' pockets into the hands of liquor companies and retailers."
Mr Banks says problem drinkers are a group least responsive to price increases.
"We do have an issue of problem drinking in New Zealand - but punishing everyone is not the way to go about solving it."
Prime Minister John Key doesn't think a minimum price would be effective.
"They've tried it in Scandinavia, it's very expensive there and people still get wasted," he said this week.
Justice Minister Judith Collins has told her officials to look at minimum pricing regimes in other countries so she can think about whether they would work in New Zealand, but she doesn't seem keen on the idea either.
The bill will be back in parliament later this month for its final stages.
It will bring in a raft of changes to accessibility and new rules about the way liquor is sold, but it doesn't touch the price of alcohol.
NZN