Alcohol harm ‘triple the cost of all Treaty claims’
Optimistic numbers show that more than half of the alcohol drunk in New Zealand is harmful – costing each New Zealander $1635 a year.
That cost – which annually dwarfs money paid out for Treaty of Waitangi settlements – didn’t even factor in ‘‘intergenerational harm’’, which would push the number higher still, Berl principal economist Ganesh Nana said.
But New Zealand Alcohol Beverages Council executive director Nick Leggett has poured cold water on the ‘‘anti-alcohol lobby’’ figures, arguing they came from ‘‘debunked’’ methodology. New Zealanders were now drinking less than ever before and starting drinking later, he said.
Nana presented his figures to a Te Papa conference on who should pay for the harm of alcohol.
That harm in New Zealand was $7.8 billion annually compared to $2.2b spent on Treaty of Waitangi settlements since the 1990s, he said.
He found alcohol-related harm cost every New Zealander $1635 each per year.
‘‘Lost production of labour is costing us $3.3b a year, health costs combined with road crashes $860 million and alcoholfuelled crime $1.1b a year.’’
The remaining billions was down to ‘‘intangible costs’’ such as deaths, and reduced life quality, he said.
More than half of the $3.3b lost on production included people calling in sick after drinking, lower production when they did show, and those unemployed due to drinking.
‘‘Sixty to 70 per cent of all alcohol drunk in New Zealand is harmful, people drinking over what is medically-desirable.
‘‘If all drinkers in New Zealand drank the safe [amount] New Zealand would be drinking only 30 per cent of what we currently drink.’’
Up to one-quarter of all New Zealand drinkers were drinking to excess, he said.
He warned the figures were old – from a 2009 to 2010 study using 2005 to 2006 data – but said medical evidence suggested things had worsened.
He advocated for an increase in alcohol pricing and reducing the availability of alcohol to combat the problem.
But Leggett argued New Zealanders were now drinking one-quarter less than they were in the 1980s and harm had also dropped. ‘‘We have made huge cultural leaps with alcohol but we need to keep our feet on the pedal; we can’t afford to relax.’’
The problem was best dealt with by targeting those who abused alcohol through education and ‘‘societal measures that go to the heart of the problem.
‘‘The figures are not independent, they have been funded by the anti-alcohol lobby and the methodology has previously been debunked. ‘‘It double-counts some costs and doesn’t factor in the benefits, which is absurd.’’
Eric Crampton, from think tank NZ Initiative, said many of Nana’s figures were based on the 2009 study which had been mocked in economic circles for things such as double-counting and counting factors that shouldn’t be counted.
Using total cost figures to inform policy was useless in cases such as this. For example, raising excise on alcohol may penalise moderate drinkers but studies showed would only slightly deduce what heavy drinkers drank.
‘‘If all drinkers in New Zealand drank the safe [amount] New Zealand would be drinking only 30 per cent of what we currently drink.’’ Ganesh Nana
Invercargill parents, Alan and Raewyn Strong celebrated their son’s gold medal success in Switzerland with champagne in the early hours of yesterday.
Corbin Strong is in the New Zealand squad that won the teams pursuit at the World Junior Track Cycling Championships in Aigle. His parents and sister, Kayla, watched the event on the internet.
As soon as the Kiwis beat the French, celebrations broke out in the Strong household.
‘‘We had a small bottle of champagne in the fridge,’’ Alan said.
Several hours later, Corbin told his family on FaceTime that the team worked well together in the event and all members contributed.
Corbin commented about the win on Cycling New Zealand’s website.
‘‘It is massive and I can’t really describe the feeling,’’ he told Cycling NZ.
‘‘For me, it was watching the New Zealand boys back in 2014 and wanting to be part of it. We set our goal and our performance was awesome. To do this with your best mates is beyond words right now.
‘‘We stuck to our plan and let the others make super fast starts and didn’t worry. We had real belief.’’
Sharing the moment with him were his teammates Finn Fisher-Black, Bailey O’Donnell and George Jackson.
Corbin’s coach, Sid Cumming, was elated with the result.
‘‘He’s going very very well,’’ Sid said. ‘‘He’s got all the talent in the world and trains exceptionally hard.’’
Sid doesn’t rule out more success for Corbin in the omnium (tonight NZ time) and madison (tomorrow night) at the championships.
Corbin’s latest victory has continued the great run of success by Southland sports teams and people this year, with some of the big achievers being Southern Steel (netball), Southland Sharks (basketball), Southland Cricket team, Tom Scully (competing in Tour de France), Eddie Dawkins (cycling gold medallist, Commonwealth Games), Alena Saili (Black Ferns rugby player) and Bobby Dowling (timber sports).
Saili will debut for the Black Ferns in a test against Australian in Sydney on Saturday. Dowling won a world title in hardwood single handed sawing at the Sydney Royal Easter Show.
Sport Southland strategic communications manager Nathan Burdon applauded the success of Southlanders and pointed to the proven development programmes and pathways they had taken in the province.