Subj : Alcohol advertising at international cricket gains support in Nelson
To   : All
From : News
Date : Sat Jun 15 2024 01:43 pm

By Max Frethey, Local Democracy Reporting
32 mins ago

Alcohol advertising at international cricket games at Saxton Oval in Nelson
is one step closer to being allowed.


Under a proposed change, alcohol sponsors would be allowed to be advertised
on players' clothing and during international cricket games that have
contractual commitments.


The Saxton Field Committee on Friday agreed to recommend to a joint committee
of Nelson and Tasman councillors to accept the proposal.


The changes are being sought after three international games in the region
were jeopardised during the last cricket season due to one of the 11 sponsors
being an alcohol company.


In hearings earlier this month, organisations and community members presented
in support of and against the changes.


Paul Harrington, principal planner for parks and facilities activity at the
Nelson City Council, said there was "no shortage of evidence" about the harm
caused by alcohol advertising.


However, he didn't think alcohol advertising at a few international cricket
matches a year would contribute to normalising alcohol considering the amount
of marketing to which residents are already exposed.


"It really is ubiquitous. Our kids walking past off-licences on the way to
school, you walk into the supermarket and there's an entire aisle dedicated
to alcohol."


Harrington also highlighted that alcohol advertising would still be banned
across the entire Saxton Field complex.


"It's still a pretty honourable standard."


After hearing community feedback, Harrington strengthened a clause that
supported returning an alcohol advertising ban when the policy was next
reviewed - in about seven years - in the hopes that the country would have
begun to shift away from alcohol advertising in sports by then.


The tweak was supported by most committee members despite Nelson councillor
Tim Skinner's concerns that the councils would find themselves in the same
position of potentially missing out on international games in the future.


Tasman councillor Glen Daikee suggested products with low or no alcohol
content be advertised in cases where alcohol advertising was allowed. This
was not supported by a majority of the committee.

Now that the Saxton Field Committee has made its recommendation, elected
members from both councils will jointly consider the issue on July 9.


Local Democracy Reporting is local-body journalism co-funded on RNZ on NZ On
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