Page 1463 - Week 05 - Thursday, 12 May 1994
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MR MOORE: Thank you, Mr Berry, for moving that. (Extension of time granted). Madam Speaker, I believe that the Government response to the restriction of hours is appropriate. As I said, having looked at the evidence, I have moved my position on that issue.
The main argument the Government has presented against the notion of children accompanied by adults being served alcohol in restaurants is that it is difficult to administer. Administrative difficulties are dictating policy. To me, the role of administration is to implement policy, not to restrict it.
Mr Berry: Impossible.
MR MOORE: I hear an interjection from Mr Berry to the effect that it is impossible. As I said at the start of my speech, Mr Connolly is quite right in drawing attention to the use of role models to teach young people good manners in their use of alcohol. That is why most people I know allow their children to have a small glass of champagne at Christmas time or on somebody's birthday.
Ms Follett: A slippery slope.
MR MOORE: There are certainly those who would argue that it is a slippery slope. What we really ought to be doing is introducing our children to a decision making process so that they understand that a small amount of alcohol very occasionally is not going to cause them any problem. However, large amounts of alcohol, particularly for growing bodies, can do significant damage. That is the message that we should be getting across. More importantly, there is a time and a place - we ought to write a song about this - for everything. The time and place for enjoying a glass of alcohol is primarily with a meal. Invariably it is when families go out for a meal on a special occasion. That was the general thinking behind the committee's recommendation.
This practice has a further advantage. It is a public demonstration that as a society we believe that there is an appropriate time and place for alcohol use and that there are inappropriate ways of using alcohol. That very public demonstration would be achieved by providing the opportunity for young people, when they are accompanied by their parents, to drink alcohol in a restaurant, as the committee recommended. Interestingly enough, this goes on regularly. The young people we met when we went around to the colleges said almost universally that they had had a drink with their parents when they were out. It goes on now and probably will continue to go on. Unfortunately, there is just a small element of hypocrisy about it. We are not prepared to say, "Yes, let us allow it legally". One of the reasons we allow it, I presume, is that we do not find it offensive, nor should we. I also accept what Mr Connolly said about young people drinking with their family at home being the first step in determining a role model. Unfortunately, for some young people at home, the role model is anything but good; and of course we see the ramifications of that in generation after generation.
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