Didn’t supermarkets begin selling alcohol to provide sorely needed competition? Well, that was the spiel… (There are some areas where liquor trusts still have full control.)
Now, though, it seems the supermarket duopoly stymies local councils in any attempts to regulate consumption in their areas. Auckland has been fighting this for nearly 10 years and Christchurch has given up.
Green MP Chloe Swarbrick has introduced a private member’s bill to stop supermarkets from appealing councils’ local alcohol policies.
So has the control swung too far the other way? Or is something else afoot here?
Read more here. Discuss it on The BFD.