GP briefs PM on alcohol harm

Posted on 22nd Sep 2011 11:26 | By Anonymous Author

Prime Minister John Key is in possession of a unique bottle of wine after Bay of Plenty Alcohol Action presented it to him during his visit to Tauranga.

The presentation was made at the Good Food Trading Co by GP Dr Tony Farrell, who says the bottle bears a label listing the health and social effects of wine.

Tauranga GP Dr Tony Farrell presents Prime Minister John Key with a unique bottle of wine during his visit to the city on Wednesday.

Tony began his impromptu presentation to the Prime Minister by saying he was grateful for the government’s efforts towards the Christchurch Recovery and that he hoped a similar level of concern would now be directed towards alcohol harm.

He says alcohol kills 20 New Zealanders a week and is directly linked to 70,000 violent and sexual assaults each year.

The wine presented to John Key contained information on the label, which Tony believes the Prime Minister may never have been briefed on.

“The Prime Minister has often repeated statements about the need for personal responsibility around alcohol,” says Tony.

“That, together with his inability to offer the country any kind of hope, or strategy in the wake of the King’s College alcohol tragedies, seems to suggest he is unaware of the scale of the problem, or how other countries have managed to significantly reduce alcohol harm.

“In short, it appears he hasn’t been briefed.

“Giving him a bottle of wine was, we thought, a nice way to make the point that the 9000 submitters wanting stronger alcohol law reform are not prohibitionists.”

The bottle’s label