Enough is enough: Copenhagen and too-convenient alcohol
The inconvient truth is that John Key always should have been going to Copenhagen and dairies should never have been selling liquor. So hooray for a change of heart on both
I was in email conversation with former Pundit Jon Johansson a week or two ago, who's currently blissing out in Washington DC (you can read about his US adventures here). He asked about John Key's plans to go to Copenhagen.
Jon predicted that as soon as Barack Obama announced he was going, it was only a matter of time before Key changed his mind. At best, Jon said, he'd wait a few news cycles to be subtle, but that it would happen.
As is often the case, Jon was bang on. The Prime Minister put a polite distance between Obama's decision and the advice he received from world leaders at the CHOGM in Trinidad and Tobago, but then read the writing on the wall. Enough was enough, it was time to stop pandering to the climate change deniers and short-sighted business interests and act like a leader.
He should have been going to Copenhagen all along. A small, distant country which bases its livelihood on land-based products and exports needs all the window-dressing it can get, and whatever the outcome in the Danish capital, we need to present our green credentials and look as if we're serious about climate change. Key's obsession with not leading on climate change looked to be undermining our international reputation.
No, it wasn't make and break, because anyone in the field knows we're the first country in the world to have an all-gases, all-sectors emissions trading scheme. But it's better he's there than not, so I was pleased he changed his mind this week. Pleased too, that he relented on his initial position that New Zealand wouldn't be contributing to the Gordon Brown-inspired climate fund that would see developed countries putting $10 billion into a pot to help poorer countries cut their carbon emissions. Key had argued our global research alliance would be sufficient, but that always looked like a self-interested position at a time when sacrifice is needed, so it was a relief that he quickly backed down on that. Brown's proposed fund could go some way, at least, towards bridging the crucial gap between developed and developing nations.
The criticism now is that he's only going for the sake of the photo-op, which was much the point Jon was making. 'Ooh, Obama's there, I might get a handshake... find me a travel agent now!'
Sure, you can quibble that he's only going because Obama, Gordon Brown and the like will be there, not because he recognises that, as the likes of Lord Patten have said, this is the most important global meeting since Versailles. On the other hand, their presence is exactly the reason he should attend. This is politics and the odd handshake and one-on-one relationships matter.
Key's other consideration, although little mentioned, will have been that research alliance fund. Tim Groser has been quietly selling that around the world in recent months, and, I'm told, getting a good response. Key's decision to go suggests there's some good news for New Zealand to announce and he can be there to front to the world's media.
The other good news this week is the Liquor Licensing Authority's announcement that it's unlikely to renew the licence of a convenience store in Christchurch next year. It seems a new Authority chair is finally interpreting the law as parliament intended it and has set a new precedent. That is, dairies shouldn't be able to hawk booze.
Labour MP Lianne Dalziel is passionate about this and issued a statement saying:
"...while she had sympathy for businesses that believed they were operating legitimately, Parliament had voted explicitly against extending the law to dairies in 1999.
"The Liquor Licensing Authority in what it has described as 'an unfortunate series of events' had defeated Parliament's intention by allowing these stores to obtain licences creating a major loophole in the law," said Lianne Dalziel.
The Sale of Liquor Act 1989 specifically refers to "any grocery store, where the Licensing Authority or District Licensing Agency, as the case may be, is satisfied that the principal business of the store is the sale of main order household foodstuff requirements".
The local research is pretty clear on this one – the more liquor outlets in a community, the more binge drinking, especially among young people. Convenience is costly when it comes to alcohol abuse, so it will be to our great benefit to see dairies forced to go back to selling pies and milk.
Dalziel said that the public thought "enough was enough", and that about sums it up.