Booze ad ban needed, says Nandor

Green MP Nandor Tanczos today welcomed moves to tighten regulations governing liquor advertising, but warned they would not be enough to address the prevalent culture of binge drinking.

Nandor, the Green spokesperson for Drug Policy, said he supported measures to close the door to a growing international trend of alcohol companies marketing drinks that have specific appeal to children.

"We welcome these moves because we want to avoid the situation that developed in Australia where marketing plans for a alcoholic milk product called Moo Juice sought to piggy-back on a campaign for young people to drink milk," said Nandor.

"Alcohol companies have repeatedly shown their desire to place their profit margins before anything else. It's totally unethical.

"There's a growing international trend towards producing alcoholic drinks which are virtually indistinguishable from drinks marketed to young people.

"The new recommendations stop the advertising from getting much worse, but what we need to do as well is address the advertising that is already there.

"While this is a good pre-emptive move, this does not address existing problems. It is not just a problem of teen binge drinking, it's a culture of alcohol abuse."

Nandor repeated his call for the Government to ban alcohol advertising, saying the ban on tobacco sponsorship and advertising has been very successful in reducing tobacco use.

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