Binge-drinking has sadly for many become an accepted part of our culture and it can't continue.

The harm caused by alcohol not only affects individuals, it affects their families, friends, neighbours, work colleagues, and society as a whole.

Alcohol is estimated to contribute to 1000 deaths a year. During the weekend, about seven out of 10 people who go to the emergency department are there because of alcohol.

Alcohol is also a driver of crime. It plays a part in 30 per cent of all offences, 34 per cent of family violence, and one in every two homicides.

These statistics can't be ignored. We need to tackle this problem.

The public has told my colleagues and me that alcohol laws aren't tough enough. We have responded to their concerns. National's alcohol law reform package adopts in full, or in part, 126 of the Law Commission's 153 recommendations, as well as making other changes.

We're focusing on minimising alcohol related-harm, including crime, disorder, and public health problems. National's package zeroes in on where harm is occurring – particularly in relation to young people.

Measures include giving local communities the power, through local alcohol policies, to decide how many alcohol outlets they have, where they are, and what time they are open.

Maximum opening hours will be set as 7am–11pm for off-licences (such as bottle stores) and 8am-4am for on-licences (such as bars) where local authorities have not adopted a local alcohol policy.

We're giving parents more tools to manage their children's access to alcohol, and requiring people to be more responsible when supplying alcohol to minors.

This package strikes the right balance between not unfairly affecting responsible drinkers and dealing with the considerable harm alcohol causes.

We see our reform package as a starting point for Parliament's discussion about alcohol. You can have your say about the proposed measures when the Alcohol Reform Bill reaches select committee. I will be the deputy chairperson of this and information on making a submission can be found at www.parliament.nz

We will be introducing legislation to Parliament in October and plan to have the law in place by the end of next year.

National knows that legislation alone will not turn binge-drinking around. But these reforms can, and will, support a culture change by helping to control the availability and proliferation of alcohol.

Further information can be found at www.justice.govt.nz and at www.beehive.govt.nz

Alcohol purchase age
The alcohol purchase age is one specific issue where all National MPs will get to have a free or conscience vote. The options are to stay at 18, to move to a split age of 18 at pubs and bars and 20 for shops, or to move to 20 for both.

I have publicly backed change to an increase in age: either to a split age or to 20 years across the board. In making my final decision I will be heavily guided by the views of the people of Tauranga. To gauge these, in October I will be advertising in all newspapers here, including this one, enabling you to have your say by either email or freepost. I encourage you to make you voice heard. As I say, your collective views will be heeded by me.