Show at centre of alcohol furore granted liquor licence

Mike King. Photo: RNZ
Mike King. Photo: RNZ
A fashion event in Dunedin raising money for suicide awareness has been granted a liquor licence after sparking national headlines when Mike King weighed-in on the issue.

The "More Than Just a Fashion Show" charity event to raise awareness for mental health was granted a liquor licence by Dunedin’s District Licensing Committee this morning.

The committee granted the licence despite opposition from police and the licensing inspector, over the links between alcohol consumption and suicide.

Alcohol harm prevention officer Sergeant Steve Jones said it would be "inappropriate and harmful"  for an event raising money for suicide awareness to sell alcohol.  

The event rose to national prominence after Gumboot Friday founder and mental health advocate Mike King weighed-in on police opposition to the application, telling NewstalkZB on Wednesday it was "ridiculous" and "classic overreach" before going on to claim that "alcohol is not a problem for people with mental health issues, it’s actually the solution to our problem, until you come up with a better solution."

His comments have since been labelled "really unhelpful" by the Drug Foundation and Labour has since called on the government to pause its funding of Gumboot Friday.

Tegan Rose Vickery (centre), receiving an award at the Hokonui Fashion Design Awards in July....
Tegan Rose Vickery (centre), receiving an award at the Hokonui Fashion Design Awards in July. Photo: Evelyn Thorn
The show, which is scheduled for tomorrow in the Wall St Mall, was organised by Otago Polytechnic student Tegan Rose Vickery to "shine a light" on the people working in the mental health sector, with all profits raised being donated to the Life Matters Suicide Prevention Trust, the meeting’s agenda said.

Committee chairman Colin Weatherall said, after the hearing, they had released a verbal decision and granted the applicant a licence as a one-off occasion.

Both police and the licensing inspector had opposed the application, but this had been in relation to the association between the profits made from the sale of alcohol at the event and the trust.

The minimisation of harm was foremost in the committee’s mind, and the control mechanisms that the event organisers had in place ensured that this would be the case, he said.  

"They've got a very good commercial organiser associated with it, so we're confident that the event will not produce any harm or association to people through the consumption of alcohol."

Mr Weatherall said the amount of publicity and the issues around the event were "disproportionate to the risk that the event raised" and the committee had some "very solid evidence of the association between alcohol consumption and the risk of suicide, in specific cases".

The committee would look into the future about how "this type of situation can be avoided".

While he had total respect for Mr King and his projects including I Am Hope, he was not a submitter to the committee’s programme, Mr Weatherall said.

"And it would be fair to say, quite bluntly, we're not affected by media pressure.

"The committee is focused on the submissions in front of it, the presentations given, and that's where we limit ourselves."

tim.scott@odt.co.nz

 

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