Photo: RNZ
Health New Zealand is proposing to cut staff working on alcohol harm by a third and end its alcohol research and social marketing campaigns, the public service union says.
The Public Service Association (PSA) says the cuts are a result of lobbying by the alcohol industry - a claim disputed by the industry, which said decisions ultimately lay with the Ministry of Health.
65 organisations - including the Cancer Society, the Mental Health Foundation, the Drug Foundation and Women's Refuge - have also signed an open letter to the prime minister, calling for the alcohol industry to be shut out of policy making.
The PSA said Health NZ planned to reduce staff working on alcohol harm reduction from 15 to 10, including cutting Māori and Pasifika advisor roles.
Health NZ said it was consulting staff on a "change process" to move resources to the front line and no final decisions had been made.
However, an email obtained by RNZ reveals elements of the plan.
"We have received a clear direction that research activity and social marketing - specifically campaigns - will not be proceeding," Health NZ alcohol harm prevention manager Tom Devine told staff in a July email.
Health NZ's alcohol harm reduction work is funded by the alcohol levy - a small tax on alcohol sales.
PSA National Secretary Fleur Fitzsimons said the proposed cuts made no sense, as the alcohol levy had increased from $11.5 million to $16.6 million last year.
"These are nonsensical changes about how health promotion and alcohol harm reduction is done," she said.
"It seems like the alcohol lobby is being listened to over public health experts who work at Health New Zealand."
Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
The social marketing campaigns often used "creative, tongue-in-cheek type approaches" to encourage people to drink less, which is why the alcohol industry did not like them, Fitzsimons said.
"These [changes] are things the alcohol lobby have been asking for - not public health experts. We're asking Health New Zealand to listen to the expertise they have over the alcohol lobby."
Stopping alcohol research was concerning, as the work helped communities develop Local Alcohol Policies and oppose liquor licenses in areas saturated with outlets, she said.
"This research is critical for making evidence based decisions and also for communities to respond to proposed alcohol stores, alcohol advertising and to make sure that alcohol harm reduction is at the center of policy."
RNZ has previously revealed that alcohol industry lobbyists have quarterly meetings with health officials and are given key documents in advance - including plans on how to spend the alcohol levy - and asked for input.
The open letter sent last week asked the government to exclude the alcohol industry from early stages of policy making and restrict its input to the public consultation process, on the same footing as the general public.
Health Coalition Aotearoa, which was among the signatories, said reducing alcohol harm required lowering consumption.
That was "an outcome directly at odds with the alcohol industry's core business of maximising sales", the organisation said.
But the industry hit back at what it said was anti-democratic behaviour.
"We believe that banning any group from engaging on a matter that may impact them goes against the idea of a democratic society, where a range of views are taken into account," Alcohol Beverages Council deputy chair Dylan Firth said.
The alcohol industry talked with officials on issues affecting its operations, employees and consumers, he said.
Health Coalition Aotearoa also met with officials and ministers, as did other groups who signed the open letter, such as the Council of Trade Unions, Firth added.
"Are they saying that some groups should, and others shouldn't, be able to engage and they get to decide who those groups are?"
While the industry provided feedback, decisions on how the Alcohol Levy was spent were ultimately made by the Ministry of Health and the government, he said.
Mental health minister Matt Doocey said he expected health officials to listen to a range of voices when making alcohol policy and he supported Health NZ's new alcohol harm reduction strategy.
"I have set the expectation that in order to make the biggest difference, we need to invest more money in community-led initiatives and training our frontline, and less in bureaucratic centrally-run research projects, back-office staff and marketing programmes."
Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
One example of this new approach was the $7.25m in alcohol levy funds for programmes to combat Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, he said.
But Fitzsimons said reducing alcohol harm reduction staff from 15 to 10 amounted to a "massive cut".
"We've had specialist expertise for alcohol harm reduction in Māori communities and Pasifika communities that have been lost. Decimating this workforce is the wrong thing to do.
"You cannot solve alcohol-related harm by defunding the very people who work to prevent it."
Dylan Firth said rates of hazardous drinking were declining.
The focus should be on "continuing to support moderate drinking patterns" and ensuring the levy was spent in areas where it would have the most impact, he said.
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