Alcohol Industry Influence Undermines Public Health
Alcohol is the most harmful drug in Aotearoa New Zealand, yet the alcohol industry continues to play an insider role in shaping health policy. This direct involvement is a major conflict of interest that has repeatedly undermined evidence-based efforts to prevent and reduce harm caused by the products and practices of the alcohol industry.
Reporting by The Spinoff exposed, recent Official Information Act (OIA) findings revealed that senior officials in New Zealand’s Public Health Agency are “expected” to work directly with industry groups representing wine, beer, liquor, and hospitality sectors. The interactions include meetings, email correspondence, and consultation on alcohol harm prevention strategies.
For instance, alcohol industry lobbyists were allowed to contribute to an action plan for preventing foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), and were invited to give input on a new framework for spending the NZ$16 million alcohol levy. According to The Spinoff, this public fund is meant to support alcohol prevention, yet many of New Zealand’s leading public health organisations working on alcohol issues were not consulted.
Conflict of Interest: Alcohol Industry Pressure Delays Health Policy Reforms
The Spinoff revealed that a government project to update lower-risk alcohol use guidelines was questioned by an industry lobby group and then placed on hold. Although officials described this as an internal decision, the circumstances raise concerns about how Big Alcohol interference can stall or derail public health initiatives.
The Ministry of Health redacted alcohol industry feedback from its OIA documents, further highlighting the lack of transparency.
There is a compelling reason to be alarmed. The products of the alcohol industry cause cancer and FASD and contribute to more than NZ$9 billion in costs due to health and social harm annually.
Close to half of all alcohol consumed in New Zealand is consumed during heavy alcohol use occasions. This highlights the fundamental and massive conflict of interest the alcohol industry has – as their profits depend on heavy and high-risk alcohol use.
But already low-dose alcohol use increases the risk of cancer, other diseases, brain conditions, and social harm such as alcohol impaired driving.
Any meaningful steps to prevent reduce the harm caused by alcohol companies would diminish the profits of alcohol corporations, making policy geared towards people’s health an existential threat for Big Alcohol and creating a clear incentive for them to interfere with health policy, as noted by a senior official cited in The Spinoff.
Communities Are Shut Out While Industry Gains Access
While alcohol industry lobby groups are given priority access to shape alcohol harm prevention strategies, communities trying to achieve common-sense limits on alcohol availability are sidelined. According to The Spinoff, local governments and communities have fought to regain control over where and how alcohol is sold in Aotearoa New Zealand, but alcohol industry lobby front groups have fought back in courtrooms, media, and Parliament.
Their influence obstructs community-led initiatives to place common sense limits on alcohol availability in areas facing higher levels of harm.
Compelling research has documented similar tactics elsewhere. The 2024 Big Alcohol Exposed report reveals how multinational alcohol producers use political lobbying and legal threats to block health policies globally, especially those related to taxation, advertising bans, and local alcohol availability limits. These findings mirror the pressure tactics seen in New Zealand.
Public Health Protections Lag Behind Tobacco Safeguards
New Zealand has made strides in protecting public health policy from tobacco industry interference by joining the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Since 2005, this agreement has recognised the “irreconcilable conflict” between the tobacco industry’s interests and public health. Ministries must now document and justify any contact with tobacco representatives. Yet, no such policy applies to the alcohol industry, according to The Spinoff.
Although the Ministry of Health is considering new rules for engagement with the alcohol lobby, current practices expose officials to industry manipulation and interference. The disparity is stark and unjustifiable, given the scale of harm alcohol causes.
The analogy to Big Tobacco their conflict of interest and safeguards against their lobbying and political interference is compelling because already in 2014, Movendi International President Kristina Sperkova presented evidence about how and why Big Tobacco and Big Alcohol collaborate and partner to advance their profit maximization agenda. These ties are institutional and deep, as Movendi International illustrated in 2023. And landmark research is increasingly shedding light on how major alcohol companies collaborate with Big Tobacco front groups to shape science and policy.
The alcohol industry helps advance the interests of the tobacco industry – and vice versa. This reality further elevates the concerns about Official Information Act findings that senior officials in New Zealand’s Public Health Agency are “expected” to work directly with industry groups representing wine, beer, liquor, and hospitality sectors.
Public Support for Reform Is Strong
Most New Zealanders want change. A recent poll in The Spinoff found that 71% of the population believe the alcohol industry should have no role in developing alcohol policy.
This broad public support provides a clear mandate for policymakers to act.
Alcohol (and tobacco) industry lobby groups have no role in shaping public health policy. Transparency and accountability are essential to protect people’s health and ensure public funds like the alcohol levy are used effectively. This matters so that alcohol policy is geared towards people’s best interest, not Big Alcohol’s private profit interests. To do achieve this, clear, enforceable rules are needed to exclude alcohol industry interests from health policy making. This includes:
- Ensuring public health experts and communities lead alcohol harm prevention efforts;
- Requiring full transparency for all alcohol industry interactions (if they must take place); and
- Aligning alcohol policy with WHO’s Global Alcohol Action Plan 2022–2030, which explicitly urges governments to shield policy from vested interests.