{"id":360150,"date":"2026-04-02T10:37:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T10:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/360150\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T10:37:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T10:37:09","slug":"hospitality-leaders-welcome-last-minute-lifting-of-easter-liquor-sale-restrictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/360150\/","title":{"rendered":"Hospitality leaders welcome last-minute lifting of Easter liquor sale restrictions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steve Taylor, who opened Takapuna wine bar Taylors on Hurstmere in June 2017, said he was \u201cstoked\u201d the amendment had passed.<\/p>\n

He told the Herald the old law was \u201cvery confusing and annoyed a lot of my customers with different rules for the four days over Easter\u201d.<\/p>\n

Previously, bars or restaurants could only sell alcohol to people \u201cresiding or lodging\u201d on premises, or \u201cpresent on the premises to dine\u201d. Liquor shops will still have to stay closed and supermarket alcohol restrictions remain unchanged.<\/p>\n

Taylor said the changes will \u201cmake it easier for struggling hospitality venues to focus on doing what we do best and looking after our guests\u201d.<\/p>\n

Industry body Hospitality NZ said it was \u201cthrilled\u201d with the changes. <\/p>\n

\"TheThe new rules change how venues operate across Easter weekend, removing the requirement to only serve drinks with a meal.<\/p>\n

Chief executive Kristy Phillips said the not-for-profit organisation had long advocated for the relaxation of restricted trading days and is delighted with the rule change.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur members are looking forward to welcoming guests to their venues as they would any other weekend of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the law change is now in effect, Phillips said many members of the public won\u2019t be aware that venues can now operate as normal. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe encourage people to go and enjoy your local venue or make the most of the hospitality on offer if travelling across the motu this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ChrisChris Brett, hotel manager at voco &Holiday\u00a0Inn Express Auckland City Centre, says the move gives hospitality businesses greater flexibility. Photo \/ Bar Albert<\/p>\n

Chris Brett, hotel manager for voco & Holiday Inn Express Auckland City Centre, which includes rooftop venue Bar Albert, said it was \u201cencouraging\u201d to see MPs taking a \u201cmodern, thoughtful approach\u201d by reviewing the legislation. In his view, it was a welcome step to support businesses<\/p>\n

\u201cThe passing of this bill gives hospitality businesses greater flexibility to make common\u2011sense decisions that better serve international visitors, while still respecting the significance and traditions of occasions such as Anzac Day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brett was unconcerned about the short time frame hospitality businesses had to transition to the new rules, saying \u201cit becomes business as usual for us\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"LabourLabour MP Kieran McAnulty submitted the member’s bill that has now amended the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act. Photo \/ Mark Mitchell<\/p>\n

McAnulty previously told 1News the legislation was aimed at clearing up a \u201cconfusing law\u201d that had been in place for a long time.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust because something\u2019s always been that way doesn\u2019t mean that that\u2019s a good reason to keep it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The general requirement was for people to order a \u201csubstantial meal\u201d alongside alcohol, but McAnulty said what constituted a meal of substance was not defined, and patrons were not required to eat it anyway.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is a bit of a farce of a situation. So all we\u2019re doing is clearing it up that those businesses that are already able to operate anyway can do so under normal conditions, and those that can\u2019t, like off-licences and supermarkets, they remain restricted. But for those on-licences that are already operating, they can do so normally.\u201d<\/p>\n

New Zealand First and Green MPs opposed the bill. <\/p>\n

Greens MP Kahurangi Carter said the party had a long history of fighting for alcohol harm reduction laws, and believed the whole Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act needed to be reworked.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Green Party is united in our position that we cannot support this bill,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Steve Taylor, who opened Takapuna wine bar Taylors on Hurstmere in June 2017, said he was \u201cstoked\u201d the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":360151,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[20784,189880,12974,4731,171628,3464,19480,15557,296,11542,26477,60724,11926,111,43,139,69,1118,22948,54895,1133,29483,31706,28797,1361,780,6493,1845],"class_list":["post-360150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-alcohol","tag-alters","tag-change","tag-days","tag-easter","tag-formally","tag-governorgeneral","tag-hospitality","tag-into","tag-lastminute","tag-leaders","tag-lifting","tag-liquor","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-restricted","tag-restrictions","tag-sale","tag-serve","tag-signed","tag-significantly","tag-that","tag-trading","tag-venues","tag-welcome"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=360150"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360150\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/360151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=360150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=360150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=360150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}