A South Auckland Labour MP wants a nationwide ban on stores being allocated liquor licences within one kilometre of school boundaries.
Manurewa MP Louisa Wall, of Tuwharetoa and Waikato, will outline her proposal - which has support from the Labour Party caucus in a supplementary order paper to the Alcohol Reform Bill.
She says the idea stems from an incident late last year when a superette which is near two Manurewa schools applied for a liquor licence.
Ms Wall says community leaders dropped leaflets about the application in 600 letterboxes, which resulted in the territorial council receiving 400 submissions opposed to the granting of a licence. Councillors declined the application.
She says there is a proliferation of liquor stores in Manurewa and statistics show alcohol is a major contributor to family violence.
Ms Wall says she expects opposition from some shop owners to her proposal, but hopes they will put the well-being of children before income.
She says off-licences in central business districts would be exempt, and stores which already have a liquor licence could continue selling alcohol until their current permit expires.
