NZ eyes late opening for Rugby World Cup

That’s the scenario being painted by The Kermits if the publicity hog, the straight laced Act leader David Seymour has his way and bars are allowed to open across the country to allow fans to watch the rugger live in the UK.

Mr Key said this morning he had spoken with Justice Minister Amy Adams about drafting a bill which would allow all bars to open outside of normal hours for some of the tournament’s matches.

Green spokesperson Kevin Hague called it a “ham-fisted attempt to be a man of the people” and that it would see drunk people flowing out onto the streets as others were trying to get to work or drop their kids off at school.

“There’s been a good faith process that leaves us confident that there will be a substantially better bill”, he said.

Barry Soper shares his opinion on bars opening for the Rugby World Cup early morning games.

He said the bill would have a short consultation period to allow the changes to take place before the World Cup kicks off on September 18. But with word the Government is looking at taking on Mr Seymour’s Bill, Mr Hague says it’s an opportunity to get the balance right and save local authorities a whole lot of paperwork.

But today speaking on TVNZ’s Breakfast, Mr Key said the National Party is working on a bill to extend drinking hours that will be introduced into Parliament and passed through.

He believed where there was strong support for other teams, such as a number of South Africans living on the North Shore, bars would have already applied for a special licence to open outside normal hours.

Mr Seymour said only broadcasting All Black matches was “deeply unfair” and he wanted it to apply to all 48 games.

“If there was an event that was significant enough that we thought was in a time zone that warranted it, we’d look at it”.

“In principle one option would be to say… for every All Blacks game for the quarters, semis, the finals, maybe the playoffs for third and fourth – all of those we have blanket coverage”.

The Green Party initially objected to Mr Seymour’s bill because it was too broad and had the potential to cause real harm to communities.