Licensing Trust

A licensing trust under New Zealand law is a community-owned company with a government-authorised monopoly on the development of premises licensed for the sale of alcoholic beverages and associated accommodation in an area. This applies to both on-licence and off-licence sales.

The Invercargill Licensing Trust (ILT) in 1944 was the first such body, and remains the highest profile example. Most other trusts have been small by comparison, but several have now created a jointly-owned management company, Trust House Limited, and the assets and payouts of this are very similar to that of the ILT.

The uniqueness of licensing trusts revolves around:

In addition, there is an inherent responsibility to efficiently operate commercial businesses profitably.

Licensing trusts belong to the family of community enterprises that are part of the third sector, a hybrid form of organisation that crosses over sectors, a mixture of market orientation and solidarity (community support). They may be defined as businesses whose primary goals are to support the well-being of their community principally through reinvesting profits generated from their trading activities either in the business and/or in support of community activities, rather than being driven to maximise profits.

In the early history of New Zealand, living conditions were often difficult, and hard drinking and the often consequential drunkenness can be seen as a reaction to the times. Abuses, which were common during the nineteenth century, inevitably brought increasing restrictions through legislation.

These abuses gave rise in the late 1800s to the temperance and prohibition movements.

In 1893, the Alcoholic Liquors Sale Control Act aligned licensing districts with parliamentary electorates. Licensing polls were to be held with each general election. There were now three options to choose from. These were "continuance of the status quo", reduction of the number of liquor licences by 25 percent, and "local no-licence" which would prevent public sale of alcohol within that electorate. Continuance and reduction only needed a majority, but local no licence needed three-fifths majority.

What resulted was that a number of areas voted for a prohibition on alcohol sales. Clutha was the first in 1894, Ashburton and Mataura followed in 1902, Invercargill, Oamaru, and Grey Lynn in 1905, and Bruce, Wellington South, Wellington suburbs, Masterton, Ohinemuri and Eden in 1908. 1911 saw the peak of the prohibition movement when it failed by only 20,000 votes to carry national prohibition. Thereafter the strength of the prohibition movement faded. But it was 1999 before the last "dry" areas disappeared.

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Wikipedia