Colin Weatherall said the aim was always to minimise harm associated with alcohol consumption, and reform could help.
"Anything that improves the protection of people and minimisation of harm will be supported," Mr Weatherall said.
The Government announced yesterday it planned to remove the ability to appeal local alcohol policies.
Such policies have often been held up or challenged by supermarkets and the Government has evidently lost patience with them and the liquor industry.
Dunedin’s local alcohol policy has been in effect since 2019, after it had been watered down following a challenge by a group that included supermarket chains and liquor stores.
Mr Weatherall said it was helpful guidance for the committee nonetheless.
Other cities have been less successful in getting a structure in place.
Mr Weatherall said there was already some scope for communities to get more involved in decision-making processes.
Lack of public input into matters such as whether liquor licences should be granted to bars and bottle stores was often frustrating for the committee, he said.
Hospitality Association Dunedin branch president Mark Scully said the Government’s moves had upsides and downsides.
A down side was if a poor decision was made in a local alcohol policy, there was no recourse, he said.
Mr Scully suggested the supermarket industry might be most affected by legislative change.
"Perhaps it’s not a bad thing," he said.
Minister of Justice Kiri Allan said the law had not been working as intended.
"Local communities should be able to set their own rules to reduce alcohol harm, but are being blocked at every step by the booze industry," Ms Allan said.
"The current appeal process is costing councils and ratepayers millions in legal fees, as alcohol companies and supermarkets have thwarted efforts by local councils to limit the sale of alcohol in their communities."
In Auckland, a provisional local alcohol policy had been in the appeal process for seven years, she said.
"There are similar stories in Wellington and Christchurch, where councils have abandoned their efforts to put harm reduction plans in place after facing expensive and lengthy legal opposition."
Ms Allan said a Bill proposing procedural changes to the alcohol licensing process would be introduced this year and the aim was for it to pass into law by mid-2023.
They would be the first steps in fixing alcohol laws, she said.
"The Government will be doing future work to look at licensing structures and processes, marketing and sponsorship, pricing, and changes to ensure the law is responsive to new products and retail models."
The late Dave Cull called New Zealand’s approach to local alcohol policies a farce when he was Dunedin mayor in 2018.
City councillor Lee Vandervis expressed shock at the time that district licensing committees were "almost toothless".
Two years earlier, Mr Cull said supermarkets were "putting their profit ahead of wellbeing of the community".
The Green Party said yesterday the Government had effectively adopted the first half of MP Chloe Swarbrick’s Alcohol Harm Minimisation Bill.
