Epidemiology of binge drinking
Concerns over binge drinking by teenagers has led to a review of liquor advertising being announced by the New Zealand government in January 2006. The review considered regulation of sport sponsorship by liquor companies, which at present is commonplace. Previously the drinking age in New Zealand was 20, then dropped to 18 in 1999.
History of voting in New Zealand
For most of New Zealand's early history, voters needed to have attained at least 21 years of age in order to vote. At times, legislative changes (in 1919 and 1940) temporarily extended voting rights to people younger than this, such as in World War I and World War II (when serving military personnel could vote regardless of age and despite not being resident at an address in New Zealand). Later, Parliament reduced the voting age further; in 1969 to 20 years of age, and in 1974 to 18. This extension of the franchise occurred in part in an atmosphere of increased student interest in politics due to the Vietnam War protests.