The wowsers are alive and well in New Zealand

If you thought New Zealand was a rational, secular and liberal minded country, think about one thing: alcohol.
Incredibly, you need to be 18 to have a beer with your mates, which is several years older than the right to:
- drive (sober, and licenced, naturally)
- have sex with all genders (but not watch it on video or have a cigarette after)
- join the workforce and pay tax
- join the army and die for your country
More liberties at age 18 here.
And now the latter day wowsers, under the guise of "The Progressive Party", have a introduced a Bill into parliament to raise the drinking age to 20. This is such utter bollocks and the "reasons" given for the change are all listed as 'consequences' of the earlier lowering of the drinking age to 18. Conveniently there is no forum there to register your protest. Ironically, the same MP who introduced the R18 Beer Bill is now sponsoring the reversal to R20. And then they blame us for not taking those politicians seriously.
Any change in the human right to have a beer after work for 18 and 19 year olds should only be sanctioned by a referendum of said age group because they are the only ones affected by this law change.
My advice would be to swap the drinking age and the driving age so they learn to hold their ale before they get to hold the wheel. But fat chance that such a rational, liberal and secular proposal would ever get through here.