Anzac Day liquor laws will ‘shut the city down’ on Christchurch stadium’s opening night, pub owners say

Tuesday, 24 February 2026

After 15 years waiting for One New Zealand Te Kaha stadium to open, hospitality venues are finally seeing international bookings roll in for big events – but Anzac Day trading restrictions might cut the celebration short.

Hospitality New Zealand pushed for a city-wide exemption to let venues trade normally over the opening weekend for the Super Rugby Round on April 24-26. However, the district licensing committee said this was not possible under the law.

Bars must close at midnight on Friday, April 24, the stadium’s opening night, and cannot serve alcohol before 1pm Saturday (Anzac Day) without a meal - unless they obtain individual special licenses.

“What we don’t want to do is have Saturday morning’s paper saying ‘Great rugby round, but tourists felt Christchurch was average’,’’ said Jeremy Stevens, Canterbury branch president for Hospitality NZ.

The $683 million stadium opens with the Super Rugby Round – 10 teams from New Zealand, Australia, Fiji and the Pacific playing five matches across Anzac weekend. It’s the biggest sporting event Christchurch has hosted since Lancaster Park was condemned in 2011.

The Queensland Reds supporters’ club locked in spaces at Dux Central months in advance to the opening for groups of up to 140, for pre and post match catch ups.

The advance bookings are a welcome sign for Dux Central owner Richard Sinke after years of slow trade and what he called “a pretty tough” January.

“It’s quite exciting, actually,” he said.

Sinke and Masson Lattimore, bar manager at The Loft sports bar, said their venues are in discussions about becoming “home bars” for different sports team supporters, though nothing has been confirmed.

But Stevens said the midnight closure could damage the city’s reputation at a crucial moment.

“If we fall short and don’t get the stadium opening right, the impact can be massive and quite detrimental to Christchurch as what’s currently being perceived nationwide as the place to be right now.”

“Having the doors shut at midnight – it’s not going to show the city off that well,” Stevens said.

Sam MacKinnon, Hospitality NZ’s head of advocacy, said the legislation did not allow the flexibility needed.

“If you’re travelling from Australia or other parts of New Zealand, excited to visit Christchurch for the opening of the new stadium, and then you’re told you’ve got to leave by midnight – that’s going to impact your visitor experience,” she said.

The restrictions could affect Saturday morning trade, Stevens said, when fans wanting a pre-game drink will be told they must order food.

“They’ve had a big breakfast somewhere, and they go into a pub to have a beer before going to the game – they’ll be told no,” he said.

While it won’t affect Dux’s trade, Sinke supports Stevens’ campaign.

“We want to show our city on its best foot. We should be able to honour our fallen soldiers and not shut the city down.”

With each venue required to apply individually for a special licence, each faces potential opposition from police, health authorities or council inspectors. And the licence cannot be used as a continuation of trade - it must be for people attending an event at the licensed premises.

No applications had been received, a Christchurch City Council spokesperson said.

Stevens said he was “looking into” making an application, and clarifying the criteria for other businesses.

“You might get a music act to play from late and sell tickets, in order to maximise the number of people who will be in the central city.”

He said the cost to apply for a special license - about $400 - wouldn’t put off hospitality businesses, but they would need some confidence of success as the law allowed a limited number of special license applications per year.

The council's chief alcohol licensing inspector has emailed and met with Hospitality NZ, who were seeking advice and clarification around the Anzac Day legislation.

But the council confirmed a city-wide Special Application for the opening of the new stadium was not possible.

The council’s head of regulatory compliance Tracey Weston said the premises at which the event was occurring was One NZ Stadium, not the bars surrounding the stadium. Moreover, Weston said the event would have ended before midnight.

Hospitality NZ is pushing for broader reform of restricted trading days.

“The rules aren’t really working for us any more, and are not reflective of where New Zealand is,” MacKinnon said.

A member’s bill from Hon Kieran McAnulty dealing with restricted trading passed its second reading in Parliament last week and could resolve the issue – but it’s unclear if it will pass before opening night.

In response to emailed questions, McAnulty said with two Members’ Days scheduled between now and Easter it was possible his bill could come into effect in time for Good Friday. “Not a given, but its possible. Fingers crossed,” he said.

Halswell councillor Andrei Moore, who has spoken out on other central city hospitality issues, said he didn’t support “telling people what they can and can’t do at certain hours of the day”, but the event was over a long weekend.

“…people have got the whole weekend to enjoy, so if they have to pace themselves for one night and get up early for the Anzac service … it's still gonna be a great weekend for Christchurch.”