Licensing Trusts are a uniquely New Zealand concept now over 70 years old. Sometimes maligned, they have quietly pursued enhancing and supporting their communities with annual donations of many millions; and generated through their businesses, community assets worth $350million. They have achieved much.
A Great Social Experiment tells the story of their achievements and failures: why in communities like Invercargill, Mataura, Masterton, West Auckland and Flaxmere they are greatly valued, and why in others they have withered. It explains how two remarkable men in the 1940s, Peter Fraser, Prime Minister, and Rex Mason, Minister of Justice, conceived how communities may take control of the sale of alcohol, generate profits to provide much needed hotel accommodation; and through community support donations, a dividend to enhance their community’s well-being. This is a story told from the inside.