Connell Brian: Land Transport (Unauthorised Street and Drag Racing) Amendment Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
Connell Brian: Land Transport (Unauthorised Street and Drag Racing) Amendment Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:607;Page:4599] 
BRIAN CONNELL (NZ National—Rakaia) 
: 
 It is a pleasure to be able to speak on the third reading of the bill. I say for the record that I am proud to be a member of a select committee that was prepared to stand up and do the right thing—to deal with a problem that is endemic across this country and is causing distress to tens of thousands of New Zealanders. 
I find it ironic that the ACT party which says it is the party of zero tolerance would not support this legislation. That party has let its supporters down. [ 
Interruption 
] Labour members cannot escape this either. In November 1998 Mr Swain and some of his colleagues voted against impounding vehicles and now he is standing up and grandstanding. Politics is about integrity. I am confused however about the Greens and ACT coalition. I have respected ACT in the past and I still do but with this small exception—because ACT is generally a party of integrity. I am not surprised about the Greens one little bit. 
I want to acknowledge the part that Clayton Cosgrove played in dealing with this issue because he put politics aside and dealt with a governance issue. He raised the debate to a level where New Zealanders and their concerns came first and I respect him for that. However I think it only fair to point out that the legislation was dramatically redrafted in the select committee and the members of the select committee should also take a pat on the back. 
I also acknowledge the part that my colleague Gerry Brownlee played in getting this bill on the Order Paper. If it were not for his ability in the House to take the issue head on I doubt that it would have got this level of support. 
The legislation is well considered. It was modelled on the New South Wales legislation and it works. I am glad that we have taken the time to learn from it. I am not saying for a moment that we can pick up legislation from someone else’s country and impose it on ours as a model but at least we took the key components of that legislation. Now there is something with which we can say to the people of New Zealand who are concerned about boy racers and loutish activities: “Here is something for our police to grab hold of so that they can enforce the law.” Our police have been telling us for some time that if we want the issue dealt with we should give them the legislation that will allow them to do something about it. 
I am not concerned about the civil libertarians who stand up and say that we are using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. I say to them: “Tough!” The people of New Zealand have had a gutsful. They have petitioned me and other members of this Parliament in their droves saying: “Please help us. Please deal with this problem so that we can sleep in our beds at night and are not disturbed by this loutish behaviour.” The people of New Zealand want to be able to sleep in their beds without being concerned that their property is being damaged. As law-abiding citizens they do not want to be concerned that out of utter frustration they will have to take the law into our own hands. It is a problem that stretches the length and breadth of this country and I am proud to say that I was prepared to stand up with colleagues in this House and deal with the issue. I am just dumfounded by the actions of ACT. 
Hon Chris Carter 
: So is the nation. 
BRIAN CONNELL 
: In my view on this issue they have every right to be. I have made the statement before and I am going to make it again: the Government needs to accept that it has dragged its feet on this issue. In particular Dr Cullen displayed arrogant disregard for tens of thousands of New Zealanders who were desperately concerned about their standard of living and about this loutish behaviour. They asked through me whether the Government could bump this bill up the Order Paper. Dr Cullen’s response was to say no which tells me and those people that he was absolutely out of touch with what is happening across New Zealand in respect of this issue. It is something that we needed to deal with. Thankfully my colleagues and I directed people who approached us back to Dr Cullen by phone or email and to be fair to Dr Cullen—I give him the benefit of the doubt—he has responded in a positive way and that is why we are now debating this bill under urgency. The issue though is that people have since died and that probably did not need to happen. 
Boy racers are not just 18-year-old thugs. Generally they are aged from 25 to 30. Their life savings—and their student loans as someone has added—are invested in the vehicles they have throbbing under their bums and the only way to deal with this loutish behaviour is to hurt them by taking away their vehicles. If that sounds tough then I say: “Too bad!” This is a problem that the people of New Zealand are just not in a mood to tolerate any longer and we are prepared to stand up and help them. The life savings of these boy racers are invested in their vehicles and the evidence from what has happened in New South Wales and other jurisdictions across the globe is that if we want to add a real deterrent that will make these people take notice then we need to impound their vehicles. Taking away licences and giving fines does not take the cars off the road. The loutish behaviour continues and no one is better off. 
A huge number of submitters came to the select committee and in overwhelming numbers they said: “Please help us.” District councils city councils and members of the public said: “Please help us.” Nick Smith has already spoken of some. I could mention people in Ashburton and West Milton in particular and people in other centres around Auckland. The Manukau City Council was frustrated to the point of distraction. It has bent over backwards trying to do innumerable things to give these people an outlet to express their passion for their vehicles but it all came to nowt. Do members know why? Those boy racers were not concerned about driving vehicles; they were concerned about upsetting members of the public being more than a nuisance and engaging in criminal activity to a point where they were driving people to distraction. People going about their lawful business were stopped on roads at 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning and could not get through. The congestion caused by hundreds of people gathering was more than just a public nuisance—it was horrific. People feel threatened. People have died. How much more do we need to take before the issue is dealt with? That is why my colleagues in the National Party are quite clear about what our duty is around this issue. We have listened to the people of New Zealand and we are prepared to take action. Accordingly the National Party strongly endorses this legislation. 
I would like to finish by saying that I acknowledge the way that members of the select committee worked together to deal with an issue that is of critical importance to people right across the country. I also want to say that generally I respect the way that the House has dealt with this issue this afternoon and evening. Despite hiding behind technicalities it gives me hope that we are prepared to stand up and do the right thing.