Brown Peter: Land Transport (Street and Illegal Drag Racing) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Brown Peter: Land Transport (Street and Illegal Drag Racing) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:607;Page:4565] 
PETER BROWN (Deputy Leader—NZ First) 
: 
 A few weeks ago I attended a meeting in Katikati on law and order issues and Ken Shirley was there. The meeting was interrupted by some road racers for want of a better term. Ken Shirley made it quite clear to that meeting—and I should add that the police were present and they made their view known—that the ACT party is 100 percent behind the police. Ken Shirley was absolutely categorical. A member of the community present at that meeting would have had no doubt that ACT would support this sort of legislation. 
Hon Richard Prebble 
: No. 
PETER BROWN 
: That is what I understood. We can expect the wishy-washy response from the Greens but I am personally disappointed in ACT’s stance on this bill. I cast members’ minds back to a Saturday—I am certain it was a Saturday—just prior to the last election. The Greens encouraged people to go to the parks all over New Zealand and smoke cannabis. They forgot that the majority of those people would have to drive home. I was at a public meeting with Rod Donald and he was bragging about it. He stopped short when I asked him how those people were going to get home after smoking cannabis in the parks probably all day. 
I read this bill with some interest and I notice that neither the ACT party nor the Greens had any representation on the Law and Order Committee at all not even in a non-voting capacity. There are fine noises outside the House and fine noises inside the House from time to time but when it comes to the detail ACT could not front up with one member at the select committee to query what was going on. 
Hon Richard Prebble 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. Just as it is out of order to refer to a member being absent from the House it is out of order to refer to a member being absent from a select committee and especially in this case as the House had not put the ACT party on the select committee. It is very unfair. 
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: The member is absolutely correct. 
PETER BROWN 
: I am no way implying that ACT did not take its rightful seat. I am saying that ACT was not on that committee and did not even ask to be put on the committee in a non-voting—[ 
Interruption 
] I tell Mr Prebble that it goes before the Business Committee and we are all aware of when people ask to be on a committee in a non-voting capacity. 
Driving on our roads should be regarded as a privilege not an absolute right. 
Hon Richard Prebble 
: That is nonsense. 
PETER BROWN 
: Mr Prebble says that is nonsense. He believes that every Tom Dick and Harry should be able to drive on the roads never mind what condition they are in what attitude they have or what condition their cars are in. I am saying to this House that we have to have stringent transport laws and to ensure that people honour and respect the road code if we want to save lives on the roads. 
We heard the same wishy-washy arguments from many people in this House when we tried to introduce the photographic driver’s licence. We were told we were impinging on people’s rights and goodness knows what. But at the time of the introduction of the photographic driver’s licence legislation approximately 50 people a year were dying as a result of being in a collision with a non-qualified or disqualified driver. The police came to the select committee and made it quite clear that if they had a better licensing system where they could identify the drivers they could keep to a considerable degree non-qualified and disqualified drivers off the road. If my memory serves me correctly that 10 percent has now gone down to something like 6 percent. That represents something in the vicinity of 20 people per year alive today who would not have been alive had we not changed that licensing system. If one takes 5 or 6 years one finds that the number is getting into the hundreds. Frankly my party pushed for that legislation and we are proud that it went through. 
Equally so we are pleased to support the honourable member Clayton Cosgrove’s initiative. We compliment him on taking the initiative. But before his ego gets too big I want to say I have just read this bill and I cannot find much left of the honourable member’s first bill. Even the title has been changed. I think the first bill had eight pages and eight pages have been struck out and replaced by a further eight pages. But if it were not for his initiative—and I do recognise that he had the initial desire to push this issue—we would not be here debating this bill now. So I do compliment him on presenting this bill and I compliment my parliamentary colleagues on this side of the House for supporting it. 
Drivers who want to get involved in street drag racing should know that the practice is anti-social with all the noise and the carry-on. They should expect that sooner or later society and as a result Parliament will want to do something about it. It is not acceptable. I have had several people contact my office and I know that my leader has had even more particularly in respect of the events over Christmas—the drag racing type of carry-on that occurs in Mount Maunganui on fine summer evenings. It is a dangerous practice and it should be stopped. Roads generally are dangerous places. This sort of carry-on makes them very dangerous places. 
 Some mechanics tell me that cars used in drag racing become less than safe in themselves and should not be used on the public roads. Therefore it is debatable whether people who get involved in that sort of activity—even if special tracks were set up—should ever be allowed to use a car in drag racing then drive it on a public road. We have some real concerns about that and people with greater mechanical expertise than myself have made that view very clear to me. 
New Zealand First introduced legislation that gave the police powers in 1998 to impound vehicles and suspend drivers’ licences. Society has benefited from that sort of legislation. 
Hon Richard Prebble 
: How many cars have been impounded? 
PETER BROWN 
: Several hundred cars have been impounded most of them deservedly. A few might have a question mark over them as to whether they should have been impounded but the Act has provisions for people to appeal and I notice that the same sorts of rights to appeal are in the bill that we are debating today. 
We support this bill. New Zealand First supports tough fair laws that “encourage” proper and safe driving and a responsible attitude towards driving on our roads. We cannot stress strongly enough that people get only one chance on the roads when things go wrong and if they are in the wrong place at the wrong time and a drag racer comes by they are likely to pay the penalty with their lives. That is not acceptable to us at all. We believe that if we are to err we should err on the side of caution. In other words if we think somebody is going to be up to this sort of drag racing carry-on we should give the police adequate powers to deal with it. The police have asked for more powers to deal with it and New Zealand First is a firm supporter of the police having the powers that they need. I have spoken to many police. I have a policewoman in my family and I do not envy the task that those folk have when they go out on a dark Friday or weekend night and have to deal with youngsters who are sometimes the worse for wear from alcohol or drugs and think they own the world and can get away with anything and everything. New Zealand First supports this bill.