Hawkins George: Manukau City Council (Control of Street Prostitution) Bill — First Reading 
Hawkins George: Manukau City Council (Control of Street Prostitution) Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:628;Page:651] 
Hon GEORGE HAWKINS (Labour—Manurewa) 
: 
 I move  
That the Manukau City Council (Control of Street Prostitution) Bill be now read a first time. 
 At the appropriate time I intend to move that the bill be considered by the Local Government and Environment Committee. 
Let me begin by explaining to those members unfamiliar with the Counties-Manukau region of Auckland that it is unique in New Zealand both in its diversity and in some of the problems it faces. It has over 160 different ethnic groups living in it and it has some very large problems. However Manukau is also New Zealand’s second-largest city and its most culturally diverse. 
Hon Jim Sutton 
: Hookers’ capital! 
Hon GEORGE HAWKINS 
: Unfortunately my colleague says that it is the hookers’ capital. Many people who go around Manukau at night would probably agree with him that that is absolutely true. 
Manukau is a very young city. About 40 percent of its population is under 25 years of age. Since its appearance in the late 1990s street prostitution has become a significant and ongoing community concern. It has become established in suburban town centres that are now surrounded by traditional residential housing. Those areas include Hunters Corner in Papatoetoe Otara Town Centre and the Great South Road in Manurewa. There is a particular concern that the number of sex workers appears to be rising. 
Hon David Carter 
: Don’t advertise George. 
Hon GEORGE HAWKINS 
: We do not need to advertise; they are out there every night mate! In June 2003 the police established that there were 326 sex workers in the Counties-Manukau area of whom 150 were street workers. There is anecdotal evidence that young people are increasingly being drawn into the world of street prostitution and that was highlighted in a recent television investigation. The Manukau City Council contends that such soliciting makes people feel uncomfortable and unsafe creates unwanted attention and is a general nuisance to the population. The council says that street prostitution also encourages gangs and criminal behaviour illicit drugs substance abuse and intimidating behaviour in areas where sex workers are present. What really annoys a lot of people is that those involved in prostitution have a huge impact on the community. Condoms have been left in school grounds and shop doorways and of course someone has to clean them up. 
Sitting suspended from 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. 
GEORGE HAWKINS 
: The Manukau City Council has committed itself to trying to do something about the problem of street prostitution. It has already invested considerable time and resources. Residents’ concerns have been incorporated into the council’s strategic policy documents including its long-term council community plan. The council community plan is more than just a pile of words. The Manukau City Council itself of course has been acting. It has been lobbying for increased police involvement the installation of additional street lighting the rescheduling of times for street cleaning and the closing of public toilets and car parks to make sure that it has done everything it can do to eliminate street prostitution as far as possible. However the problem still exists. The council has installed CCTV and used environmental design guidelines yet in the end the problem remains. 
Those who have been to Manukau and seen the problem for themselves will know just how ghastly it is. I know that my colleague Dover Samuels visited Manukau to see it for himself and my colleague Tim Barnett met with the council to try to find ways to help it. 
I think this Parliament took a big step forward when it legalised prostitution so that sex workers were generally able to operate from safe regulated and legal brothels. However in Manukau there is a situation where street prostitution remains. This bill will of course be contentious but I ask the House to send it off to the Local Government and Environment Committee for further consideration. Yes there are Bill of Rights considerations to be explored. The council does not intend nor does it want to re-criminalise prostitution in the whole of the city but it wants legal brothels which this Parliament has provided for—although some people want to remain outside that provision. 
It is not just the street prostitutes who are the problem; it is also the men who use the services of those prostitutes. Some of them are married some of them are reasonably well-known— 
Peter Brown 
: Name them! 
GEORGE HAWKINS 
: I was not going to name anyone at all but the problem is I think that people have been attempting to do so by photographing the cars and the curb crawling that has been going on. The council says that it is doing what it can but that it now wants some help from Parliament. 
Given the unique nature of Manukau and the unique problems it is facing this bill is a way forward for its people. On behalf of the council and the people of Manukau I recommend this bill for further consideration. I have to say that Manukau has a council that works with its community. If it could have solved this problem easily by itself it would have done so but for years it has been trying to overcome the problem—where condoms have to be cleaned up out of school playgrounds before the kids get to school and where shopkeepers have to get rid of condoms before they open for business each day. That is not a fair go. The community realises that it is not the council’s fault that the problem exists. 
This Parliament not so long ago tried to do something about the problem but the people involved have remained outside that attempt and now we have to look at the overall problem. I ask members in the House tonight to vote for the bill to go to the Local Government and Environment Committee so that it can be closely examined. When a council is prepared to face up to a problem I think that that council deserves to have the support of Parliament. There are problems in terms of Bill of Rights considerations but that should not make people vote against the bill going to a select committee. So I ask all members here tonight to ensure that they do the right thing by a council that is trying to do the right thing by its citizens. Let us help to clean up a problem.