Wagner Nicky: Land Transport (Enforcement Powers) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Wagner Nicky: Land Transport (Enforcement Powers) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
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NICKY WAGNER (National) 
: 
 I rise to take a call on the Land Transport (Enforcement Powers) Amendment Bill because as a member of Parliament living in central Christchurch the home of the boy racer I have lobbied long and hard to bring legislation to deal with this issue. Listening to the speakers today I have found it very satisfying to hear that all parties support the bill being referred to a select committee. But the question is why it has taken so long for this issue to be dealt with. 
General horror has been expressed by many people in the House about the latest behaviour of boy racers. There is the story of the lone policeman ambushed by a pack of violent and belligerent boy racers. Just last week there was the attack on the innocent woman security guard at the back of the airport. But these are not new; these are just extreme manifestations of the boy-racer culture. 
Let me explain to members about how the boy-racer culture has grown and developed over the last decade. Tonight several Labour speakers have spoken about everything their Government had done to control the problem. But I have to say that in the last 4 years while I have been lobbying they have done absolutely nothing. During that time the boy-racer culture has been allowed to develop from noisy nuisance to violent antisocial behaviour. The number of boy racers has increased and a whole new criminal element has been attracted. The intimidation is not new. Over the years boy racers have ruined the lives of many families and many businesses. 
I have several examples of this intimidation in the city of Christchurch: in particular one business in Bealey Avenue that was targeted by boy racers over the last 2 years. The owner had made the fatal mistake of complaining about boy-racer behaviour in the media. The boy racers decided to punish him and they were very successful. The motel had bottles thrown at it every weekend night it was graffitied signs smashed and the door of the office was regularly urinated on. I visited the motel one day and went into the owner’s suite. The double bed was in the middle of the internal sitting room of the unit because the owner and his wife were too frightened to sleep in the bedroom which had open windows. The owner was even attacked and beaten one night when he went out and disturbed people on his property. Eventually this couple sold out; they dropped $150000 on the value of their motel and migrated to Australia. 
That is not the only case. I know of at least half a dozen moteliers who have been driven out of business by boy racers since I have been a member of Parliament. No one should have to put up with this type of intimidation. No group of people has the right to make life miserable for others or to bully them so much that they have to leave the city. So I would like to thank the Hon Steven Joyce for this legislation. I look forward to the select committee working through the detail of the bill to make sure it is well drafted and will be effective. The antisocial dangerous behaviour of boy racers needs to be curbed and this bill will provide the mechanism to provide consequences for those who choose to break the law. Boy racers make choices. They make choices about how they behave and this bill provides outcomes that may just help them reconsider some of those choices and that has to be a good thing for everyone. 
Bill read a first time.