Key John: Prostitution Reform Bill — Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee 
Key John: Prostitution Reform Bill — Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee 
[Volume:607;Page:4474] 
JOHN KEY (NZ National—Helensville) 
: 
 It is my intention to support the passage of this legislation through the House. I do so not because I wish to condone the actions of those who partake of this industry but nor do I wish to condemn them. I believe that it is up to every individual to determine what fits within his or her definition of morality and values. I do not believe and will never believe that the Government can legislate for morality; that is for each and every individual. But I see this bill as providing equity to a law that is currently very inequitable. While I respect the fact that it is not perfect as many speakers have said tonight the facts of life are that no legislation that passes through this House will ever be perfect. 
But I do want to make a couple of observations and if I may make a couple of statements. For those who have spoken in the Chamber tonight about the terrible impact that this legislation will have on the sex industry in New Zealand I have this message: “Get real!”. Eight thousand people work in the sex industry in New Zealand. If on average they have three clients a night my calculation is that that is 24000 people. If they work say just 5 days a week that is 100000 people. The people who use the industry are largely men. In my opinion there are about 1 million eligible men in New Zealand which tells me that 10 percent of the current population of eligible New Zealand males is going to brothels. That is a pretty big number. I cannot see that number expanding terribly and I will tell the Committee why. If this bill becomes law I will not be skipping home to my lovely wife and telling her: “Just before I came home tonight I popped into the local brothel because it is legal now Honey.” She will have a message for me and it will not be a very nice one. I also say that just because homosexuality has been legalised in this country I am not gay; nor will I ever be. It is not something I am interested in. I live my life by the morality and values I set for myself not by those this Parliament sets and I believe that is the way others should live also. 
I have lived in five countries and visited about 50 during my business career. The sex industry is alive and well and nothing anyone has done has managed to change that. In my opinion we as parliamentarians have to do two things. First we have to try to make the industry as safe as we possibly can for those who work in it. I could not care less about those who use the industry; it is their own choice but that is what we have to do for those who work in the industry. 
Secondly we have to do the most we can to stop the most vulnerable from being involved. I believe that if we adopt something like the Swedish model and the view that we can somehow drive this industry underground the youngest and most vulnerable will still be involved. They probably become involved because they come from broken families. They probably do have a hurt past and I wish they were not there. As parliamentarians I wish we could do something to stop that and something to help them. But I just do not believe that this problem will somehow stop because we do not pass this legislation. Again I have this message for those people who have told us that if we legalise this industry we might as well legalise drugs burglary and murder. It is: “Get real!” They are crimes with victims; this is a crime largely without a victim. 
The last thing I have to say is that I am not a terribly religious person but I found it pretty hard to take when of the 220 letters and 123 emails I had those who opposed the legislation came largely from the Church. I simply look at the history of the Church and the reasons behind the massive financial settlements for crimes that have taken place and it looks a bit hypocritical to me. 
Finally I wish to speak in support of Phil Goff’s amendments. I do so because I respect the rights of those who go to these establishments. That is why I am voting for the bill. I also respect the rights of the great many New Zealanders who do not want to use the industry and who do not want to see it in their faces every 5 seconds. Local governments should be able to control where brothels are established so that they are not set up all over New Zealand and all over suburbia. We do not want to give people the message that somehow we are giving the green light to a red-light industry; nor do we want to set ourselves up as the Bangkok of the South Pacific. However we live in the year 2003 and it is my opinion that we need to move into it.