Collins Judith: Vehicle Confiscation and Seizure Bill — Second Reading 
Collins Judith: Vehicle Confiscation and Seizure Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:658;Page:6976] 
Hon JUDITH COLLINS (Minister of Police) 
: 
 I move  
That the Vehicle Confiscation and Seizure Bill be now read a second time 
. This bill along with the Land Transport (Enforcement Powers) Amendment Bill builds on existing legislation to enhance the powers of the police and the courts to tackle illegal street racing and associated antisocial behaviour. 
It is important to acknowledge the incident that prompted this bill: the January evening on which a lone Christchurch police officer was ambushed by over 300 illegal street racers and shot at with an air rifle. I thank the members of the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee and in particular the chair of the committee David Bennett for returning this bill to the House in good time. The committee has made a sound recommendation that failure to stop for an enforcement officer should qualify for discretionary confiscation under section 128 of the Sentencing Act 2002. That recommendation has been adopted as part of the bill. The select committee has made a number of other recommendations that add clarity to the bill. 
I also thank the ACT Party the Maori Party and United Future for indicating their support for this legislation. I understand that Labour has indicated that it will support the bill for the second reading but is reserving its position for the next stage but I thank them anyway. I believe that this demonstrates that we have achieved the right balance in terms of this level of support—of cracking down on persistent illegal street racers without unnecessarily penalising the wider population. 
I thank all those members of the public who took the time to make submissions on this bill. The majority of submitters supported the bill stating that their sleep and lives were continually disrupted by the noise and social disorder created by illegal street racing. In particular the submitters whom we heard from in Christchurch spoke of how their quality of life has been severely affected by the noise and mayhem caused by illegal street racing. Some were visibly shell-shocked from the relentless noise. 
This bill along with its companion bill will provide the courts and police with powers to specifically target individuals who have no sense of community and no consideration for other people. Penalties will be directed at those individuals in order to deliver the message loud and clear: “Three illegal street racing offences within 4 years will mean that your car is up for confiscation and destruction.” In addition the Land Transport (Enforcement Powers) Amendment Bill will increase driver’s licence demerit points for offences regularly committed by illegal street racers. These two bills will have the combined effect of systematically penalising recidivist illegal street racers to the point where the offender either has no driver’s licence or has no car. 
Under the current law a vehicle owned by an offender can be confiscated if the offender commits an illegal street racing offence. If the offender commits a second offence within 4 years the court must confiscate the vehicle unless that would cause extreme hardship to the offender or undue hardship to someone else. This bill adds a third stage to the current law allowing the court to order that a vehicle be confiscated and destroyed for a third illegal street racing offence within 4 years. If the court does not order that the vehicle be destroyed it must still confiscate the vehicle unless that would cause extreme hardship. 
The bill provides that the court will be able to confiscate and destroy vehicles owned by third parties referred to as “substitute for the offender” in the bill in cases of repeat offending. However unlike situations where the offender owns the vehicle the decision to confiscate is always discretionary with third-party vehicles. There is no mandatory confiscation. I believe that this strikes a fair balance between targeting illegal street racers and warning those people who may unwittingly facilitate this behaviour. Of course that was not dealt with in the previous bill from the previous Labour Government. A snapshot of confiscation data under the current law indicates that approximately half of all offences where vehicle confiscation was available to the courts were committed by offenders in a car licensed to someone else. 
This bill is firm but fair: the vehicles of repeat illegal street racing offenders will be confiscated and potentially destroyed after three offences. However vehicles that do not belong to the offender will be dealt with at the discretion of the court to ensure that third parties are not being unfairly punished for another person’s offending. However the fact that the courts can confiscate vehicles owned by someone else provides a disincentive for parents relatives and friends to lend their car to any individual who participates in illegal street racing. 
Under the confiscation destruction order a vehicle will be confiscated and sold to a vehicle wrecker or scrapyard. It will be a condition of the sale that the purchaser remove any saleable parts and destroy the remainder of the vehicle. This is to ensure that vehicle destruction is not an outright waste of property especially if the vehicle has incurred outstanding fines. Once a vehicle is confiscated and destroyed the proceeds of sale are applied to the following order of priorities: first to pay the costs of the sale which includes all costs incurred in seizing the motor vehicle—towing and storing it including any prior impoundment costs. Secondly they are applied to pay any amount owed pursuant to a security interest. Thirdly they are applied to pay any fines or reparational court costs owed by the offender and any surplus to the offender or substitute as if it was a substitute’s vehicle. Destruction of a vehicle is designed to be a last-resort option to punish the most serious repeat offenders and act as a deterrent to illegal street racers. 
This bill also strengthens existing provisions in the Summary Proceedings Act to seize a motor vehicle in order for unpaid fines to be collected. If fines remain unpaid after the vehicle has been seized then the vehicle can be sold at public auction or in any other manner directed by a District Court judge. The proceeds of the sale are applied in the same order of priority as for confiscation and destruction. 
As I have said previously I acknowledge the efforts of the previous Government to address this problem. The Land Transport (Unauthorised Street and Drag Racing) Amendment Act 2003 introduced specific new offences for illegal street racing. This legislation builds upon the earlier street racing legislation but goes a lot further in penalising individuals who persist in breaking the law. In particular it closes the loopholes in the existing legislation that have enabled illegal street racers to circumvent the law. We know that illegal street racers frequently avoid vehicle confiscation penalties for breaking the law by exhibiting such practices as switching vehicles with each other registering their vehicle to another person and selling their vehicle to a friend for a nominal fee before a court appearance. 
Illegal street racers will no longer be able to commit an offence in another person’s car and avoid vehicle confiscation penalties. Illegal street racers will no longer be able to keep their offending from vehicle finance companies. In the past finance companies have been unaware of illegal street racing offences committed in cars that they have an interest in. This bill includes anyone who has an interest in a vehicle under the definition of “substitute”. This will mean a finance company would receive a written caution if the vehicle that has money owing on it is used to commit an illegal street racing offence. Illegal street racers will no longer be able to sell their vehicle before a court appearance. The Land Transport (Enforcement Powers) Amendment Bill provides that the police can issue a sales prohibition notice to anyone charged with an offence that is punishable with vehicle confiscation. Penalty for disregarding this is a fine of $2000. The Vehicle Confiscation and Seizure Bill also provides for sham transactions by third parties to be set aside. 
In addition to these loopholes being closed measures have been taken by Police National Headquarters to ensure that the operational response to illegal street racing is national and consistent that police are fully utilising existing legislation and that there is a clear measurement of illegal street racing activity in each police district. I am satisfied that these operational changes will work in tandem with the new legislation to effectively clamp down on illegal street racing in New Zealand. 
Illegal street racing is not a new phenomenon in New Zealand. All towns and cities have tolerated the odd hoon over the years. However in the past 5 to 6 years the problem has escalated and the statistics reflect that. High-powered cars easy access to finance and younger drivers have created a lethal combination on our roads. Since January this year police have issued more than 1800 offence notices for illegal street racing incidents. A culture of dangerous driving has evolved which puts young lives at risk and has little regard for the lives of others. It is a culture that has pushed some communities to the very edge of their tolerance limit. This bill alongside the Land Transport (Enforcement Powers) Bill responds to the demands of New Zealanders and closes the loopholes. It gives a suite of comprehensive powers to police the courts and local authorities to tackle this problem. I commend this bill to the House.