Coddington Deborah: Land Transport (Unauthorised Street and Drag Racing) Amendment Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
Coddington Deborah: Land Transport (Unauthorised Street and Drag Racing) Amendment Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:607;Page:4584] 
DEBORAH CODDINGTON (ACT NZ) 
: 
 I wish people in the Chamber would debate the parts and stop making pathetic political points. I would like the Minister of Transport to stand and answer a question I have. It relates to Part 2 where section 96(1A) in clause 8(2) states: “An enforcement officer may seize and impound or seize and authorise the impoundment of a motor vehicle for 28 days if the officer believes on reasonable grounds that a person—(a) operated the vehicle in a race or in an unnecessary exhibition of speed or acceleration on a road in contravention of section 22A(1);” then goes on to talk about loss of traction. I would like the Minister to answer whether this provision relates just to those people whom this bill identifies and defines as boy racers or whether it will be applied to anybody who is exceeding the speed limit. Obviously if one is exceeding the speed limit one is exhibiting speed or acceleration that is not authorised. 
This is going to catch everybody. There may be people in this Chamber who have never broken the speed limit but I will be honest and say that I have and I have had speeding fines and I have paid them. I have accepted responsibility for those because I accept the upholding of the law. I have given in gracefully—not without a bit of grumbling I must admit—and I have paid them. I challenge anyone to say they have not broken the law in terms of breaking the speed limit whether or not they have been caught. 
What does concern me—and I would like the Minister to stand and answer this—is whether this legislation will apply only to those people whom people in this Chamber dislike because they think they are bogans or hoons or thugs on wheels or whatever; or will also apply to people like my mother who is 82 who received a speeding fine the other day too and paid it. 
Hon Paul Swain 
: Was she in a race? 
DEBORAH CODDINGTON 
: She could be called a “Go-Granny-Go” but she could not be called a boy racer. Seriously though this is an important issue that needs to be addressed. If the police have the ability instead of issuing people with a speed camera fine which is the normal course of events at the moment to go further and take their vehicles off them and impound them for 28 days then have them prove that they were not breaking the law before they can get their property back that brings me back to this issue of compensation for property rights. If these boy racers do have their vehicles impounded for 28 days just because an officer believes on reasonable grounds that they were breaking the law—it has not been proven in court; it has not been shown that they were breaking the law that they committed an offence—if they have their property taken off them then they go through the system of proving that they were not breaking the law and they get their property back; who will compensate them for that breach of their property rights? Will we see increased claims against the State? That is the second question I would like the Minister to answer. Will this open the way for more action against the police and therefore against the State? 
If it does I think it is not too late for those who say they support this bill to pass an amendment. I must say that I think that National Party members would be surprised—those old codgers who are still alive who remember that the National Party was founded on the principles of individual liberty and respect for the law—[ 
Interruption 
] When was the National Party founded? The member cannot answer. I wonder what those people think now when they see that the National Party is supporting the Labour Party in terms of a person being guilty until proven innocent. 
I ask the Minister if he could take a call and answer those two questions: one whether this legislation allows the police to do away with prosecuting with issuing traffic fines and instead to use their discretion to take a vehicle—