Hawkins George: Manukau City Council (Control of Graffiti) Bill — First Reading 
Hawkins George: Manukau City Council (Control of Graffiti) Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:628;Page:640] 
Hon GEORGE HAWKINS (Labour—Manurewa) 
: 
 I move  
That the Manukau City Council (Control of Graffiti) 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. 
It is with pleasure that I rise as the member for Manurewa to introduce this bill. The bill has been initiated and drafted by the Manukau City Council in response to what is acknowledged as a costly and an ongoing problem in the Manukau community. In the 2003 and 2004 surveys that measured the quality of life in New Zealand’s eight largest cities Manukau City ranked the lowest in residents’ ratings of a sense of pride in the way their city looks and feels. One of the main reasons for the low sense of pride is related to the graffiti problem in Manukau. Statistics indicate that over 1600 sites and over 3000 graffiti marks need to be cleaned off each month by the Manukau City Council. Over the last 3 years the council has annually spent more than $800000 on graffiti eradication and community education. 
The council has considered or undertaken a range of initiatives to deal with graffiti problems. Those include: quick removal in which any graffiti mark is removed within 24 hours of being reported; community education and empowerment schemes such as a volunteers programme; best street awards; best school and garden awards; murals; educational puppet shows; youth programmes such as the Vector Manukau Rangers Club; and a plan to design out graffiti. That is a crime prevention environmental design strategy and action plan aimed at minimising through environmental design the opportunity for people to commit crimes including graffiti and vandalism by having a different look on things. 
The council has also looked at overseas case studies and in particular at the South Australia Graffiti Control Act 2001. From the city of Phoenix the graffiti prevention and code enforcement policies have been closely examined. The council has also considered a by-law review. It has received legal advice that local authorities in New Zealand are not authorised to impose restrictions on acquiring substances used for graffiti by point-of-sale and age-limit restrictions despite those provisions having proved to be successful in overseas cities. 
The council has also advocated for legislative changes at the central government level. In 2003 Sir Barry Curtis the Mayor of Manukau submitted a graffiti remit to the Local Government New Zealand conference advocating it for adoption by local government in New Zealand. First it promotes zero tolerance towards unauthorised graffiti second it lobbies the Government for legislative changes to ban sales of paint spray-cans and broad-tipped markers to juveniles and third it lobbies the Government to ensure the police have sufficient powers to apprehend offenders and that penalties reflect the increasing seriousness with which the community views graffiti. The remit was accepted as a conference remit. However no real significant progress has thus far been made. 
The council has also considered the problem throughout the Auckland region. A region-wide officers meeting group sponsored by the city manager of Manukau City was established in 2004 to study how councils in Auckland could work together to deal with the graffiti problem. 
Despite the many resources committed and initiatives launched the Manukau City Council reports that the problem has been escalating. In addition to conventional spray-can graffiti the council is now trying to deal with newly invented types of graffiti such as ground marks and grass scratchings. That type of graffiti is more difficult and more costly to remove than conventional graffiti. Overseas experience suggests that enforcement is currently a weak link in the council’s anti-graffiti campaign. The council believes that without a legislative deterrent to offenders Manukau City is fighting a losing battle. 
The opportunity of introducing a local bill to help Manukau to combat the graffiti problem was raised and discussed in July 2004 with me as a member of Parliament with Sir Barry Curtis the mayor and with other elected members of the council. I have to say graffiti is a problem that has been going on for many years. I remember that when I became mayor of the adjoining Papakura City in 1983 it was one of the first things that Sir Barry and I discussed. The problem has been going on for a long while. 
The purpose of the Manukau City Council (Control of Graffiti) Bill is first to minimise the graffiti problem in Manukau City second to penalise graffiti offenders and third to provide the council and the police with additional powers to deal with graffiti-associated problems. The bill goes beyond the existing statutory provisions relating to graffiti by first regulating the display of spray-paint cans in retail premises and their sale to minors. Although that will be controversial people in Manukau think it is common sense. Second it creates offences of marking graffiti and carrying a graffiti implement in certain circumstances. Third it gives the council the power to remove graffiti on private property if it is visible from a public place. That is very very important because many people cannot afford to continually remove graffiti from the side of their house or fence when it is visible to the public. The bill also creates infringement offences relating to the display and storage of spray-paint in retail premises and the marking of graffiti and it provides the power for the police to require information from and to arrest a person suspected of committing an offence. 
The Manukau City Council believes this bill for graffiti control will provide the council with the authority that would not be achieved by a by-law. It will not only defer graffiti offenders but regulate the possession sale and display of the tools they use to deface properties. The council also contends that the bill together with the council’s education and prevention programmes to eliminate graffiti will help to establish a clean safe image for Manukau City. The level of graffiti damage varies from city to city and therefore although the need for legislative methods to help to curb the problem is seen by Manukau as important that will vary throughout the country. In that regard a local bill has been put forward as the most appropriate option to introduce legal methods to address the graffiti problem in Manakau. 
On behalf of the council and the people of Manakau I recommend the bill to members for further consideration.