Mark Ron: Land Transport (Unauthorised Street and Drag Racing) Amendment Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
Mark Ron: Land Transport (Unauthorised Street and Drag Racing) Amendment Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:607;Page:4602] 
RON MARK (NZ First) 
: 
 It has been a very interesting evening. I guess that is the great thing about having a bill come in and the House being able to go through each stage immediately and wrap it all up in an evening because we actually see the whole thing played out over a matter of hours. There is a great deal more satisfaction seeing that than having things dragged out over weeks at different sittings. This whole bill has been great. 
What is the need for this bill? Why is it here? It is here because frankly New Zealanders across the country have said “Enough!” It does not matter whether we are talking about the problem up in Auckland in Tauranga in Hawke’s Bay in Nelson in Christchurch or in Gore—and by crikey we do not have to think too hard about Gore and the loss of life we have seen down there—the problem of boy racers hoons and street racers has been with us far too long. There is no more tolerance for it—end of story. People want it resolved and Mr Cosgrove has brought the matter to the House. 
In the third reading I need to give the Minister and his Cabinet a bit of a flick around the ears because it is sad and an indictment on the Labour Party and the Labour Government that it took Gerry Brownlee forcing the issue by a motion to the floor to have Clayton Cosgrove’s member’s bill brought forward to No. 1 on the Government Order Paper. Otherwise we would still be sitting here talking about the bill and wondering when it was going to be passed. Regardless of all the rhetoric about saving lives and the number of people killed maimed and injured this Government sat on its hands for over 2 years happy to see the bill languishing in the lottery draw with the member being a good party member very frustrated and wondering why he was not getting the backing from his tough-talking Ministers on law and order. That should not be forgotten but it is history and the bill is here today. Why is it here? It is here because people like myself who own property in the McLeans Island area in the same area as Brian Connell’s constituents have had a gutsful of the antics of boy racers and their illegal activities on the road. 
I want to talk about the issue of pouring diesel on to a road. There is a corner out the back of McLeans Island at the intersection of McLeans Island Road Buchanans Road and a gravel road called Miner’s Groyne. That corner is a sweeping corner and with these people running illegal burnouts at that corner it was only a matter of time before the diesel that had soaked into the road and mixed with a downpour of rain was going to cause an accident—and it did. Days after the burnout activities a lady going through that corner lost control of her car and went into the fence. Did I see the Greens out there championing her right to be allowed to drive down that road safely? Did I see the Greens out there saying that that lady had the right to drive on New Zealand’s roads in wet conditions without having to worry about some bunch of hoons who had tipped diesel on that road and removed the traction she depended on to manoeuvre safely round that corner? No I did not see that. What I see once again is the same old rantings and ravings about the individual rights of a minority bunch of lawbreakers over the collective rights and responsibilities of law-abiding New Zealanders. 
Excuse me but clearly I have something wrong here because I do not agree with that argument. I believe that the collective responsibility of us as a community of New Zealanders rides right above individual human rights. I do not give a rat’s bottom about that sort of argument. I do not care about it I do not want to hear about it I do not want to know about it and I do not want to have any part of people who would stand up and champion the human rights of a bunch of lawbreakers over the collective rights of a law-abiding community. I think everyone who lives on Buchanans Road and McLeans Island Road and who frequents Miner’s Groyne has the right to go about his or her business. 
Many years ago—we are talking 1992—my son and his mate were out at our property for an overnight camp. One of those young lads has since done two tours of East Timor so they have grown up a bit. But they were very young then and we were a bit worried about them so I gave them a cellphone and told them that if anything happened that they were not too happy about and they wanted to come home they were to give me a call. They gave me a call that night all right because there were something like 100 cars full of young people at that intersection no further than 400 metres away from where they were camped ripping the place apart acting like a bunch of dopeheads boozing up spinning their wheels blocking the road and generally being rowdy disorderly New Zealanders. 
Stephen Franks 
: Having fun. 
RON MARK 
: Having fun says ACT. They were burning up their tyres on the road disrupting the traffic flow stopping law-abiding New Zealanders from driving down the road and terrorising two young boys who were just out on a quiet overnight camp. They were having fun says Stephen Franks. 
Stephen Franks 
: Did you ring the police? 
RON MARK 
: No I went out and picked them up and took them home. The point is that we have a bill here now that defines that they were breaking the law. They were operating their vehicles in a manner that sustained loss of traction; they were performing stunts and clownish acts and when this bill is passed that will be illegal. Now they will be prosecuted and I am happy with that. 
I raised the issue earlier of the inconsistency of some people’s debating positions and I have to bring the House to  
Hansard 
 Volume 572 at page 12941—the Land Transport Bill dated 5 November 1998. How ridiculous! In this bill we debated in this very Chamber such things as the police being empowered to impound a motor vehicle for 28 days if the driver is apprehended driving whilst disqualified. 
Brian Connell 
: How long? 
RON MARK 
: For 28 days. Impounding a vehicle at the roadside for 28 days but what have I heard? Let us go to the back end of this debate at page 12960. 
Hon Dover Samuels 
: Who voted for it? 
RON MARK 
: New Zealand National; ACT New Zealand; New Zealand First; United New Zealand one vote—something went wrong there because there are more of them around so we must fix that up sooner or later; Independents—there were a whole bunch of them including the Greens. No? We have New Zealand National ACT New Zealand New Zealand First—oh no the Alliance which had the Greens in it in those days voted against it and Labour voted against it. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: I have to assist the member. Jeanette Fitzsimons and Rod Donald voted for it. 
RON MARK 
: Oh look there they are; they are listed as “Others”. Rod Donald and Jeanette Fitzsimons voted for the impounding of vehicles at the roadside for 28 days. Is life not a wonderful thing? Here we now have the Labour Government a party that voted against that measure proposing that we expand that law to catch hoons and riff-raff who want to boy-race and the Greens who voted for it are now voting against it and ACT who voted for it is now voting against it. I have to say to Jeanette Fitzsimons that her name is right here on page 12960. Did she change her name? Is it still Fitzsimons? It is. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: There is a big difference between the two bills. 
RON MARK 
: It clearly states the confiscation of a motor vehicle for 28 days. That member should not come to me crying crocodile tears about human rights violations and the inconsistency of this bill with the Human Rights Act when she the co-leader of the Greens voted for the very same sort of legislation in 1998. There is a word for that that I cannot use in this House but people out in the street would say it has something to do with bovine excreta. 
I offer congratulations to the MP for Waimakariri. It has been a long hard battle but he got the bill through to the House. The bill will be passed and in time enacted. Congratulations also to the chairman of the Law and Order Committee Martin Gallagher. He did a good job and it is noticed across the House that he is able to work with people. Can he educate some of his young members about working with people? Could he help impart a little maturity to some of them? I say to the ACT party that we are looking forward to its explanation in the next speech of how one can jump from the right side of the bed to the left side and end up in bed with Jeanette Fitzsimons and the Green Party. I am looking forward to hearing that. 
Debate interrupted.