Baldock Larry: Prostitution Reform Bill — In Committee 
Baldock Larry: Prostitution Reform Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:608;Page:5223] 
LARRY BALDOCK (United Future) 
: 
 I understand that at this point we are addressing the purpose of the bill and the status of prostitution which is addressed in clause 3. It states: “The purpose of this Act is to decriminalise prostitution (while not endorsing or morally sanctioning prostitution or its use) and to create a framework that—” and then it goes on to the other purposes of the bill. I want first of all to focus on the first part of that statement that “The purpose of this Act is to decriminalise prostitution”. We have already had a great deal of comment about what this bill is doing and as we are completely aware now of the truth that the act of prostitution is not a criminal activity in New Zealand this bill cannot be decriminalising prostitution. The real purpose of the bill is to decriminalise the act of pimping and brothel-keeping. That is the intent of the bill yet it is not reflected in the purpose clause. I believe that that is outrageous and deceitful. 
Much has been made of the distinction between decriminalising and legalising. Even the promoter of the bill Tim Barnett has said in his explanation about the need for this bill that the decriminalised model implicitly rejects the position that prostitution  
per se 
 needs to be or indeed can be controlled and instead focuses on controlling the genuine harms that can arise in association with prostitution. There has been a huge debate right through this whole process about whether this is a decriminalising or a legalising of prostitution bill. The supporters of this bill made it very clear during the select committee process that they did not want to legalise prostitution in New Zealand because the clear evidence from Victoria in Australia is that legalisation of prostitution does not work. It does not provide the safeguards for prostitutes that they hoped for and it does not achieve any of the goals of that particular kind of legislation. But we are faced now with at least a majority of members in this Chamber deeply concerned about the decriminalised model of prostitution so we have a number of Supplementary Order Papers on the Table all seeking to introduce some kind of control into this laissez-faire kind of decriminalisation of prostitution. 
If we are honest with ourselves we have to know that we cannot remove all controls from prostitution and hope that everything will work out OK. We would have to be absolutely from another planet to believe that. There is no evidence anywhere in the world that if this industry is left alone without some kind of regulation or control or police action on it human beings take care of each other. 
The speech made by Georgina Beyer earlier on made very clear from her own experience of this industry that it is hugely exploitative and that if it is left to pimps and brothel-keepers to make financial gain out of prostitution the lot of a prostitute will be very very dim indeed. So I believe that this Parliament has first of all to address this question: are we really decriminalising prostitution in the framework that was originally set by the framers of this bill or are we really in fact legalising prostitution? If we honestly answered that question I think many members of this Committee would know a lot more about how to vote because it truly is becoming a legalisation of prostitution which overseas evidence shows us has been a disaster. 
We heard that even the parties in the Dutch Parliament that supported legislative change there have since come to regret it. The president of the Police Association after visiting Holland and looking at the situation there has said in his submission that Holland found that it got exactly the opposite of what it expected. The changes did not improve the lives of prostitutes and they did not promote safe sex. Holland did not find the changes were conducive to public health. It had a nightmare. 
In going on to talk about some of the other purposes of the bill where we are to safeguard the human rights of sex workers and protect them from exploitation I wish to ask the Committee how it is that prostitutes are not currently covered by our human rights legislation.