McNair Craig: Prostitution Reform Bill — In Committee 
McNair Craig: Prostitution Reform Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:608;Page:5756] 
CRAIG McNAIR (NZ First) 
: 
 I will start by saying that reform is desirable if we are to eliminate a double standard. Currently the demand is legal and the supply is illegal. Changes are essential in the sex industry and I am sure a lot of people agree with me on that. But this bill is not the answer. The proposed bill does little to restrict entry into the profession to minimise the activity or to encourage prostitutes to leave the industry. The law plays a major part in determining behaviour; that which is unpunishable by the law becomes increasingly accepted by society. Prostitution is a trade that has always been around. We all know that. None of us are naive enough not to think that. But so have burglary and drug trafficking. Does the logic that we might as well decriminalise the activity to protect those involved thus follow? I remember some members near me interjecting on a previous speaker and asking whether arresting these women is respecting them. I say to those members who were coming out with that argument that if they really meant what they were saying they would support a bill making it illegal to buy sex. If they really wanted true reform they would support Brent Catchpole’s bill which is modelled on similar lines to Swedish law. 
I also acknowledge the speeches made by a few members in the Chamber tonight. They were passionate speeches that really got to the heart of the matter and the issue. I acknowledge Taito Phillip Field’s speech. Taito Phillip Field had a very good point. He said that those of us who are against this bill are not puritans. I claim to be a Christian—everyone in this Chamber knows that—and I am proud of it but that is not the sole reason that we are both against this bill. Janet Mackey made a very good argument for that. She did not come from any moral point of view; she came from a solely practical point of view asking what would be good for the nation and good for the young people of this country. 
I have been in Parliament for 9 months now. Walking through the corridors of power one is able to see photos of this country’s Parliaments both past and recent. I am sure there are certain MPs and former Prime Ministers like Holyoake Holland and Nash who have passed away and would be turning in their graves tonight if they knew what was occurring here. But there was a photo of one former member of Parliament who left only a few years ago in 1996—the Hon Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan. I have not talked to her about this—I have not talked to her in years—but I ask what she would think of this bill. She is a former member who is respected and honoured by many members of this House. Every member likes her I am sure. I would ask what she thinks of this bill. I would almost put money on the fact that she would be against it for the reasons the Hon Dover Samuels advanced in talking about the exploitation of young Maori women. 
The bill treats commercial transactions for sex like the purchasing any other product or service. The reality is that prostitution is destructive for those who offer the service for those who use the service and for their families. Despite such terms as the “business of prostitution” which means any person who carries on a business of providing commercial sexual services— 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: The member’s time has expired.