Mayor goes to the top for graffiti bill support
By MICHAEL OTTO - Manukau Courier | Tuesday, 19 June 2007

tManukau mayor Sir Barry Curtis has made a personal plea to the prime minister asking that the council's control of graffiti bill be made law.

The second reading debate in Parliament expected last Wednesday was postponed to June 27.

In his letter to Helen Clark Sir Barry sets out why the bill should be passed into law.

Earlier in June, he wrote to all MPs asking for their support for the Manukau City Council bill.

"The bill has been advanced with the support of the Counties Manukau police and it would be wrong for Parliament to suggest we wait another three or five years into the future when national legislation may or may not be enacted.

"We need the authority now through the enactment of the bill into legislation so we can get on with the job, with the police, of getting to terms with this scourge of graffiti in Manukau."

The bill would make it an offence locally to tag or carry a graffiti implement, in some cases, with fines of up to $2500.

Displays of spraypaint in shops and sales to minors would be regulated and police would get extra powers to require information from and arrest suspects.

Last year Parliament's local government and environment select committee recommended the bill not become law. It prefers a national approach including laws that would apply across the country.

It also criticised human rights issues around the bill and warned that taggers could simply shift their vandalism outside Manukau.

Sir Barry believes there is no chance of national legislation being enacted in the near or medium term, with the absence of specific anti-tagging funding in the 2007 Budget.

He says the council waited for an announcement about a nationwide approach after the second reading debate was postponed from February. It had indications from government sources that a nationwide solution was on the cards, he says.

"Unfortunately, it has not occurred and, in our view, there is no alternative but to pursue the bill."

Sir Barry says he promoted a remit at the 2003 Local Government New Zealand conference in Queenstown calling for legislative changes around graffiti.

This was accepted with a huge majority, he says.

"Alas, since 2003, there has been no movement by Parliament to introduce national legislation to overcome this hideous problem."

Passing the bill would give Manukau the tools it needs, he says.