Getting Tough on Law and Order
For too long, residents of many of our towns and cities have had to put up with excessive noise, danger, and intimidation from boy racers.
High-powered cars and younger drivers have created a lethal combination on our roads.
A culture of dangerous driving has evolved, putting lives at risk, and pushing communities to the very edge of their tolerance limit.
In one case, a lone policeman was cornered by several hundred boy racers. His patrol car was pelted with bottles and peppered with pot-shots from an air rifle.
In another case, about 100 of these cowardly bullies trapped a lone aviation security guard in her car. She was left covered in shattered glass after the car windows were smashed.
And then there is the road carnage - on average there are 10 deaths from illegal-street racing a year.
The National-led Government has moved quickly to show that this dangerous, disruptive, antisocial behaviour will not be tolerated.
Less than six months ago, we introduced two bills to strengthen the laws around illegal street racing and give police greater powers to deal with it.
Through public submissions you made it clear you wanted safer communities. The Government has listened and last week we passed those bills into law.
The Land Transport (Enforcement Powers) Amendment Act allows councils to make by-laws to stop cars cruising the city and suburbs. This legislation significantly increases demerit points for illegal street-racing offences and closes loopholes which have allowed boy racers to get away with ignoring fines.
The Vehicle Confiscation and Seizure legislation introduces a suite of changes, including giving the courts the power to send cars driven by repeat offenders to the crusher.
The Government also passed the Domestic Violence (Enhancing Safety) Act last week, strengthening the responsiveness of criminal justice agencies to victims of domestic violence.
The Act introduces on-the-spot police safety orders, which will ensure the immediate safety of victims by removing violent partners from the home for a period of up to five days. This will provide a "cooling down" period in which victims can consider their future options, including the possibility of a court protection order.
Everyone has the right to feel safe in their homes, their streets, and their communities.
Both of these laws provide the police with more powers to combat cultures of intimidation in our society. Both of these laws are part of National's package of law and order reforms to make our communities safer and to promote the security of law-abiding families.
