Ryan Turney.
Editorial
When Ryan Turney's mother, Gerardine, learned her son had been told he could not stay at a Blenheim backpackers she hit the roof. "I found it hard to believe," she told the Herald. "I'm actually speechless."
What left her lost for words was the policy of Leeways Backpackers to turn
away New Zealanders because their reputation preceded them. Young Kiwis, it appears, are not well-behaved guests in their homeland. Leeways, it transpires, is not the only provider with a closed-door code for nationals. In Marlborough, which draws the backpacking community because its vineyards and orchards provide seasonal jobs, other establishments report adopting the same no-Kiwis policy because of their troublesome reputation.
It is hard not to feel sympathy for the ventures. Anyone who has stayed at a backpackers knows the atmosphere tends to be international and for the most part friendly and inquiring. The network of New Zealand backpackers caters for tens of thousands of young visitors, employs hundreds of people and, along with hotels, motels and holiday parks, is one of the four principal accommodation options for tourists, including New Zealanders.
Ryan Turney's experience raises the question whether Leeways, or any other backpackers, has the legal right to turn someone away. Under the Human Rights Act a property owner who discriminates against someone because of their ethnic origin or nationality risks breaking the law. Further, previous negative experience with a guest of a particular race is not a valid reason to rule out future guests of the same race.
The law provides an exception for "shared residential accommodation" with regard to national or ethnic origin. But does a backpackers enterprise, run on commercial lines, fall under this definition? This appears to be a grey area.
