920 Bay people banned from travelling

By David Dunham
Almost 1000 Tauranga people have been banned from travelling overseas because they have unpaid fines or reparation.
They are on a government hit-list and face being arrested at any New Zealand international airport and hauled before a judge.
Under the Government's new Pay or Stay scheme, criminals who owe $5000 or more in fines, or who owe compensation to their victims will be prevented from getting on a plane - unless they pay up on the spot.
Ministry of Justice figures show that 920 people in Tauranga would be stopped if they tried to leave the country.
If they refused to pay they would face arrest and the prospect of being brought before a district court registrar or judge and ordered to pay up.
Other justice figures showed that at July overdue fines totalled $7.8 million in Tauranga while people here owed $9.7m in fines that have yet to fall overdue.
The figures are for July - the latest available.
The fines are mostly for parking tickets, speeding fines and court reparations.
News of the get-tough stance has been welcomed by Tauranga Victim Support.
Service co-ordinator Jacquie Tarawa hailed it as a great thing for crime victims, who she said often had to wait many months to receive reparation.
"It means people will have to pay up instead of just giving $5 a week, which is normally the case. Hopefully this scheme will make people think twice about not paying their reparation promptly," she said.
Ministry of Justice spokesman Donovan Ryan outlined a range of ways to ensure people paid fines and reparation such as wage packet deductions or car clamping but some people simply went off the radar.
"They avoid the bailiffs, change their address and get lost in the system. Pay or Stay will exist for the hard core group who have avoided paying."
Nationally, the scheme netted more than $10,000 in its first week. A traveller intercepted at Auckland International Airport had to cough up $3750 for an offence committed in 1986 - but for which no payments were made since late 1987.
Courts Minister Rick Barker said if people had money to travel overseas, they could pay their outstanding fine or reparation.
* If you owe $5000 or more in fines or any reparation and you try to fly out of New Zealand, an alert will be raised when your passport is scanned. You may be arrested if you do not pay.
* If you don't pay tickets for things like speeding, illegal parking or not registering your car, you could be targeted by Pay or Stay.
* If you travel from a domestic airport with an international connection, the system will still pick you up before you leave on an overseas flight.
* If you are on a repayment scheme, as long as your payments are up to date before you travel, you will be allowed to depart and return.