Steve Crow: 'I don't care what council says'

It's adult entertainment and it's a matter of individual rights. It's all quite straight forward to Steve Crow, the man behind the controversial Boobs on Bikes parade. Carly Gibbs spends 10 minutes with the 'porn king' in Tauranga.
Steve, there's been huge public outcry here in Tauranga. A lot of people didn't want the parade. You could have canned it. Why didn't you?
"Why would I? When we say a huge public outcry, I think 65 people out of 110,000 turned up at a meeting. And from the transcripts I read, they look like they're mostly local religious nutters anyway, and I don't really have much time for them."
Will you try and bring the parade to Tauranga again?

"Yeah. I truly don't care what the council says. We'll work with them, we've changed our route to accommodate them but I mean, they can do what they like. I have very little time for politicians."
Do you obviously get a kick out of doing the unexpected and the controversial?

"I have very little tolerance for bureaucracy and just the ever increasing number of rules, regulations and compliance costs we have in this country. So, yeah, I get a kick of just sticking it in their eye."
Is the parade not a shameless promotion? What's the point of it?

"A guy can walk around the beach with his top off and no one cares about it, but the girl gets ogled and harassed. Why? We need to grow up. In Europe, it's no big deal. Why does the woman get blamed for the reaction of the people looking at her? I'm in the adult industry and yeah, maybe I've got a broader mind than most people, but the hypocrisy of it really pisses me off."
Are you, as I hear, a member of the Libertarians?

"I don't know if I've ever been a paid member, but I certainly subscribe to their beliefs."
A lot of people in Tauranga have branded you perverted. What do you have to say to that?

"Well, if I'm perverted by giving people the choice to do something they choose to do, then okay, I'm perverted. You know, I think it's more perverse to tell people they can't do something they want to do, and I mean at the end of the day, it's legal. People just need to chill down."
You say you're all about freedom of speech and obviously that gets people going. Do you intentionally set out to rock the boat?

"No, I don't. I do not intentionally look to rile people up at all. People are entitled to their opinion. In fact, I really like the people standing along the side of the road with the banners. I'm happy to debate any of them. I get annoyed when they get violent or when they do stupid things which endanger themselves. Like, running in front of a motorbike, is not really a smart thing to do."
Is the parade pornography?

"No, not at all. If it's pornography, that's in the mind of the viewer. Pornography is designed as something that titillates you, well if they get titillated by a few people riding past on bikes having some fun ... we've got enough problems in this world right now. Do we really need to get hung up on some breasts on bikes?"
You've been branded the "porn king". Is that a title you like or detest?

"I hate it. It's a title I detest. It was coined by the media and I don't claim any ownership to it."
Are you the Hugh Hefner of New Zealand?

"Nonsense. Firstly, I'm not 84 years old. I'm not living with a couple of twins, and nah."
You're a one-woman man?

"Yeah." Crow's partner is called Rachel.
You have a MSc in marine biology. Correct?

"I do and an MBA."
Is it true you got into the business when you took a share in a brothel in lieu of an unpaid debt?

"That's correct. That was 1994. I didn't keep it very long because I was horrified. I didn't want to be in that industry and my mother was shocked."
But this is your preferred career?
"Well, ah, probably not to be honest. But the reality is once you get into the adult industry, it's very hard to get out of because there's a lot of discrimination."
What do your parents think of you nowadays?

"My dad is dead unfortunately. Um, my mum she actually has turned around and said, 'As long as you're not hurting anybody'. It's obviously a good business. [Crow's company is called Eden and trades under the name Vixen.] She actually gets more angry with the detractors and reading some of the fairly unpleasant comments about me."
Have you made a lot of money in the industry? Are you a rich man?

"No comment."
How much is the porn market worth in New Zealand?

"Um, truly I don't know ... $50 million? It's just a wild number. It's such a closed industry and no one talks about things. I would say you might be talking $50 million, but who knows? It's pretty big."
Steve, you hit the headlines in the early noughties when you made a film featuring the pregnant wanna-be-porn star Nikki. Do you still keep in touch with her?

"Yeah. I haven't heard from her in maybe a year."
Does she regret what she did?

"No, doesn't seem to. She's got a great little girl."
Crow, 54, doesn't expect people to pretend to understand him - just as he doesn't pretend to understand his critics.
A bit huffily, he says: "What's the big deal?"