Whangarei MP Shane Reti should be miffed - apparently Associate Tourism Minister Paula Bennett is leading the charge against Wicked Campers' vans.
Dr Reti stood up in Parliament over a week ago and railed against the company, and their stupid, offensive slogans. It was essentially a stern telling off, but it was Dr Reti's telling off, not Ms Bennett's.
Dr Reti had spoken out after he responded to constituent Terry Harris' concerns. Mr Harris had spotted a campervan from Wicked Campers parked at Waipu, bearing an obscene message. It seems there is a legislative hole - the phrase was obscene enough that if you uttered it, a police officer could arrest you. Because it was written on the side of a van, police can't prosecute. And local councils aren't prosecuting either - not yet anyway.
Terry isn't the only Northlander to complain - Karen Edwards spoke out about Wicked's slogans last year. The fact that Paula Bennett is Johnny Come Lately on the Wicked bandwagon is irrelevant, as long as something gets done.
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Advertise with NZME.The politicians deserve credit with tackling something that has been in the 'too hard' basket for too long.
Although this isn't a new issue - where were they a year ago? Regardless of where the politicians were, let's hope a picture is building of where Wicked will end up - slithering back into the legislative hole from which it crawled out of.
