Councils will foot bigger bill for enforcing new law

By CLAIRE TREVETT AND NZPA

Local authorities are worried about the cost of enforcing requirements of new laws covering prostitution.

Local Government New Zealand chief executive Peter Winder said local bodies had a tough job ahead in deciding where brothels could go.

Under the new law local councils can regulate where brothels are located and ensure brothel signs are inoffensive.

"Parliament struggled with the question ... and local authorities will struggle just as much with the question of how to control the location of brothels. Many will be drawn into questions of whether they are right or wrong," said Mr Winder.

Councils would also have to deal with discreet suburban brothels that no one knew about.

Local Government New Zealand was working on a dossier of advice for local authorities, including a model bylaw and change to district plans.

He said councils would work in partnership with the courts, responsible for licensing brothels, and the police.

Auckland Mayor John Banks said city ratepayers could expect a hefty hit to the wallet.

He said the council would devise a policy outlining appropriate areas for brothels.

But the administrative costs of planning for the inclusion of brothels in the district plan, processing resource consent applications for brothels and ensuring they remained in compliance with any resource consents could be expensive.

He would not give his personal thoughts on prospective red light districts, but they were "certainly not in Remuera shopping centre, near where I live".

Police Association president Greg O'Connor criticised the quality of the law, saying police were left out of it and many aspects were unenforceable.

"New Zealand is now one of the free-est unregulated sex industries in the world ... anybody can work as a prostitute. Someone can come out of prison, having murdered their last customer, with Aids, and still there's no law to stop them working as a prostitute."

He said police had no power to trace the proceeds of brothels, which could become a lucrative front for gangs to launder money for organised crime.

"If you are running a high-class brothel, you won't be influenced in the short term. But anywhere where organised crime gets a foothold, or even a toehold, then they very quickly get the ability to root others out of the industry."

The provision that banned hiring or using anyone under 18 as a prostitute was toothless because police could not enter a brothel to enforce it without a warrant, Mr O'Connor said.

Brothel owners and employment watchdogs could also find themselves hurrying to define their responsibilities under the bill.

Kathryn Beck, an employment lawyer at Haigh Lyon, said brothel owners could have a heavy load to ensure the safety of their workers to the degree required by the Health and Safety in Employment Act.

NZ Prostitutes Collective national director Catherine Healy said health and safety protection could now be specifically geared for the industry.

"Instead of talking about massage, they can talk about the true nature of the business, which is sex."