By AUDREY YOUNG
Local bodies will have tougher powers to declare liquor-free zones in problem areas in time for New Year under legislation being pushed through Parliament under urgency last night.
Tauranga MP Winston Peters called it "New Zealand First's Christmas present to the people of New Zealand who believe in law
and order and civilised behaviour on our streets and in public places".
But Green MP Sue Bradford called it "the kind of creeping fascism I've been fighting all my life with its intention to ride roughshod over democratic processes in extending the powers of police and councils to control vehicles, liquor and people".
Local authorities have been able to pass temporary bylaws restricting liquor consumption.
But the authority of those bylaws was successfully challenged in a case this year which found the Gore District Council bylaw prohibiting drinking in the town's main street was unreasonable and invalid.
Mr Peters' bill, the Local Government (Prohibition of Liquor in Public Places) Amendment Bill, gives territorial authorities the power to designate areas liquor-free and gives police the power to enforce it.
They may require a person to surrender for disposal anything in his or her possession which is "or which the member of the police reasonably believes to be liquor or a container for liquor".
A breach could bring a fine of up to $500.
Mr Peters supported the Government's move to put the House into urgency for other legislation if it supported his member's bill.
The New Zealand First leader said the law represented the civil rights for the mass majority of New Zealanders "who have a right to go about their lawful business without fear or threat or perpetual nuisance".
Mr Peters said thousands of people rioted in Tauranga last New Year.
"We in Tauranga and I'm sure in places around New Zealand where this frequently happens, have had enough."
Sue Bradford said it was "an affront to parliamentary process and an abuse of democracy" for a bill to be introduced at a day's notice and with no chance for submissions to be heard in select committees.
There were enough laws to enable police to arrest people for things like trespass, throwing bottles, obscene language, disorderly behaviour, rioting "and the rest of the usual New Years Eve type offences".
