Street sex clean-up on hold

By STEPHEN COOK

The Manukau City Council has had to put on hold controversial plans to introduce a bylaw banning sex workers from the streets of south Auckland because of legal advice it may contravene the Bill of Rights and the new Prostitution Reform Act.

Under the new legislation, it is no longer illegal for anyone to solicit for sex in a public place as long as that person is over 18. Councils have been given certain licensing powers to control the sex industry but legal opinion suggests they have no control over what happens on the streets.

Manukau Mayor Sir Barry Curtis said yesterday street sex workers were a blight on south Auckland and tough new measures had to be introduced to stamp out the problem.

In light of legal concerns about council plans to introduce a bylaw, he was now seeking an urgent amendment to the year-old law to give councils the legislative muscle to ban sex workers from the streets.

If that move was unsuccessful, he would be seeking to have a "local bill" in the name of the Manukau City Council passed through Parliament. He said that would be a lead for other councils to follow.

The council was also looking across the Tasman at how Queensland had tackled the issue of street sex workers. Prostitution was legal there but not on the streets.

Manukau is the first local authority in the country to try to ban street prostitutes.

"I am not going to leave any stone unturned," Sir Barry said.

Street prostitution was not only occurring in Hunters Corner and Papatoetoe but in pockets of Otara, Mangere, Otahuhu and Panmure.

If amendments to the legislation were not urgently introduced, then prostitutes would take to the streets in greater numbers because of the overheads associated with establishing brothels.

"We cannot tolerate this any longer. It [street prostitution] is attracting a lot of undesirable elements and we plan to take whatever steps necessary to rid our community of this disease," Sir Barry said.

"Their activities are a catalyst for street violence and the distribution of drugs and litter.

"Nobody in their right mind wants that. It is tarnishing the image of Manukau."

Sir Barry said one of the most worrying aspects was the number of teenagers now working the streets, which was a "very, very serious issue".

Councillor Noel Burnside said the new legislation was a "licence to sell sex". Rather than confining prostitution to brothels, it had encouraged school children to take to the streets.

Police Minister and Manurewa MP George Hawkins said while he would be prepared to submit a local bill on Manukau's behalf, there would be no amendment to the act.

He said while street prostitution was "distasteful", under the new law it was legal.

"It has been going on for ages but is not illegal in New Zealand."


The law

* The Prostitution Reform Act repealed laws against soliciting, pimping and running a brothel or escort agency.

* It replaced licensed "massage parlours" with certified brothels, whose owners need annual court approval to operate.

* Brothels with four or fewer workers are exempt from certification.

* Local authorities can use bylaws to regulate the location of brothels.