Northland council's rego, WOF checks 'hit Māori, rural poor hardest'

Vicky Lawson says moves by the Far North District Council to issue tickets for lapsed car registrations and warrants of fitness will hit Māori and rural Northlanders hardest. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Plans by the Far North District Council to issue fines for cars without a warrant of fitness or registration will hit the poor and Māori hardest, the co-ordinator of a marae-based driver licensing scheme says.

From July 1 the council's parking warden will also be checking cars to make sure they are registered and have a current WOF.

For the first month any illegal vehicles will get a reminder notice and from August 1 the council will issue $200 fines.

The fine may be waived if the owner can prove a genuine effort to make the vehicle road-legal within 28 days.

Other councils, including Auckland and Whangārei, already issue fines, but in the Far North it's a job which has in the past been left to police. Vicky Lawson, of Waikare, said the move would have a disproportionate effect on Māori and the poor, especially in rural areas.

Māori already had to deal with ''systemic issues'' making it harder for them to participate in the driver licensing system.

Many Māori lived in rural areas with bad roads so faced higher costs to keep their cars warranted, despite lower incomes.

People in Waikare, for example, had to drive long distances on a rough, unsealed road, so faced significant bills for windscreen repairs, wheel realignments and general wear and tear.

Māori were often first drawn into the justice system for driving-related offences, and once in the system they could end up in a spiral to ever harsher penalties.

''You get pulled up without a licence, you can't pay so you go to court, then you get community work, and eventually you end up in jail.''

Lawson feared the same could happen with registration and WOF fines which, at $200 each, could quickly add up.

Māori and rural dwellers were already disadvantaged when it came to getting road-legal.

People in her area, for example, had to drive more than an hour to the closest testing centre at Kerikeri to get their learner's licences.

That meant they had to get someone to drive them and, if they were working, both had to take a day off.

Lawson runs a marae-based driver licensing programme for Te Rūnanga o Taumārere ki Rākaumangamanga, which strives to get drivers legal and prevent them being drawn into the justice system.

So far about 50 people from Waikare, Rāwhiti and Russell had been helped to get their learner's licences.

The programme paid the test fees, provided a four-day course with a driving instructor, then transported the learners to Kerikeri as a group to sit their licence.

Until a new AA agency opened recently in Kaikohe, South Hokianga residents had to travel even further to get to the testing centre in Kerikeri.

Instead of penalising people who struggled to afford WOF and registration, the council could reduce their vehicle maintenance costs by improving the state of rural roads.

''And they need consider the effects on Māori, rural and low socio-economic people before making decisions. You'd think the council would have learnt from SNAs (Significant Natural Areas). This hurts the poor and Māori. It's almost like it's targeted at this particular group.''

Lawson said the Ministry of Social Development offered help, in the form of loans, to beneficiaries struggling to pay for vehicle registration or WOFs but that didn't help working people who were just getting by.

Lawson said she and other Te Tai Tokerau representatives had been trying to raise their concerns with Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, but Northland had been sidelined from a recent driver licensing review.

Last week, however, Waka Kotahi officials agreed to visit Northland to hear from driver licensing providers.

The Far North District Council said the new policy of carrying out WOF and registration checks was part of a wider drive to reduce deaths and serious injuries by making sure all vehicles were roadworthy.