Freedom Camping Bill

When the Committee lifted last evening Rick Barker had the call. He has just over 2 minutes remaining, should he require it.

Mr Chairman, I do wish to speak.

💬 Hon Simon Power: Of course he does.

I just want to take up this point. I am sure the Minister of Justice will be really intrigued to know that the bill as it is written says that, in prosecuting an offence, the prosecution does not have to prove that the defendant intentionally or recklessly committed an offence. It does not have to prove anything. All it has to do is prove that there was an intention to camp. This means a campervan can pull up, pull on the handbrake, and stop, and the enforcement officer can say: “Well, if you’ve stopped, it means you’re not mobile, and if you’re not mobile, it means that you’ve got an intention to camp.” That is what it is—one intends to camp, and they do not have to prove intent at all.

But it gets worse—it gets worse. We now have as an offence something that “has caused, or is likely to cause, significant concern to the community and users of the area or land.” The word used is “concern”. There is no threshold or test for what this concern is. It does not have to be real. It can be simply imagined. A person says: “I have a concern.”, and they do not have to prove the basis of the concern. Of course, the person could go to court and say that they have remediated it—that is what the provision is—but how can one fix someone’s concern? If the person has a concern, has an apprehension of concern, all they have to do is say to the court: “I was concerned, and the person could not take my concern away.” Bang—a $200 fine.

But it gets better. When I read through this bill that old movie Alice’s Restaurant came back to me. We will have Officer Obie with his 27 eight-by-ten colour glossy photographs, with circles and arrows on and a paragraph on the back, and he will be asking questions of these freedom campers. This is what it is—Officer Obie is coming back. This has been brought back to us by the National Government, and it is an assault on people’s freedom to camp as they go around the place. Blanket Man in Wellington, a freedom camper, is under threat. We will have Officer Obie everywhere with eight-by-ten colour glossy photographs, with a paragraph on the back, and circles and arrows, and the prosecution of these people for intent.

I move, That the question be now put.