Politicians to take look at clamping controversy

Minister seeks report and urges enforcers not part of voluntary conduct code to join Norman charged over oil protest

The Minister for Consumer Affairs and Commerce is investigating dodgy parking enforcement and Labour’s portfolio spokesman says if the Government doesn’t take action, he will.

Jacqui Dean, who took over the Consumer Affairs and Commerce portfolio in December last year, said she would be looking into the issue but would not be drawn on whether the Government would consider issuing legislation to regulate wheel clamping.

Auckland Central MP Nikki Kaye has also said she plans to meet with the minister, the Automobile Association and parking enforcement companies over the next few weeks to discuss wheel clamping.

But Auckland mayor Phil Goff appears to have backed off the issue since his time as Mt Roskill’s MP.

In 2015 he called wheel clampers “bullies” and earlier labelled the practice a shakedown.

When approached for comment by the Herald this week, Goff would not go as far as calling on the Government to take action, saying only that he would support it if it did.

“Clamping is all too often a disproportionate and arbitrary response to a minor transgression,” he said in a statement.

As mayor Goff did not have the power to make law changes to regulate parking enforcement on private land.

Currently, parking enforcement companies operating on private land are bound only by a voluntary code of conduct drawn up in December 2015. “I would like to see those companies that are not part of this voluntary code change their view and become part of the code,” Dean said.

An investigation by the Herald showed a staffer for Amalgamated Car Parking Services swooping on drivers’ cars within minutes of them parking in a Mt Eden carpark.

Motorists were made to pay $150 on-the-spot fees or risk being towed for twice the cost or more.

Until the Herald’s investigation Dean said she had not looked into whether or not the code was working

Certainly I am concerned that there is some unfair behaviour. Jacqui Dean, Minister for Consumer Affairs and Commerce

and wanted to get an idea of the scale of the problem before saying whether the Government would take action.

“Now the issue has been highlighted to me I will take an interest,” she said.

“I will be taking advice on what is happening and we will take it from there. Certainly I am concerned that there is some unfair behaviour.”

Dean planned to talk to her officials and have them report on the issue, but would not give a timeline for when she expected that to happen by.

Labour’s consumer affairs spokesman Michael Wood said the voluntary code regulating wheel clamping wasn’t working, and he would be prepared to submit a private member’s bill if the Government didn’t take further action. Dr Russel Norman and two other Greenpeace protesters face charges after they threw themselves in the sea in front of an oil exploration ship, forcing it to stop its seismic blasting work.

The group are being charged under a 2013 Amendment to the Crown Minerals Act, dubbed the “Anadarko Amendment”, which was put in place to stop protests at sea around oil exploration.

The law change makes it an offence to interfere with or get closer than within 500 metres of an offshore ship involved in oil exploration, with a potential fine of $10,000.

The protesters have been charged by New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals, a division of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. This is the first time the amendment has been enforced.

Norman, who is executive director of Greenpeace NZ and a former co-leader of the Green Party, said the ship was forced to halt operations and deviate off course after the swimmers jumped in its path on Monday.

“If we are to avoid catastrophic climate change we cannot burn even known fossil fuel reserves, let alone new oil — which is exactly what the Amazon Warrior is looking for.”

The 125m ship was 50 nautical miles off the Wairarapa coast, Watch the video of the protest at nzherald.co.nz where it is exploring for Arctic driller Statoil and US oil company Chevron.

The ship collects data about oil reserves by blasting regular sound waves at the sea floor, travelling in straight lines in a grid pattern.

Forcing the ship to deviate would have made the data unusable, Greenpeace says.

Norman said the group had “no choice but to take action [on Monday]”.

“We will continue to resist the oil industry by every peaceful means available . . .”

Statoil and Chevron have permits to drill to depths of up to 3km if oil is found.

The protesters are expected to appear in court in May.