A $250 trip to beach
Beachgoers preparing for New Year’s celebrations were targeted by booze ban sweeps in Whangamata¯ .
Police were proactively enforcing liquor bans in Whangamata¯ early on Saturday night, with officers in two large people movers and a transport van doing laps of the main roads and beach carparks.
Dismayed holidaymakers were asked to present and pour any alcohol they had in their vehicles. If people do not have proof of immediate purchase - for example, a receipt - the liquor will be confiscated and poured out. In one sweep of a beach carpark, police wrote up three $250 fines.
Hamiltonian Michael Wilson, 20, and his six friends had parked at the beach to swim before settling at a friend’s house for the weekend.
The group had bought two boxes of vodka cruisers in Waihi just half an hour before. They were sealed and still cold, he said.
‘‘I bought them for the police to tip them out,’’ he said, jokingly.
Police asked them to open the car, he said, and they obliged. The cruisers were then poured out.
‘‘It’s a bit intimidating really, four police officers coming up to you.’’
Daniel Siasi, 19, also in the vehicle, said it was ‘‘revenue taxing’’.
‘‘We work hard for our money, and they come and tip it out.’’
Julien Sommer, 24, and Lena Wegner, 19, travellers from Germany touring the Coromandel in a campervan, were baffled to receive a fine. ‘‘We were just here for a shower, an expensive shower,’’ Sommer said.
The pair were unaware a liquor ban extended to having alcohol in a vehicle, and had six cans of beer and one 1.25 litre bottle of cider tipped out.
A visibly upset Wegner said: ‘‘New Zealand is a s . . . country, and I won’t come here again.’’
‘‘We won’t pay it, we will talk to them.’’ Sommer was ambivalent: ‘‘It seems we have no other choice.’’
Danny Jeong, 24, travelled down from Auckland to spend the day at the beach along with four others. In a green chiller bag in the boot of their car sat four loose bottles of Heineken, which didn’t leave the bag due to the liquor ban.
Two police officers approached the group and asked if they had any alcohol. ‘‘We were honest with them, we didn’t lie or anything.’’
Written up for a $250 fine, the group was confused about what could have been done differently.
‘‘They said they can’t give out warnings because it’s the New Year period – it’s just a bit harsh,’’ Jeong said. ‘‘Our day trip to the beach got $250 more expensive.’’
Waikato eastern area commander John Kelly said everyone knew there was a zero tolerance policy over the New Year period.
‘‘The liquor ban is quite specific, if you buy a dozen beer from [a local liquor store] that’s fine. But if you crack it on the way home, then you’re breaching the liquor ban. You’re supposed to take it direct to home. You can’t deviate.’’
The enforcement was standard for liquor bans across the country, he said. Under the Local Government Act, police enforcing a liquor ban were able to search vehicles without notice, provided there was at least one clearly marked sign indicating the ban. If no liquor ban signage was present, police must first provide an opportunity for a person to remove their vehicle from the area.