Tau Henare
National List MP
30 April 2010
MEDIA RELEASE
West Auckland National MP Tau Henare is calling for an urgent amendment to the Prostitution Reform Act 2003.
“It is appalling and totally unacceptable that a brothel can go up opposite a school’s gate and nothing can be done to
stop it. The Act as it stands allows this to happen. It needs to be amended” said Mr Henare.
“The previous Labour led government legalised prostitution in 2003 to protect sex workers, but clearly not enough
consideration was given to protecting children from the unwanted influences of the sex industry outside their schools”
says Mr Henare. “We now have a situation where there are very few restrictions on where a brothel can be sited. As long
as a small owner operated brothel meets the definition of a “home occupation” as set out in the Resource Management Act
a resource consent is not required and there’s nothing a local authority can do to stop it.
“The law urgently requires a commonsense clause that enables local authorities to manage the location of brothels. I
will be working with my colleagues in Wellington to bring about this change,” says Mr Henare
ENDS