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2006-0119 - NZ Herald - Law change
best option for drivers' problem, say officials
NZPA - Officials have
advised the Government that a legislative amendment is the best way to save the
jobs of bus and taxi drivers caught out by law changes. Provisions to the
Land Transport Act that came into effect on Monday prevent bus and taxi
drivers convicted of murder, or a sex offence punishable by more than seven
years' prison, from carrying passengers. But under the law, passed last year,
drivers convicted when they were young of having underage sex would lose
their passenger service licences
2006-0117 - Waikato Times -
Untouchable drivers
by Dilip Kurien - Most of them were convicted decades back for having
underage sex. They cannot, and should not, be put in the same class as
hardened sex criminals. By taking back their licences, you are not only
destroying their livelihood but also their families. For decades it was all
right for them to drive and suddenly they have become untouchables. It is all
right not to allow hardened sex criminals behind the wheel of a public
transport carrier. But this is a different scenario. I hope that the Government
reviews the law and gives them back their licences
2006-0117 - Waikato Times
- Politicians get it wrong at a cost
Editorial - Sometimes Parliament simply gets it wrong. It debates a
bill, passes it into law and if no one's spotted the fish hooks, or if MPs
have chosen to ignore them, people's livelihoods can be placed at risk. That
is exactly what has happened with changes to the Land Transport Amendment Act
that came into force yesterday. New provisions mean bus and taxi drivers who
have been convicted of murder or sex offences that attract a jail term of
seven years or more are banned from carrying passengers. It is not so much
the amendment that is of concern but the fact it is being applied
retrospectively
2006-0117 - Nelson Mail - Net
cast too wide
Editorial - Nobody wants to see sexual predators or violent criminals
driving buses and taxis. The potential for them to use these jobs to come
into contact with vulnerable people is too great,....... Mr Duynhoven has
conceded that this part of the legislation is an ass - "I don't believe
this law was intended to catch these people," he says - and is looking
for a way to restore the right of appeal. If the Government's officials can't
figure out how to do that, he might have to go back to Parliament with an
amendment to put things right. How much better it would have been for the
Government and, more importantly, the affected drivers, if more thought had
been given to the detail.
2006-0116 - The Press - The Land
Transport Amendment Act
by Carol Stove - The Land Transport Amendment Act 2005 will cause us
to lose two very dedicated and respected bus drivers, for something they did
when teenagers. We need good reliable safe men such as these men in our world
today, who have, by the length of time they have not reoffended, proven
themselves to be just this. These are the kind of men we, as parents and
grandparents, can trust the lives of our children to
2006-0116 - Stuff - Driver sex
offence law may change
NZPA - The Government will consider seeking an amendment to a new law
that strips bus and taxi drivers convicted of even the most moderate of sex
offences of their passenger licences. From today, new provisions of the Land
Transport Act mean bus and taxi drivers convicted of murder, or a sex offence
punishable by more than seven years' prison, will be banned from carrying
passengers. Only a small handful have a right of appeal under the changes.
2006-0116 - Sunday Star Times - New
transport law will 'destroy my life', taxi driver says
by Jennifer Dann - When Queenstown bus driver Garry Adams was 16 he
went to Dunedin's St Kilda beach one night to "fool around" with a
15-year-old girl. No clothes were removed in the consensual activity, which
he described as heavy petting. But after the girl was late home, her parents
complained to police and he was charged with indecent assault. "The
police told me if I pleaded guilty, there would be a $55 fine and it would go
away. Thirty-five years later it's coming back to haunt me. This is going to
destroy my life," he said.
2006-0116 - One News -
Association pushing for amendment
The Bus and Coach Association is to ask the government for an
amendment to new legislation that would give drivers banned for historical
sex convictions, the right to appeal. The Land Transport Amendment Act stops
people who've committed murder, serious violent and sexual offences from
being licensed to drive passengers. More than 200 current licence holders
will have their licences suspended indefinitely
2006-0116 - Otago Daily Times -
Licence issue example of over-regulation
by G Rixon - The article on bus driver Lloyd Walsh (ODT, 10.1.06) is a
fine example which shows just how over-regulated New Zealand is becoming. My
feeling is that the Land Transport New Zealand computer cross-references with
the police computer, and any names that result for the violent or sexual
crimes are then sent a chain letter saying that they are going to lose their
licence. There is no, or very little, human input into this — it is all
computer controlled.
2006-0116 - Newstalk ZB - Few
treated unfairly by new law
The Transport Safety Minister says he knows of only a handful of
people who believe they are being unfairly treated by a new law banning sex
offenders from driving buses and taxis.The legislation comes into effect
today, stripping hundreds of drivers of their right to operate public
transport
2006-0116 - Newstalk ZB -
Drivers off the road for sex crimes
It is now officially the end of the road for bus and taxi drivers with
convictions for sex crimes. The Land Transport Amendment Act comes into effect
today. Approximately 400 drivers no longer have a passenger-class licence
because they have previous criminal convictions of a sexual nature.
2006-0116 - Green
Party Blog - A cautionary tale about trying to make robust law just before an
election
Last April when the Land Transport Amendment Bill was going through
the Select Committee stage, then Green MP Mike Ward raised some concerns. It
was an omnibus bill, which means it was fiddling with bits and pieces all
over the relevant law. The Greens agreed with nearly all of it, certainly
enough to vote for it. But Mike noticed a problem with the clause on
preventing serious offenders from holding passenger licenses and he argued
for just a few extra words to fix it.
2006-0116 - Blog Russell
Brown - Second-time blog virgin
This law is well-intended but it sorely needs attention - the easiest course
seems to be to simply allow for review of cases like Adams'. Inevitably, its
impact has triggered the usual bitching about "the left", but
actually, the Greens opposed it - predicting exactly the sort of unfairness
that has become apparent - and it was Deborah Coddington who sounded off
about it not being sufficiently draconian
2006-0115 - One News - Fresh
criticism over driver law change
The Criminal Bar Association has joined a wave of criticism of new
legislation banning people with old convictions for sex offences from holding
a commercial drivers licence...... However, vice-President of the Criminal
Bar Association Mark Anthony Edgar says he does not think Parliament intended
that people be penalised for convictions that are now so old and irrelevant
they do not pose an immediate danger to anyone. He says the law has changed
sufficiently over the years that people are being penalised for things that
today may not result in a conviction.
2006-0114 - Waikato Times -
Law forces bus drivers off road
by Geoff Taylor and NZPA - Red Cabs manager Mike Smith said he
believed the law change was a knee-jerk reaction. He said he thought drivers'
situations should be looked at on a case-by-case basis. The 285 drivers
written to have no right of appeal but stories have emerged around the
country of drivers with long and impeccable driving records being forced off
the road. One Dunedin driver is losing his licence because as a 16-year-old
34 years ago, he had sex with his 15-year-old girlfriend, just two days short
of her 16th birthday. Kaiapoi driver Beau Harrison will be off the road
because about 40 years ago when he was 18, he had sex with a 15-year-old
co-worker in a shearing gang, believing she was the same age as him.
2006-0114 - Timaru Herald -
Govt seeking remedy for driving law
Government lawyers are searching for a legal loophole in a new law
which stops bus drivers with minor historic criminal convictions from getting
behind the wheel. The Land Transport Amendment Act, which takes effect on
Monday, specifies a series of serious offences, led by murder and sexual
crimes, that have no recourse to appeals against licence removal.
2006-0114 - Timaru Herald - An ass
of a law
Editorial - Charles Dickens could have had the Land Transport
Amendment Act in mind when he wrote "the law is a ass, a idiot".
While Parliament was well meaning when it passed the amendment last year,
what it meant and what it has delivered are clearly two different things. It
is yet another example of legislation not being properly scrutinised.
2006-0114 - Otago Daily
Times - Transport legislation may be amended
by John Lewis - Transport Safety Minister Harry Duynhoven says there
may be ways to amend legislation which dumped Dunedin bus driver Lloyd Walsh
out of a job. Mr Walsh (50) has had his passenger class licence suspended
because of teenage convictions, under legislation condemned by an Amalgamated
Workers Union official yesterday as “extreme, heavy handed and unjust”. The
union has thrown its weight behind Mr Walsh and his case has sparked a
supporting petition.
2006-0114 - Nelson Mail - Bus
driver loophole sought
Government lawyers are searching for a legal loophole in a new law
which stops bus drivers with minor historic criminal convictions from getting
behind the wheel. The Land Transport Amendment Act, which takes effect on
Monday, specifies a series of serious offences, led by murder and sex crimes,
that have no recourse to appeals against licence removal. Hundreds of drivers
have received letters saying their passenger endorsement licences will be
suspended. This has caught out some drivers who have minor historic sex
convictions.
2006-0114 - Daily News -
Parliamentary team's poor job of driving home safe-licence act
Editorial - It is poor legislation that requires repair on the eve of
coming into force. The Land Transport Amendment Act takes effect on Monday,
primarily aimed at weeding out from the public passenger licence list those
people with convictions for serious violent or sexual offences...... For
reasons that now seem to baffle Mr Duynhoven too, the committee opted to
ignore advice from government officials, and instead made the legislation retrospective,
without any time limit. Back-dated law-making is always dangerous, and
especially reaching back indefinitely.
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