22 Nov 2012

Law changes urged after reports of prostitutes in turf wars

12:45 pm on 22 November 2012

New Zealand First is calling for changes to laws to control street prostitution after reports of turf wars in Auckland.

Social policy spokeswoman Asenati Lole-Taylor said the "outbreak of hostilities" had revealed flaws in the Prostitution Reform Act and councils need new powers.

The New Zealand Herald reported on Wednesday that out of town sex workers were converging on Hunters Corner in Papatoetoe and there had been fist fights with local prostitutes.

Prostitutes from as far away as Christchurch say they can earn up to $1000 per night in south Auckland.

Ms Lole-Taylor said councils must have the power to ban street prostitution.

"There was a gross oversight in the Act which assumed prostitution would not grow as an industry once it had been decriminalised," she said on Thursday.

"But there can be no doubt that the industry is spreading and ruining neighbourhoods in other cities too."

AAP reports Ms Lole-Taylor said she knows of instances where people have not been able to sell their houses.

"I even know of one shop that has had its front window smashed 11 times by prostitutes who trade directly outside."

She said New Zealand will draft a bill to give councils "the necessary legal clout" to deal with street soliciting.