People with unpaid court fines could be at risk of having cars clamped or seized from tonight.
The Government's trialling number plate scanning technology, which bailiffs can use at police checkpoints to identify fine evaders.
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith told Mike Hosking there's more than $100 million in unpaid fines.
He hopes the trial's effective in clamping lots of cars, because the rest of the country is sick of people not facing consequences.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The government at last has decided to move against those
who don't pay their court fines. New technology is going
to scan number plates have parked cars and we'll clamp
or sees those with unpaid fines going to be trial
as of this weekend, will include police checkpoints. The Justice
Minisipaul Goldsmith is with us on this very good morning
to you.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Good morning.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Let's deal with this first. The technology is that new.
Who's got it and how they're using it?
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Well, it's the court bailiffs who have it, and so
they'll be alongside the police at checkpoints from tonight in
some places and scanning things. And you haven't paid your fine,
you better get yourself an uber or something like that
to get home because your car can be clamped. And
you know, we've talked to you in the past about
how frustrating it is that people get fines and court
reparations they don't pay them. They paid two dollars a week,
(00:45):
or they don't pay them at all, and we needed
some more rigor in the system and this is part
of that.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Can be clamped or will be clamped.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Well that's a judgment for the bailiff at any time.
But yes, they'll be clamping them, so all towed away and.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Take it off. When you say scan, is it like
a scanner at the supermarket? I do, yeah, to scan
the So go to a computer system and it'll go
there's Bob and he owes US three two hundred and
fifty bucks.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Yep, and then bring out the clamp.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Okay, simple as that. What are you going to do
with the cars?
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Well, ultimately they can be sold or they can be
held on to to people pay their fines.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Do you think there will be a lot of cars
actually clamped? In other words, will this be effected?
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Well? I hope there is, because the message needs to
get through that, you know, the rest of the country
sick of people not paying their fines and not dealing
with the consequences of the things that they've done.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
How many people are we dealing with? Is it like crime?
Generally it's a small group of the same people over
and over.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
I've add the exact figure, but there are a lot
of Look, there's more than one hundreds of millions of
one hundred million of unpaid fines. There's a lot of
money there that needs to be collected.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Okay. The other matter is, of course, this morning, this
business of electoral reform. The most controversial bit I suppose
is that you can't enroll on the day anymore, which
is a shame, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Well, look in a perfect world that would be easy,
but it isn't that. You might recall that we used
to have the final outcome of elections two weeks after
the election date. Then it was three weeks last time.
All my advice is that we're going to even struggle
to get that. It might be into four weeks. And
if you're waiting for that long to actually find out
the final result before you start the coalitions, there's a
(02:19):
lot of uncertainty, and the system is under an enormous
pressure because if people enroll on election day, then that
enrollment has to be checked before the final votes are counted.
It's all complicated. We don't think it's at all unreasonable.
In other countries they do it. They just have a
deadline before voting starts and you've got to be enrolled.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Is there any move anywhere at high levels to move
us more towards tech or we're so scared of tech
that it wouldn't work on the day that we've given
up on that.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
I've encouraged the Electoral Commission to start working very much
quickly on vote counting, electronic vote counting, that's first step. Actually,
the electronic voting has lots of security sort of issues
around it as well. I don't think we're ready to
do that. I think we do need to make greater
use of technology.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Why we like Germany because when the polls closed in Germany,
have you ever seen a German election at six o'clock?
At six o one, they give you the result.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Well, the Germans are very efficient.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Why, it's a very good question.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
And we've got a system that's a very sort of
old fashioned and there's a lot of work to be
done to turn it around. And so the starting point
is to take a little bit of pressure off by
making these changes. And there's a whole lot of other things.
I mean that the law requires them to send letters
out of vast volumes and things of that at enormous costs,
and so we're changing that so you can send emails.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
So Andrew Getters was on and he claims it's a
fact that left wing voters are the more disorganized of us,
and therefore the late thing's going to break your way.
Do you accept that in any way or not.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Well, look, it's impossible to tell because people will change
their behavior at the moment they've been told doesn't matter,
you don't need to enroll. You can just rock up
and vote and you can enroll yourself at that time.
We're going to send a different message now, which is
if you want to vote, you need to get enrolled.
And people will change their behavior. And I'm sure if
a party was to go out and say that our
voters are uniquely incapable of getting enrolled, well, that's a
(04:03):
very strange way to treat your voters.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
The food thing that was that a major consume within
the government, drink and all.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
That, well, I mean, look that there were a couple
of examples where it was pretty messy. And we want
to be very clear that we can't have treating we
can't have people offering incentives to come and vote.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Right, I haven't got to get us gave us a
decent answer to it. But this business comes out of
timmicky macaro. Of course, if the serious fraud officers come
back and they find something, you know, really bad that
has happened there. We don't appear to have a law
in this country that allows the result to be revisited. So,
in other words, you can steal an election and then
(04:38):
nothing happens to you.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Well, well, no, there is. They could have had a
formal recounter or a.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
This that that handed thirty days look at whether the
investigation is ye, yes, well I mean yeah, yeah, yeah,
But I mean, so say they find something really bad.
We don't have a mechanism in this country. They say
they stole the election and we know that, yes, and
that's what they find and the charges are laid and
it's off to the court. You can't do anything about
fixing that. It's the weirdest thing in the world.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Well, I suppose you've got to have some certainty and
things move on. But it's a fair point thirty days
as an artificial time frame, and we could argue about that.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Right now, what about yesterday? What do you want to
tell me about yesterday? What happened yesterday? Well, you were
in the house and I was watching you, yes, and
you were asked questions. Now, what happened was interesting for
people who didn't watch the house, and I do you said,
quote unquote Paul Goldsmith that you listen to Morning Report
every morning and you find it in what was your
(05:38):
word and highly motivational. Highly motivational. Now the product, now
there's nothing right. The personal choice is fine. You can
listen to what it is that doesn't say I don't
listen to you from no, don't try and call your
way out of this. So you said highly motivational and
everyone burst out laughing. Now did they burst out laughing
because of course that's fascical or did they burst out
laughing because you're an unusual person who finds it motivational?
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Well, now, I remember telling Guy and Esmond at once
I listened to him and I listened only for a
short time, and I get angry, and that gets me
motivated for the day. And so that was that was.
It was a cheap shot. And look, the media and
I think all told, we're well served by the media
in New Zealand, and I appreciate the work that you do,
particularly well served by some more than others. Though. Well,
(06:21):
there's no question that you're a highly successful show that
show the people. The people vote with their feet, don't they.
So that's uh, that's how it works.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Nice to see you have a good weekend. Justice Minister
Paul Goldsmith
Speaker 2 (06:34):
For more from the Mic asking Breakfast, Listen live to
news talks it'd be from six am weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio
The government at last has decided to move against those
who don't pay their court fines. New technology is going
to scan number plates have parked cars and we'll clamp
or sees those with unpaid fines going to be trial
as of this weekend, will include police checkpoints. The Justice
Minisipaul Goldsmith is with us on this very good morning
to you.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Good morning.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Let's deal with this first. The technology is that new.
Who's got it and how they're using it?
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Well, it's the court bailiffs who have it, and so
they'll be alongside the police at checkpoints from tonight in
some places and scanning things. And you haven't paid your fine,
you better get yourself an uber or something like that
to get home because your car can be clamped. And
you know, we've talked to you in the past about
how frustrating it is that people get fines and court
reparations they don't pay them. They paid two dollars a week,
(00:45):
or they don't pay them at all, and we needed
some more rigor in the system and this is part
of that.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Can be clamped or will be clamped.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Well that's a judgment for the bailiff at any time.
But yes, they'll be clamping them, so all towed away and.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Take it off. When you say scan, is it like
a scanner at the supermarket? I do, yeah, to scan
the So go to a computer system and it'll go
there's Bob and he owes US three two hundred and
fifty bucks.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Yep, and then bring out the clamp.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Okay, simple as that. What are you going to do
with the cars?
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Well, ultimately they can be sold or they can be
held on to to people pay their fines.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Do you think there will be a lot of cars
actually clamped? In other words, will this be effected?
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Well? I hope there is, because the message needs to
get through that, you know, the rest of the country
sick of people not paying their fines and not dealing
with the consequences of the things that they've done.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
How many people are we dealing with? Is it like crime?
Generally it's a small group of the same people over
and over.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
I've add the exact figure, but there are a lot
of Look, there's more than one hundreds of millions of
one hundred million of unpaid fines. There's a lot of
money there that needs to be collected.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Okay. The other matter is, of course, this morning, this
business of electoral reform. The most controversial bit I suppose
is that you can't enroll on the day anymore, which
is a shame, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Well, look in a perfect world that would be easy,
but it isn't that. You might recall that we used
to have the final outcome of elections two weeks after
the election date. Then it was three weeks last time.
All my advice is that we're going to even struggle
to get that. It might be into four weeks. And
if you're waiting for that long to actually find out
the final result before you start the coalitions, there's a
(02:19):
lot of uncertainty, and the system is under an enormous
pressure because if people enroll on election day, then that
enrollment has to be checked before the final votes are counted.
It's all complicated. We don't think it's at all unreasonable.
In other countries they do it. They just have a
deadline before voting starts and you've got to be enrolled.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Is there any move anywhere at high levels to move
us more towards tech or we're so scared of tech
that it wouldn't work on the day that we've given
up on that.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
I've encouraged the Electoral Commission to start working very much
quickly on vote counting, electronic vote counting, that's first step. Actually,
the electronic voting has lots of security sort of issues
around it as well. I don't think we're ready to
do that. I think we do need to make greater
use of technology.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Why we like Germany because when the polls closed in Germany,
have you ever seen a German election at six o'clock?
At six o one, they give you the result.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Well, the Germans are very efficient.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Why, it's a very good question.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
And we've got a system that's a very sort of
old fashioned and there's a lot of work to be
done to turn it around. And so the starting point
is to take a little bit of pressure off by
making these changes. And there's a whole lot of other things.
I mean that the law requires them to send letters
out of vast volumes and things of that at enormous costs,
and so we're changing that so you can send emails.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
So Andrew Getters was on and he claims it's a
fact that left wing voters are the more disorganized of us,
and therefore the late thing's going to break your way.
Do you accept that in any way or not.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Well, look, it's impossible to tell because people will change
their behavior at the moment they've been told doesn't matter,
you don't need to enroll. You can just rock up
and vote and you can enroll yourself at that time.
We're going to send a different message now, which is
if you want to vote, you need to get enrolled.
And people will change their behavior. And I'm sure if
a party was to go out and say that our
voters are uniquely incapable of getting enrolled, well, that's a
(04:03):
very strange way to treat your voters.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
The food thing that was that a major consume within
the government, drink and all.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
That, well, I mean, look that there were a couple
of examples where it was pretty messy. And we want
to be very clear that we can't have treating we
can't have people offering incentives to come and vote.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Right, I haven't got to get us gave us a
decent answer to it. But this business comes out of
timmicky macaro. Of course, if the serious fraud officers come
back and they find something, you know, really bad that
has happened there. We don't appear to have a law
in this country that allows the result to be revisited. So,
in other words, you can steal an election and then
(04:38):
nothing happens to you.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Well, well, no, there is. They could have had a
formal recounter or a.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
This that that handed thirty days look at whether the
investigation is ye, yes, well I mean yeah, yeah, yeah,
But I mean, so say they find something really bad.
We don't have a mechanism in this country. They say
they stole the election and we know that, yes, and
that's what they find and the charges are laid and
it's off to the court. You can't do anything about
fixing that. It's the weirdest thing in the world.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Well, I suppose you've got to have some certainty and
things move on. But it's a fair point thirty days
as an artificial time frame, and we could argue about that.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Right now, what about yesterday? What do you want to
tell me about yesterday? What happened yesterday? Well, you were
in the house and I was watching you, yes, and
you were asked questions. Now, what happened was interesting for
people who didn't watch the house, and I do you said,
quote unquote Paul Goldsmith that you listen to Morning Report
every morning and you find it in what was your
(05:38):
word and highly motivational. Highly motivational. Now the product, now
there's nothing right. The personal choice is fine. You can
listen to what it is that doesn't say I don't
listen to you from no, don't try and call your
way out of this. So you said highly motivational and
everyone burst out laughing. Now did they burst out laughing
because of course that's fascical or did they burst out
laughing because you're an unusual person who finds it motivational?
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Well, now, I remember telling Guy and Esmond at once
I listened to him and I listened only for a
short time, and I get angry, and that gets me
motivated for the day. And so that was that was.
It was a cheap shot. And look, the media and
I think all told, we're well served by the media
in New Zealand, and I appreciate the work that you do,
particularly well served by some more than others. Though. Well,
(06:21):
there's no question that you're a highly successful show that
show the people. The people vote with their feet, don't they.
So that's uh, that's how it works.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Nice to see you have a good weekend. Justice Minister
Paul Goldsmith
Speaker 2 (06:34):
For more from the Mic asking Breakfast, Listen live to
news talks it'd be from six am weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio
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