With 4000 injuries from fireworks in the past decade, should fireworks be banned?

Monday, 4 November 2019

Is it a question of freedom of rights, or health and safety?

OPINION: There is a renewed call for the Government to ban the private use of fireworks after figures showed they caused nearly 4000 injuries over the past decade and claims cost ACC $3.3 million.

Why do we continue to allow the sale of fireworks for private use instead of allowing only public displays?

And does the remembrance of the Guy Fawkes plot to blow up the English parliament on 5 November in 1605 have any relevance to modern New Zealand, or is this just an excuse to let off fireworks?

An MP from each side of the house gives their views.

**Stuart Smith

National MP Kaikōura**

New Zealanders should be free to celebrate whatever they choose to celebrate, including Guy Fawkes.

Certainly, people should celebrate the occasion in a safe, considered manner and it's a concern that statistics show many people are not. I live in Marlborough, one of the sunniest and also one of the driest areas of New Zealand where the fire risk in November is often high.

* Guy Fawkes passes with 'very few' major incidents but danger not over

* 10 tips on how to stay safe this Guy Fawkes**

Anyone letting off fireworks here is urged to do so carefully and, I would hope, does so with a great deal of common sense.

I personally have not bought fireworks for a few years as our children have got older, but I would like the choice to do so, and I do not support a blanket ban.

There are other ways to approach this, including appropriate sanctions for those who misuse fireworks. Banning fireworks altogether would remove the freedom of choice to celebrate Guy Fawkes for all, and the last thing I want to see is a curb on individual freedom.

Such a ban would also support a growing chorus of people who are trying to create a New Zealand so politically correct that it will reach a point I cannot support.

The narrative of this PC world seems to be that we need to re-write history, and people are increasingly bending to this political narrative.

A lot of this is left-wing politics, from people who seem to want to control the language behind this narrative, and the way we think about ourselves as a country.

As for Guy Fawkes himself, and his part in the infamous 1605 failed Gunpowder Plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament in London, like it or not this is part of our shared history and ultimately this and so many other historic events has helped shape who we are.

Perhaps, rather than banning fireworks, people should learn more about the story behind Guy Fawkes, the reasons behind the plot to blow up parliament, his ultimate fate, and the wider social context around the annual tradition of letting off fireworks.

After all, historic events are there to learn from. In the words of George Santayana: 'Those that do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.'

**Priyanca Radhakrishnan

Labour List MP based in Maungakiekie**

Every year as we head towards Guy Fawkes Day the debate around the public sale of fireworks reignites.

A Parliamentary select committee is currently considering three petitions on this issue and has received submissions from stakeholders. Some, like Boom Brothers and York Corporation, oppose a ban on public firework sales. Others, including animal welfare groups SAFE and SPCA support a ban.

A 2018 Auckland Council public consultation showed that 90 percent of nearly 8000 submissions supported a ban. Elected members agreed that with intensification of housing, and harm to people and animals, the risks outweighed the benefits.

In 2018, one of the biggest Guy Fawkes fires in Auckland was in Mt Wellington, in the Maungakiekie electorate where I'm based. It covered about 40 metres and could be seen by hundreds.

The harm to animals includes both physical and emotional harm. I have two rescue dogs – one is fine with fireworks while the other trembles in fear for hours. I believe the public safety, including the safety of animals, needs to be at the forefront of this debate.

We should also think about why we continue to celebrate Guy Fawkes in New Zealand when it has nothing to do with us. As a country we could focus on celebrating Matariki with public fireworks displays instead.

Wellington City Council has recently made this change and now mark Matariki with their annual fireworks display instead of Guy Fawkes. I know many Kiwi Indians use their fireworks to celebrate Diwali, the Festival of Lights.

Over the last decade or so, significant changes have already been made in this space. In 2007, the regulations were tightened to reduce the sale period, increase the purchase age and reduce the explosive content of retail fireworks.

In 2015 a petition with 25,000 signatures to ban the use of fireworks was presented to the Parliament. The select committee that considered it took the view that any further extension to ban private fireworks or limit use to a specific period may be too difficult to enforce.

According to Fire and Emergency New Zealand, there were fewer fireworks related incidents in November 2018 than in November 2017 or November 2016. The responsibility for the regulation of the sale of fireworks to the public sits with Environment Minister Hon David Parker. At this stage Minister Parker has said that he has no plans to change the law as it currently stands.