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Tim Barnett, sponsor of the Prostitution Reform Bill between 2000 and 2003 and Member of Parliament for Christchurch Central, has welcomed the publication of the report of the independent Review Committee on that law reform.

Tim said today:  “New Zealand was the first country in the world to decriminalise prostitution, building on the model which had operated in New South Wales since 1996.  The law went through rigorous Parliamentary and public scrutiny, and fundamentally rebuilt the whole legal environment around prostitution.  It increased penalties for genuinely harmful activity and protected sex workers from criminalisation, which trapped people in sex work rather than deterring them”. 

“I developed the amendment to the Bill which introduced the review process to ensure that debate after law reform was not driven by its opponents telling untruths about its impact.  I have been happy to step back and see the operation of the law on the ground examined by researchers and other experts.  They have produced an outstanding report which will be gold-dust for the very many countries searching for sensible researched and proven law in this area. This we now have”.

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