Minister Presses For Anti-Litter Campaign

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31407, 28 June 1967, Page 3

Minister Presses For Anti-Litter Campaign

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, June 27. A co-ordinated and continuous publicity campaign aimed at educating the New Zealand public on the litter problem was advocated today by the Minister of Internal Affairs (Mr Seath).

He added that a special allocation of £5OOO from Golden Kiwi lottery profits would be made available to start a fund to finance such a campaign.

Mi Seath, who was opening a one-day anti-litter conference in Wellington, urged delegates to accept the campaign in order to bring the litter problem firmly before the public and to seek to influence public attitudes and tidiness.

The conference—called last week by the Internal Affairs Department on the Minister’s advice —includes delegates from national and regional organisations, ranging from Federated Farmers to the National Youth Hostels Association.

Mr Seath said that educating the New Zealand public to become litter-conscious would be a long process. “But supplemented by a judicious use of anti-litter

legislation which already exists, it is probably the most effective way of meeting the problem. “Our aim should be to try and raise our sense of civic pride and our code of behaviour —in terms of tidiness —to something much higher than our present level," he said.

Mr Seath said the campaign would require a small national committee similar to the National Water Safety Council. “A national anti-litter committee would include repre-

sentatives from the main local authorities who have such a direct interest in the matter, as well as other voluntary and commercial organisations who are also directly interested in the problem,” he said. The Minister said he was prepared to offer the services of the Department of Internal Affairs. in a secretarial capacity, in the same way as it already supplied such services for the national water safety and national mountain safety campaign. He also indicated that the Department of Tourism and Publicity would be prepared to give direct assistance in the publicity campaign. “I hope equal support and direct and indirect financial assistance will be forthcoming from the local authorities and industrial and commercial groups," said Mr Seath. The assistant director of the National Parks Authority (Mr P. M. C. Lucas) said one of the first things would have to be the provision of more facilities for rubbish disposal. His department’s answer of 44-gallon drums was not entirely successful because the drums got bowled over and the contents spilled.

Wasting Time

Mr W. Baird, president of the New Zealand Counties’ Association, said they had asked for many years for legislation.

Counties could take powers under their by-laws, and also had some powers to prosecute under the. Police Offences Act. However, they believed that such a campaign as envisaged by the Minister without national specific statutory powers would be of little value.

“If we relied on publicity campaigns instead of traffic inspectors to enforce the transport laws where would we go?” he said. “We won’t achieve what we hope without a law. We would be wasting our time,” he said.

The president of Auckland Rotary (Mr L. J. F. Colgal) said Rotary had already tried publicity campaigns.

He was of the opinion that this national ill started in the homes and in the schools. He said it was an enormous battle to keep the schools clean and the campaign would have to get right into the homes.

“It’s a national attitude of mind,” he said. Mr J. B. Horrocks, vicepresident of the New Zealand Automobile Association, said the by-laws and the Police Offences Act were too obscure to make offenders being prosecuted think they had actually done anything wrong.

Unless there was a national specific law against spreading litter then they would not know that public odium was being directed against them. He suggested that penalties for casting litter be raised and specific legislation provided for the offence.

“In this way we may get something in the way of public conscience and awareness,” he said. “A £2O fine is not enough for a bottle that may maim a child,” he said.