The latest effort to ban sales comes as MPs prepare to consider three petitions on the issue, including one backed by 90,000 signatures – and thousands of pawprints, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin.
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A fiery issue reignited
Just in time for the annual lighting of the touch papers, NZ First has lodged a members bill that would ban the sale, manufacture and importation of fireworks for private use. Leader Winston Peters said the current system wreaks havoc on pets, emergency services and the environment. “This is not about being ‘nanny state’, this is about bringing some common sense into what is a desperately needed conversation about the future of fireworks in our community,” he said.
The bill follows June’s “Pawprint Petition”, signed by 90,000 people and supplemented by nearly 80,000 paw and hoof prints from animals – a symbolic, and possibly world-first, gesture of opposition. It is one of three petitions on the issue set to be considered by parliament’s petitions committee tomorrow. The Sunday Star-Times’ Virginia Fallon isn’t all that hopeful. As she observed earlier this year, “Petitions to ban public sales of fireworks have become a mainstay in Aotearoa: forming an almost constant backdrop of signatures, presentations and news stories that ultimately result in nothing.”
Growing public support for reform
Yet the pressure is building. The SPCA’s scientific officer Christine Sumner told RNZ’s Nik Dirga 13 separate petitions on the issue have been presented to parliament, and that the latest trio – together attracting almost 100,000 signatures – show “the status quo is not tenable”. Public opinion appears to be shifting too: an AA Insurance survey in 2023 found 73% of New Zealanders supported some form of ban.
Although fireworks are officially available to buy during just four days a year, their misuse continues to trouble communities and emergency services. Since 2000, firework-related incidents have generally declined, but a 2024 Ministry for the Environment report found some troubling recent spikes, including police callouts related to fireworks increasing by 124% on the prior year and ACC claims for fireworks-related injuries growing by almost a third. Despite a number of large chains no longer selling fireworks, imports are increasing – a response in particular to growing demand around Diwali.
Pets or pyrotechnics?
While attempts to get the law changed are far from new, the SPCA says the impact on pets can no longer be ignored. The NZ Veterinary Association has documented cases of horses impaling themselves on fences, dogs crashing through windows and cats bolting into traffic. Just three days ago Izzy, an Australian Shepherd, was killed after being spooked by fireworks and running into traffic, Stuff’s Chris Marriner reports.
The fireworks industry counters that their sector is already tightly regulated and that most New Zealanders use fireworks responsibly. Still, even within the coalition, some MPs believe change is overdue. National’s Greg Fleming, who accepted the Pawprint Petition alongside NZ First’s Jenny Marcroft, said he had “come around to the idea of a ban of some sort” and that a member’s bill might attract an unexpected level of support. “Even on my side of the House, from the conversations I’ve had, I reckon the majority are leaning towards saying, yeah let’s have a serious look at this.”
Marcroft’s latest cause
Given that MPs can have only one bill on the ballot at any time, Marcroft’s fireworks bill seems set to replace her existing members bill, the Definitions of Woman and Man Bill – which itself replaced her earlier bill requiring binding referendums on local fluoride decisions. When put forward in April, Marcroft’s gender-definition bill also replaced the short-lived Fair Access to Bathrooms bill, with Peters explaining Marcroft’s bill was a more “comprehensive” approach. At the time, Labour leader Chris Hipkins accused Peters of pursuing “any populist cause” to keep his party in the news and above the 5% threshold at the next election.
Yet this latest cause may prove more long-lasting than some of NZ First’s earlier members bills. Marcroft, a self-described “horse mother” who says she’s spent many late nights calming frightened animals during fireworks season, appears determined to push the issue further than previous attempts. Whether or not her bill fizzles like so many before it, the political climate may finally be shifting towards reform.
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