Green MP Tamatha Paul says the tragic death after an assault on Wellington’s Courtenay Place highlighted the work that needed to be done.
The Wellington Central MP’s comments about inner city safety follow the death of Luke Smith – a 21-year-old from South Africa who was rushed to hospital following an assault in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Police launched a homicide inquiry earlier this week after Smith’s life-support was withdrawn.
A 29-year-old man has been charged with reckless disregard, with police indicating more charges could follow.
Paul said there is no such thing as an acceptable level of violence.
“Even one instance of sexual violence, one instance of death – like what we have seen over the last week – that’s already not good enough.”
She said the message from people about Wellington’s nightlife was loud and clear, it was time to do the mahi to ensure people felt safe on the city’s streets.
“The big thing I’m hearing at the moment is that people don’t feel safe and that there is a lot of chaos in the central city.”
She said while police had more officers on the beat Friday and Saturday nights it was “an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff” – and not an acceptable long-term solution.
She said solutions to anti-social behaviour in the city needed to focus on the key contributor – alcohol.
“The evidence is really clear, alcohol is the biggest driver of harm in our city at night.”
RNZ’s Guyon Espiner reported in June that a police study – sparked by a string of violent and sexual assaults in Wellington – zeroed in on preloading (the practice of drinking prior to going out on the town).
The study showed by the time midnight rolled around 77% of drinkers on Courtenay Place had been preloading, with saving money the biggest motivator.
In another interview with RNZ, Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said alcohol was a key contributing factor in crimes of violence, homicide and family abuse.
“It’s a very significant driver of harm,” he said.
Paul said political will in both central and local government was needed to address the sale and supply of alcohol in the area, but said it would be a tricky balance.
“On the one hand, we want a vibrant nightlife, so we don’t want to be the fun police… But we have to take a cautious approach.”
Wellington mayor Tory Whanau said improving city safety was a priority for her.
She said the council had dedicated $5m to boosting city safety in its recent Long Term Plan the council and was working alongside police and other organisations to address “address crime, anti-social behaviour and its root causes”.
A shift towards aggression after midnight
The Take 10 pop-up on Courtenay Place has been a dedicated safe zone for Wellington’s youth from 10pm to 3am on Friday and Saturday nights.
Leigh Keown from the Vulnerable Support Charitable Trust – which has run Take 10 for the past seven years – said there had been a noticeable shift in behaviour following Covid lockdowns.
“We see it week after week. There’s a group of people at a certain time of night who just want to cause trouble.
“You see as the night goes on, how the vibe changes and how drunk people are, and they just get aggressive.
“And there’s an aggression after 12.30am, 1 o’clock that just hits the streets.”
Ministry of Justice figures from 2023 show there has been a rise in youth and sexual offending charges in recent years – but the overall trend in New Zealand has been declining since 2009.
In the year to August, police data for downtown Wellington recorded 610 reports of ‘crimes against a person’, including 532 assaults and 44 sexual assaults.
The numbers were a slight decrease on the previous year’s 671 total crime reports, including 588 assaults and 39 sexual assaults.
Wellington Acting Area Commander Jason McCarthy said despite feedback about safety concerns, the data and anecdotal evidence did not support the feeling of escalating violence in the capital’s entertainment strip.
But, he said, the public feeling unsafe was something and police wanted to address.
Paul said the question of whether Wellington was more or less safe was ultimately immaterial because one incident was enough.
“Regardless of what the numbers say, people don’t feel safe, and people have really fair grounds to not feel safe given what has tragically happened in the last week.”
She said Luke Smith’s death had highlighted that there was work to do and she would continue to advocate for change.
Safety and vibrancy go hand-in-hand
Meanwhile, the city’s hospitality insiders said their bars have never been safer, but cuts to the public sector, shuttered venues, and the cost-of-living crisis had resulted in more preloading and people in the streets.
Epic Hospitality’s Grieg Wilson said, anecdotally, there had been an increase in preloading, which meant his staff had to be “on point”.
He staff vigilance, combined with the “patron-scan system,” meant partyers who were kicked out of one bar were immediately flagged and denied entry at other venues.
“The security inside the venues has never been so good.”
Bar owner Jose Ubiaga agreed, maintaining the bars in the area were “working harder than ever” to keep people safe but they had little control over what happened beyond their doors, and the multiple bar closures weren’t helping.
“The more closed businesses you have, the more graffiti going on, the dirtier the street looks … you’re only going to have more anti-social behaviour.”
Wilson said the closing of Reading Cinemas – an ‘anchor tenant’ – was the catalyst for the decline in Courtenay Place and had had a profound impact on Wellington’s hospitality scene.
“It attracted thousands of people to Courtenay Place in the earlier part of the evening and they would come to dinner earlier and go out for a cocktail afterwards, after the movie. And that was great for Wellington.”
He said the new Revitalise Courtenay Place group was working hard to boost the city’s vibe, and cited upcoming street parties in November and over the New Year.
Ubiaga said anything that would breath life back into downtown Wellington would make it safer, and noted some fairylights wouldn’t go amiss.
“The more life, the more vitality, the more places that are open, the more vibrancy that’s going on, the less anti-social behaviour you’re going to have.”
By Mary Argue of rnz.co.nz
