An anti-freedom camping activist has withdrawn a petition to ban the practice, after receiving several threats of violence.
Almost 8000 people signed Jennifer Branje's petition on the Parliament website, which called for a ban on freedom camping for international visitors when the borders are reopened, following the pandemic.
But due to violent threats against herself, family and business, she has decided to pull the petition all together.
She previously said the petition was to start a conversation about freedom camping and hoped the government could get behind them.
"It's time for us to talk about how we are going to go forward when we reopen our borders... whether it succeeds or fails is not the greatest goal here it is to re-think how we have visitors in New Zealand, what we expect of them and how we should pave the way forward," she said.
She had also asked the government to cease allocating taxpayer money for further development of free camping sites.
Branje said today she did not want to give any further comment, but said New Zealand First has since taken up the cause - asking the country whether they are or for or against the idea.
Related Stories
Comments
Threats of violence are not OK and do not reflect well on those who make them. That being said, I disagree with the stated aims of her petition and feel it is at best misguided. So called Freedom Camping is often viewed through the lens of camp ground owners who see it decreasing their revenue. Others see freedom campers as some sort of freeloading parasite who leave litter and faeces in their wake. While a very few do such things it is as often as not Kiwis who are the culprits.
Education and enforcement are the better way. A ban is at odds with our values and image as a tolerant and welcoming country to visit and enjoy.
NIMBY nonsense demonstrating a narrow-minded appraoch to a significant contributing factor in the coming tourism revival. The only tourism sector to miss out on the money spent in NZ by freedom campers is the paid accommodation sector: hotels, motels, AirBnB, licensed holiday parks, and so on. The (generally) young “freedom-camper” has saved enough money to buy a car with friends, and travel NZ enjoying our beautiful country and indulge in the delights herein. Staying in a $400 a night hotel, a $150 a night motel or a $50 a night holiday park is not what these travellers who have been attracted to NZ do; but what they do do is eat at local restaurants, pubs, clubs, cafes, they visit local attractions, stay longer than the 7 to 10 day Aussie holidaymaker staying in a hotel, their total spend is greater, and, with few exceptions, they contain the waste they create. Trash attributed to this group by the one-eyed whiners is largely generated by the same wheel-smoking idiots chucking Macca’s detritus out the window of their souped up Nissan- Euroguests have grown up “green” and don’t chuck rubbish. Sure, now and then, one gets caught short, but when you gotta go, you gotta go.