Size of bike rally surprises Smith
By ALICE COWDREY - The Nelson Mail
BORN TO BE RILED: Sarah Braunstein of Nelson holds a protest sign before the ride from Richmond to Nelson to oppose plans to raise ACC levies for motorcycles.
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The air was thick with motorcycle exhaust fumes as a 550-strong convoy roared through Nelson on Saturday to express distaste for proposed ACC levy hikes.
The riders tooted, yelled, did two-fingered salutes, waved flags and one pillion passenger held a placard above her head reading "down with ACC levies" during the protest, which ended at ACC Minister Nick Smith's office.
The protesters, from all over the South Island, started off at the Richmond Park showgrounds, zapped past Dr Smith's Stoke headquarters, did a loop of central Nelson and then headed back to congregate in the minister's car park.
They rode an assortment of touring and racing bikes, Harley-Davidsons, Triumphs, vintage motorcycles, dirt-bikes and scooters. They kept to the road rules and there was no police presence.
One woman had "I voted Labour" written on the back of her vest, some wore German helmets and others rode with their children as passengers. Under the proposed levies, owners of bikes over 610cc will have their annual ACC levy increase from $252.69 to $745.77. Levies for medium-sized bikes will increase from $252 to $511 and moped owners will face a $257 levy.
During the protesters' arrival at Dr Smith's headquarters, one rider was met with screams of "woo-hoo" after he did a burnout on the concrete near Dr Smith's carport.
About half of the riders squeezed into the minister's meeting room to watch him receive a letter from the protest organiser, Steve Page. Dr Smith welcomed the riders and after a brief speech, answered questions. He said he was surprised at the number of riders who participated in the protest.
"It's not every day I have the Lost Breed in my office," he said.
He told the crowd no final decision had been made on what the levy increases would be because the consultation phase was still open. ACC was "seriously in the financial pickle", he said. "It's fair to say I was a bit taken back and surprised by the scale of the increases by the board when it notified me."
However, Dr Smith said he was also surprised by the increased cost and number of motorcycle accidents in New Zealand. He handed out information sheets to the riders with various facts and figures, including the fact that last year ACC paid out $62 million to care for people injured while on motorcycles.
Mr Page, who is also the president of the Route 6 Motorcycle Club, said the protest was a success and thanked Dr Smith for meeting the congregation.
"I am very proud of the riders. It's the largest turnout [of motorcyclists] to date for Nelson." He had not given a "fat rat's bum" about protesting for anything in the past, but the ACC levies were different.
Annika Ohlson-Smith, whose partner Allan Smith was a member of the Nelson branch of the Ulysses Club, said that it was a great turnout.
She was holding a flag with the club's name and its stuffed mascot, Horatio Hog. "I think it's absolutely awesome. I think everyone who has a tiny scooter in the garage has come out."
One of the older riders was Keith Cranness, 71, who has an 800cc BMW.
He had been riding and competing since the age of 15 and said the the ACC hikes were "ridiculous".
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I own 1 car and 1 4x4, both registered and 1 motorbike. I pay my fair share already commuting every day in the car to work which I pay again though wages not to mention fuel. I don't see why I should have to pay any more for a motorbike I ride occasionally. Who pays ACC for their offroad motorbike, or downhill mountain bike both which has just as much potential for life threatening injuries, even offroader 4x4ing or horse riding, the list goes on. What about all the road cyclists that get knocked off by the same vehicles that knock motorcyclists off. People are too busy trying to get somewhere fast, being distracted and lack of attention while driving. How many of us have suddenly realised that we are a couple of kms down the road and don't even really remember getting there. I could just dump my motorbike for my bike but I would feel even more vulnerable as the scariest part of my downhill mountain biking is the return road trip home on it. By the way Kate, a protest is designed to be disruptive eg. bus drivers, airline workers, maori walk over the harbour bridge.
hey Spence,
I appreciate you are going through your midlife crisis right now, but what we are trying to point out is that all you village idiots have managed to achieve is a public demonstration of just how clumsy and dangerous you are on your motorcycles. Let’s not get too dramatic about the burning car riots Spence. My advice to you – burn your bike instead, you clearly don’t know how to ride it.
i was all for supporting this protest until they proved that they deserve to have levies increased by proving they are incapable of following road rules and showing respect to all road users. By using intimidation and deliberatly pushing other road users off the road to prove their point has done nothing more but lose people who were sympathetic to the rises. Next time i will not wait when i get a green light i will go and any stupid idiot who run a red will be in the wrong and show why ACC levies are being raised
Sorry folks but I think you should pay the increased amounts - I don't ride a bike so why should I pay more ACC for you hobby/choice of vehicle? The National Party is all for user pays - you are the users of bikes so pay. It is still a cheap form of transport. If you really don't like it get a push bike!
Well done! Looking forward to the protest at parliment at noon on the 17th of November!
Lets hope some traffic control bothers to turn up.
kate and fred
What happened here was a protest, hear that, protest!! it was designed to focus the attention of numpties like you (who are obviously for increased levies, not only on bikes but wage earners, and even accident victims themselves) You need to build yourselves a bridge and get over the fact that you had to wait 20 minutes while a group of people stood up for themselves. And count yourselves lucky we dont live somewhere where quiet protests like these turn into car burning riots. Get over yourselves!
Although he's unlikely to find any in Nelson, Dr Smith would do well to come north once in a while and hand out his leaflets to asian car drivers. Every single altercation I have had on a motorcycle has been when an asian has forgotten to concentrate/look where he's going, and has attempted to kill me with his vehicle.
Congratulations on a fantastic show, and good luck with your protest.
We have been campaigning here in London, England for over 1 year to get unjustified parking levies scrapped for motorcycles and scooters, we started small (a few hundred riders) we are now over 6,000 and we have a protest every month, progress is being made.
We have a website if you are interested with videos and photos from out demonstrations, http://www.notobikeparkingtax.com
Our next one will be on the 31st October 2009 entitled "Scare the TAX out of WestmOnster" .. WestmOnster being Westminster City Counil.
So we send our luck for your campaign and hope you will be successful, and not have to continue the protests, may the next one be a victory parade.
Well as it happens the police were advised several days in advance but didn't bother to turn up as far as I could see, even when specifically requested to do so by the organisers. As I understand they advised that we should move the protesters through as quickly as possible so as to minimise congestion, which would have gone on for hours otherwise. We did the best that we could in the absence of any proper traffic management by the authorities.
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Just wondering if it is at all possible to write a more biased, unresearch, propoganda-based article if you tried?