Editorial: Guy Fawkes comes good

OPINION: Well done New Zealand.

Three years after rules around fireworks sales were tightened, it seems the public has finally got the message after one of the quietest Guy Fawkes periods in memory.

Two house fires and a couple of small scrub fires were the only incidents across the country positively linked to Guy Fawkes.

It was 2006 when, after a particularly bad run of fireworks injuries and mayhem, the Government moved to restrict fireworks sales to four days out from Guy Fawkes Day and only then for those aged 18 or more.

The fire service had sought an outright ban on any fireworks outside public displays, but the resulting restrictions seem to have steered a difficult middle road between backyard fun and potential wowserness.

Last year this paper reserved judgment on whether the rules were working after a quiet, soggy Guy Fawkes week.

But last week's lack of fireworks chaos when there was a run of brilliant weather has answered the question over whether regulators got the mix right.

There seems to have been a seachange in the country's Guy Fawkes habits.

Despite fears of hoarding following sales restrictions, fireworks imports were down about 40 per cent on last year, and were less than a third the amount imported in 2006, the last year of unrestricted sales.

This year's 550 tonnes brought in was the lowest in 10 years, and compares with the 1763 tonnes imported in 2006.

It seems to be one of the rare cases where sales restrictions have actually worked to cut back use of a product. Unlike cigarettes and alcohol, which the population cannot seem to do without no matter what the rules, it seems our penchant for pyrotechnics, at least in our own backyard, is waning.

Contrast this with the estimated 6000-strong crowd attracted to the PriceWaterhouseCoopers Fireworks Extravaganza in Morrinsville and similar numbers at Ohaupo's Waikato Fireworks Fiesta over the weekend and it becomes clear that public displays are gaining significant ground over the backyard bash.

It's ironic that the only Guy Fawkes incident of note was that created by those who were presumably old enough to know better. The Whakatane Kiwanis were left red-faced and two people with minor burns after their fireworks show went off in 40 seconds rather than the planned 40 minutes. In what must have been every small boy's dream, the whole lot went up in one extended bang with accompanying light show after a firework tipped over and ignited the rest.

If, after years of mutilated and terrified pets, extensive property damage and horrific injuries, that is the worst that Guy Fawkes now has to offer then perhaps the country has turned the corner. Let's hope this continues come the next November 5.

- © Fairfax NZ News