It’s about time we taxed the tourists.
When I first heard of freedom campers many years ago, I just thought “A few people stopping for a few nights at a rest area, what’s the fuss?”
How wrong I was, these guys are essentially too poor to travel, they’re a menace:
Charge each tourist $80 entry fee. Don’t give that to any of the larger cities (Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington(or the Hutts), Christchurch, Dunedin), just all the touristy rural remote locations, Takaka, Westport etc. We’d become more of a wealthy tourist destination, less drunken party destination.
Car Rentals would be up, and as for the dodgy drivers, if they don’t drive on the left hand side, then they need to take a short practical driving assessment.