Tue, 17 Nov 2009 5:00p.m.
By Rachel Morton
Motorcyclists angry at proposed big ACC levy increases have protested en masse at Parliament.
There were about 5000 in the protest, and far too many bikes for Parliament grounds to accommodate so the riders parked up at Westpac Stadium and walked the last bit.
They called it a "bikoi".
The proposed levy hikes would see riders of bigger bikes paying close to $750 per bike, per year.
ACC Minister Nick Smith met representatives from several motorcycle clubs. He addressed the crowd after his meeting, but they didn't want to listen, chanting the word "bullshit" over and over.
He persevered, but what he had to say wasn't popular.
"I hear your message, and am unlikely to agree to the scale of increase fees being proposed, but some increase is inevitable."
That inevitable increase though has riders threatening to break the law.
"I'm going to have to become a criminal," says a biker known as 'Wolfie'. "I will ride illegally, I'll do whatever I have to, to carry on being a rider. I'll be going back to old bikes, ones that if they get confiscated I'm not going to cry over, which is dangerous 'cause I've got stuff now that handles well and brakes well."
"More than likely I'd deregister two, and just register one and swap the number plate over," says another biker. "The cop's not going to know the difference between one Harley and another."
Two thousand, seven hundred and fifty submissions have been made to ACC about the proposed levies, 90 percent of them from motorcyclists opposing the hikes.
"The [increases] are going to make it untenable for someone like me, who rides infrequently, to own a bike for a year," another biker told 3 News.
Dr Smith claims more people were killed last year in motorcycle crashes than in the past decade. But motorcyclists say when you take into account the increase in riders, proportionately crashes have decreased - and they won't give up their fight.
Cabinet will decide next year just how big the inevitable levy increases will be. Until then, the motorcyclists will continue to protest.
3 News