Dr Alison Vaughan

We've got over 95,000 people signed those petitions.

We've had petitions every year.

We see the same harms.

It's documented in the scientific research.

We've got police, vans, veterinarians.

Everyone is saying we really need to ban this.

SPCA is very concerned about this issue and we keep pushing and we keep trying to look for new angles to approach.

And obviously when that members bill came out, we were heartened to see renewed interest.

So we have commissioned a survey of the public and we found that 63% of the New Zealand public support a ban on the private sale and use of fireworks while still allowing professionally run public displays.

So that's equivalent to about 2.4 million New Zealanders.

So this is very encouraging.

And we're very grateful to the petitioners and everyone who signed, but we were also really grateful to the Petitions Committee for really engaging with the information that was provided.

Is that a change from how it's been in the past?

I think it's a mixed bag, but that was definitely a very positive experience we felt in terms of the committee engaging with the issue.

We have been frustrated in the past.

Well, so the last time that we presented in person, along with many other organisations and presented the same very compelling evidence, and when their committee report came out, it was that they were just okay with the status quo.

And that was enormously frustrating to everyone who had signed and provided evidence.

I think that might just be it.

We've finally reached a tipping point.

We've seen enough fires.