Startling New Zealand Travel Warning After Launch Of New Tourism Campaign

As New Zealand launches a major tourism campaign targeted at Aussies with the slogan “Everyone must go”, a leading Australian travel compensation lawyer has warned travellers to “go at your own risk”.

Director of Carter Capner Law and former national president of the Australian Lawyers Alliance Peter Carter has revealed that unlike Australia and most other developed nations, travellers to New Zealand cannot access compensation for injury or death due to the fault of someone else.

Victims cannot hold wrongdoers accountable for injuries they encounter anywhere in New Zealand as a result of recklessness or negligence, and court claims for damages against people responsible for injuries or their insurers are prohibited.

Mr Carter said the country has been a “legal liability free zone” since the protections were removed in the 1970s.

“As Australians we naturally assume that because at-fault motorists, workplaces and business enterprises carry insurance and can be pursued for losses resulting from major injuries – it would be the same across the ditch.

“But in New Zealand, careless drivers and businesses are immune from liability for the injuries they cause other people.

“This applies to everyone and includes road accidents, recreational injuries, domestic aircraft accidents and all other situations,” he explained.

“You have no right to compensation and no avenue to take legal action, even if you are flattened on a pedestrian crossing by a 10 tonne truck.”

He said one woman from Queensland who suffered serious spinal injuries when a speeding car crossed on to the wrong side of the road collided with her head-on, “fought the New Zealand legal system for eight years and lost.”

“Australia’s health system will cover you for some medical expenses on your return but you are on your own if you can’t return to full time work.”

Mr Carter urged all travellers to New Zealand to have travel insurance but said “this stops when you set foot on the tarmac” in Australia. The only way to protect against loss of earning capacity from a NZ road accident is to take out income protection insurance before you travel.

He said the absence of accountability in New Zealand means there is no economic incentive - like potential insurance premium hikes or lawsuits - to prevent accidents.

“There is no safety culture and this means road and other accident rates are much higher than Australia, so Australians must visit New Zealand with that knowledge,” he said.

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