AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND — Auckland mayor John Banks thinks that the sight of shirtless women riding motorcycles is absolutely unacceptable. But he can’t find any laws against it – which means that today’s annual Boobs on Bikes will once again titillate, amuse, delight, and infuriate those who see, hear, or think about it.“In a perfect world, we wouldn’t have Boobs on Bikes in Queen Street. But we don’t live in a perfect world,” Banks observed to the New Zealand Press Association.

Banks is no fan of the yearly parade of topless porn performers and other women who wind their way through his city while riding motorbikes and riding in cars. He thinks they set a bad example for others and represent a fall from Christian self-control and dignity.

“I’m very aware that in these post-Christian times, in this slack and ill-disciplined society, holding up a bylaw around what is decent and what is not will be difficult,” he concluded, resigning himself to the inevitable. In addition to any religious sentiments he may harbor, the idea of the parade offends him because, as he sees it, “I have always been opposed to the objectification of women.”

Event organizer and Erotica Expo promoter Steve Crow doesn’t see the annual celebration as being about objectification of anyone. “As with any event,” he opines, “there are those who object or find it offensive, but the overwhelming majority of people are supportive.”

Judge Nicola Mathers ruled yesterday that today’s sixth-annual lunch-time Boobs on Bikes, which heralds the arrival of Crow’s Erotica Expo, is free to take place.

Auckland City Council member Cathy Casey in not pleased with Mathers’ ruling and has threatened to collect together some of her female friends, all of whom will lie across the street and order to block the path of the female porn stars, erotic performers, and everyday women who hope to parade down Queen Street in open-top cars and motorcycles.

Much to Casey’s frustration, Mathers indicated that topless women are not per se offensive and that it is not her job to legislate morality but, rather, to determine the law – which she says does not restrict the women from cruising through town with their tops off. “It may well be that the parade is tasteless,” she admitted, “but, equally, it may be that in a more mature society, the vast majority might consider it harmless.”

At issue for Casey and others who find the idea of bravely breasted women upsetting is a new council bylaw and the council’s decision to deny the group a parade permit because it views the event as “offensive.”

Mathers indicated that however offended the council might be, the police department does not appear to share its sensitivity to female flesh – nor do the 80,000 – 100,000 viewers who gather to gawk. “That leads me to the view that the bylaw is uncertain and/or unreasonable in the way it refers to offensive,” she explained, wondering later whether the bylaw may illegally restrict rights guaranteed under the country’s Bill of Rights Act.

Regardless, Banks mourns the event, citing 2,000 anti-parade mails as evidence that not everyone supports free expression that doesn’t require a shirt. “I find it really sad,” he told the New Zealand Herald. It says a lot about New Zealand and more about society.”

Upon hearing Mathers verdict, Banks is said to have turned to council member Casey and reminded her, “You threw down the gauntlet. I picked it up. Have fun.”

Given that the weather forecast promises cool and breezy weather, Casey’s outrage may be directed against a smaller number of proudly topless women than in previous years.

Regardless of the weather, Crow says he’ll take the matter to the country’s Supreme Court if need be. “It was a victory for freedom of expression,” he says of Mathers decision. “It was a victory for common sense. I mean, we are in the 21st century. 100,000 people turn out to watch it. Why did it ever go to court?”

Family First National director Bob McCoskrie offers a possible answer to Crow’s rhetorical question. In McCoskrie’s opinion, if the Bill of Rights allows women to go topless for the parade, then it’s just another effort to destroy families and morality. “This is a free-for-all now,” he insists. “Any grubby parade can now happen on the street.”