New Zealand's Legal Prostitution

New Zealand was the one place my dad spoke of emigrating to after visiting there and seeing its great natural beauty. I wasn't aware New Zealand had such an enlightened policy on prostitution until I saw this news story:

A New Zealand policewoman has been censured for some unauthorized "undercover" work a stint moonlighting as a prostitute but is being allowed to keep her day job after giving up the night duties.

While prostitution is legal in New Zealand and police are allowed to take approved second jobs, a top officer said sex work and police work don't mix.
. . . .
A spokeswoman for the New Zealand Prostitutes' Collective said that depending on the brothel in which she worked, the police officer could have earned 500 New Zealand dollars (US$312) on a busy night.

Of course, I had to ponder the math on this. Sounds like client-friendly pricing.

UPDATE: "Sexual Self-Employment":

Both the Netherlands and New Zealand have decriminalized the sex trade. According to The Economist, the New Zealand prostitutes are faring far better -- in part because their country took decriminalization much further:

In the Netherlands and Nevada, the business is confined to brothels, which are usually run by businessmen rather than the sex workers themselves.

Clearly, the brothel-masters' status as the sole legal providers of commercial sex enhances their grip on the women who work for them. In New Zealand, prostitutes can fend for themselves. As well as letting them keep all their earnings, this independence gives them freedom to reject nasty clients and unsafe practices.