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I think the idea of increasing the time period when an applicant can be considered for citizenship from 3 years to 5 years is a very good point in so far as citizenship of New Zealand is a matter of great privilege. Having that extension of time allows us to ascertain the value of somebody who wishes to partake of New Zealand citizenship. There are all too many cases of individuals coming over here who sometimes want to become New Zealand citizens just to have a backdoor way of getting into Australia. That is a privilege that New Zealanders rightfully have and want to maintain for themselves. In terms of assessing whether applicants are of good character I would like to see a strengthening of the provisions regarding applicants with serious criminal convictions or who have had 5-plus years’ imprisonment and so on who generally will not be granted citizenship. There is no legitimate reason I can think of for inviting criminals from overseas who want to partake in the citizenship rights of this country. Obviously it would have to be considered on a case by case basis depending on the laws of other lands. However I think such provisions would provide a very good screening process and during the select committee process I would like to see them extended and tightened up a little bit further. 
Some people have made the comment that they do not see any need to have a law requiring applicants to take an oath at a public ceremony. If people cannot be bothered to get out of their homes get off their butts and say that they want to become citizens of this country then quite frankly why should we be bothered to give them that privilege. It is a privilege to be a New Zealand citizen. Countless people around the world testify to the fact that they want to come here. They want to live here. To have somebody stay here for a little bit of time hand over a bit of money and then just whoops-a-daisy become a citizen of this country is pathetic. We ought to instil a sense of pride and I think taking an oath is the least people can be expected to do to gain citizenship of this country. 
New offences for unlawfully issuing or removing a citizenship document have been created with a maximum of 10 years in jail or a $50000 fine and the maximum penalties for existing citizenship offences are increased. That all goes to the integrity of citizenship. It has been mentioned that there is no reason for the validity of passports to be reduced from 10 years down to 5 years. I had the same idea myself until the time when I had a look at how passports are made and saw just how quickly they can be forged by people overseas. We need to keep up with technology. The bad guys are catching up very quickly and a 5-year window of opportunity would shut some of that down. 
We do not want visitors coming here abusing the generosity of our taxpayers and having babies at our expense—babies who are then provided with citizenship as a bonus. That loophole has been closed and this bill will extend that. We want to have a look at counterfeit passports to ensure that they are not easier to make. We want to take a look at who we are inviting into this country particularly with the threat of terrorists and perhaps of Israeli agents as well. We want to maintain the integrity of our passports. 
Finally I want to say that the contribution of the disembodied Green member Keith Locke who would advance the most libertarian social agenda while also holding the most socialist economic views strikes me as being rather absurd. He presumably wants public anarchy funded by socialist tyranny but that is another issue. On behalf of United Future I say that we wholeheartedly support this initiative of the Government. We look forward to seeing the bill at the select committee possibly with a few amendments to make it more rigorous. This is fine legislation in the making.