Ngaro Alfred: Returning Offenders (Management and Information) Bill — In Committee Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeNgaro Alfred: Returning Offenders (Management and Information) Bill — In Committee Third Reading[Sitting date: 17 November 2015. Volume:710;Page:8145. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]ALFRED NGARO (National): There were a number of comments made about this bill. One of them which was of interest during the second reading was a comment by Mr Shearer with regard to the fact that the events of tomorrow Thursday will be “Con Air”. He talked about the aspect of a number of offenders who will be returning from Australia back to New Zealand as well.If one thinks about that movie Con Air it is an interesting story. In that story a 1997 American action film a hundred of the most serious offenders in the United States were on a plane going to a detention centre but inside there was one Cameron Poe. He was an army ranger who unfortunately through a situation and a circumstance found himself convicted of manslaughter. So out of a hundred there was one who was there and there was Vince Larkin who was the US Marshal who was there to try to save the day for this one offender.I think that the movie proves the point of some of the comments that have been made by the Opposition which is that it is true to say that there will be some of those detainees who do deserve justice—who have possibly been unjustly imprisoned or detained for whatever reason. We on this side in the Government also understand and recognise that. However we also want to recognise that inside of that there are a number who for their own circumstances and some outside of them are put in that situation where they have offended and have in a sense broken the law.This bill has been rushed through as we know because of the changes in the Australian Migration Amendment Act 2014 which amends the old Migration Act 1958 that mean character and general visa cancellations mean that we have now got this rushed aspect. Previously there had been up to 80 to 100 offenders returning to New Zealand; now the estimated forecast is up to 250 to 300—hence the reason why we have had to move to urgency.The comments across—and I know even from New Zealand First that Denis O’Rourke has been in favour—are that the principles fundamentally have been right. I just want to comment on one thing that I think has been raised in regard to the question: when these offenders return what provision will be made for them? This is called the Returning Offenders (Management and Information) Bill. In other words it is a bill that is particular in its cause and purpose to ensure that when they do arrive we ensure that there is supervision and monitoring in place in that process. However they will still be subject to the conditions that mirror those in the Parole Act of 2002. Therefore they will still need to go to a probation officer who will ensure that their living and working arrangements are appropriate and also whom they associate with.The other thing that is important is that those offenders who return to New Zealand will be able to access the prisoners’ aid and rehabilitation that has been talked about such as from the New Zealand Prisoners Aid and Rehabilitation Society Inc. and the services that it offers. The last thing that I want to say is that the Ministry of Social Development will ensure that they receive all the Government support that they are entitled to. We have talked about 5 days which is part of a period to be able to reintegrate back in again but they will still have those support services that we think are important.This bill has been rushed into urgency because it does meet a need of safety and concern for all New Zealanders not least all those who are offenders who are returning not just from Australia but from other parts of the world. The bill is intended to be able to ensure that we have a regime of supervision that monitors them in such a way that if there is any repeat offending that can be dealt with and at the same time there is an appropriate process to lead them on to hopefully being good citizens who contribute to New Zealand as well. We believe that this bill is right. The monitoring and review by the Justice and Electoral Committee in 2 years is appropriate rather than having a sunset clause. So I do commend this bill to the House.