Cosgrove Clayton: Arms (Military Style Semi-Automatic Firearms and Import Controls) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Cosgrove Clayton: Arms (Military Style Semi-Automatic Firearms and Import Controls) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:672;Page:18543] 
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE (Labour—Waimakariri) 
: 
 I am sure I am joined by other colleagues on this side of House in complimenting the Minister of Justice who has just resumed his seat on his well-researched dissertation. Obviously he has become somewhat of an expert in this field. I am not and as we proceed through the processes on the Arms (Military Style Semi-automatic Firearms and Import Controls) Amendment Bill the House will look to him to— 
Hon Simon Power 
: I could be an expert witness at the select committee hearings. 
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE 
: He has offered to be an expert witness at the select committee. Without bringing you into the debate Mr Assistant Speaker Roy I suspect that you as a firearms user may wish to consider that option. We look forward to the Minister of Justice appearing before the learned Law and Order Committee. It will be a first. It is difficult enough to get Ministry of Justice officials to appear before the Law and Order Committee even on justice issues so we are reaching a new level of quality with the advice we will receive given the Minister’s commitment to appear before us. I will ensure that the select committee issues an invitation forthwith and I know it will be accepted. 
The Labour Opposition will support this bill with one rider which is that obviously given the select committee process we will want to see that it receives a high degree of scrutiny and that it returns back to this House as a practical bill that will do what it is intended to do which is to allow those folks who are law-abiding citizens to continue to be able to participate in their chosen legal activity or sport whilst also protecting the public from those who would engage in nefarious activity in respect of the importation of those items. I will not labour the point. 
I note the Minister’s point that there appears to be a safeguard for legitimate users who are turned down in respect of the importation of military-style semi-automatic firearms. They can appeal to the District Court. The question I have is whether that will indeed provide a safeguard because that is a significant and expensive process through which ordinary law-abiding Kiwi users will have to go—appearing before the District Court appealing to it and hiring lawyers et al. at great expense. 
I note that this bill is about protecting the public interest. I have seen the blog traffic as I am sure other members of Parliament have from various associations representing firearms users. Those organisations will be making submissions I am sure to the select committee and we will welcome that—and I see my colleague on the select committee Shane Ardern nodding. Firearms issues generally come with a reasonable amount of controversy. I note that a constituent in my electorate the principal of Woodend School Graeme Barber who is a collector and user of firearms—for legitimate purposes obviously in sport—is quite an authority on these issues. I would say that he and his organisation—not the school of course but his rifle club—will make submissions. Obviously we would welcome Mr Barber as an expert in this field to look at these matters. 
I make a couple of further points. A trend has developed with this Government whereby legislation in respect of law and order and justice has been wheeled into the House in rather a piecemeal way. I think the point has been made that we have leapt from double-bunking issues to the “three strikes” legislation. In the case of Mr Hide and Mr Garrett of course we have had one strike two strikes and three strikes and Mr Hide is now out. So I suppose that that is one benefit in political terms of that legislation. We look forward to him hastening his departure from this Chamber. 
In terms of legislation from this Government there does not appear to have been a coherent and coordinated plan on justice matters. There has been a lot of populism I would say especially from the ACT Party and its former leader as that party clasped together with the Sensible Sentencing Trust. But when we look at the overall issues in respect of justice—offending the prevention of offending incarceration rehabilitation and the whole package of goods—we see that there has never been a coherent strategy or plan from this Government. 
Apart from populism—and I bundle this bill into that as well although I acknowledge that this bill is a practical measure—there has never been a coherent strategy or plan. Instead there has been the next populist idea that Rodney Hide or David Garrett before he acquiesced under cover of darkness or some other person from the Government pulled out thinking it would grab a nice headline and decided to bang through because it will get their party up a couple of points in the polls. 
There are some very very serious issues in the whole criminal justice sector that need to be addressed— 
John Hayes 
: You need more than a couple of points Clayton. 
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE 
: —especially by that member over there. He would know of course; he would know indeed. The passing of piecemeal bits of legislation like boy-racer legislation on the one hand from the Minister of Police and serious pieces of legislation like this on the other hand does not reek of a coherent plan or strategy. It reeks I think of the sort of rugged popularism that the ACT Party and National have been engaged in ad nauseam. 
I acknowledge of course that the Minister of Justice has done a significant amount of work in respect of bringing justice legislation into this House. That is the positive. But I also acknowledge the process by which that legislation has been brought to the House and the restrictions on select committee processes. I am referring to the Law and Order Committee not being able for instance to get corrections advice on corrections bills or justice advice on justice bills; the total abrogation of select committee protocols in respect of submitters; the abuse of parliamentary protocols in terms of members of Parliament; and select committees not being able to put in minority reports or even have a minority view. 
But that I take it is in the past and the Law and Order Committee has a new chairperson Jacqui Dean. To give her credit she has acted to date in a way that her predecessor never did in trying to bring I think some parliamentary process back to that committee to allow democracy to flow to allow members to have a fair go and to allow submitters their right to submit and have an opinion. So in fairness I acknowledge the new chairperson of the Law and Order Committee. God help us—it would not take a huge leap of faith to do better than did the last chairperson we had. 
In essence Labour will support this legislation. I am sure there will be as I have said some controversy and some concern from legitimate users in relation to this bill. Our view is that that should bubble up in the select committee and that those people should be listened to. But at the end of the day my view is that we have a duty in this House—on balance of course—to protect those individuals and our community from those who would do wrong and endanger others either violently or in practice—the criminal elements. But again it is the role of this House to balance that against those people who are in a sporting sense and a hobby sense legal and legitimate users 
At the end of the day in my view safety comes first. We have seen some of the difficulties the police have had in respect of these firearms. We note that there is uncertainty and it is the role of this Parliament to clarify in legislative terms any uncertainty that exists. That has to be a good thing for legitimate users and for those who are charged to protect our communities—the police. 
The Labour Party will support the legislation and I am sure I am joined by the chair of the Law and Order Committee in requiring and welcoming a full and open submission process so that all stakeholders in the sector if you will will have the opportunity and time to make submissions. That process will ensure that the legislation that comes back to the House is appropriate and practical in its nature and that it gives effect to the aims and objectives that I would have thought at least most parties in the House—some odd ones maybe might take a different view—would support and would accept are for the protection of our communities the protection of our police and the rights of those folks to act legitimately in their chosen sport or activity.