O'Rourke Denis: Immigration Amendment Bill — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeO'Rourke Denis: Immigration Amendment Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 13 June 2013. Volume:691;Page:11160. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]DENIS O’ROURKE (NZ First):New Zealand First takes people-smuggling and border control very seriously. We understand that New Zealand has international obligations for the fair and humane treatment of refugees which we fully support and we fully accept that this country has a culture that demands such treatment.New Zealand First does not believe that unfair or inhumane treatment should itself be used as a deterrent. But we do believe that people-smugglers and false claimants forrefugee status or just simple queue-jumpers must see that this country will not allow that the act of just getting on a ship or boat or aircraft and coming illegally to New Zealand will mean that this will result in admission to this country. That is the deterrent that we must project. Such people must understand that although they will be humanely treated here they will be held in a secure facility and will not become free in New Zealand unless and until they achieve legal admission and that must never simply be because they have arrived here; and none but the most clear and genuine cases of refugee status should be recognised according to internationally established norms and conventions.New Zealand cannot afford to be seen as a soft touch by would-be people-smugglers or illegal immigrants. New Zealand First sees the secure detention of illegal immigrants especially those in mass arrivals should they occur as being the paramount consideration in this matter. And we in New Zealand First accept that there is in fact a risk that mass arrivals as defined in the legislation are possible here; they have occurred in Australia. We agree that for New Zealand the risk is small for now but what about next year or indeed what about next month?Although the risk is low it is not acceptable for that risk to be ridiculed in the way that I have heard some members do. That is simply foolish. Some members have spoken dismissively about how unlikely it is that boat people could arrive in New Zealand. But in fact small vessels sail across the Tasman Sea with ease and larger vessels have already attempted landings in Australia. Indeed the use of aircraft with transoceanic capability is even more unlikely but still possible for these people.Most New Zealanders do want this risk taken seriously and we want to see adequate preparations made in terms of legislation in terms of regulation and in terms of preparation of facilities capable of ensuring not just humane accommodation once a warrant is issued but also detention in a secure way. It is unfortunate I think that Labour and the Greens do not seem to take these risks seriously enough and we in New Zealand First think that National in Government in this bill is not doing enough about it either.As I have said deterrence in the way that I have described it is an important element to discourage mass arrivals by boats and all vessels with the capability to reach New Zealand. Therefore although the amendments proposed by this bill will be supported by New Zealand First in principle they fail in one vital respect and that is that they will not mean that adequate secure facilities will be established to ensure secure detention for illegal mass arrivals should they occur. Supplementary Order Paper 219 in the name of Winston Peters would have added the necessary additional provisions and I will refer to that again in a moment.New Zealand First has the most consistent stance of all political parties on border control. We have what I would call a strict regime approach to the whole issue of immigration which we think is currently far too lax in too many ways. It is not just about illegal immigrants as I have said but also about allowing a much too generous intake of family reunion and especially parent category migrants into New Zealand.Because of China’s one-child policy the Chinese can make excessive use of the centre-of-gravity policy allowing young skilled Chinese immigrant couples whom we do want to bring in both sets of parents and we should place a country-specific cap on their numbers. Currently the ratio is that these people are 120 percent of Chinese skilled immigrants when the ratio for other countries is around only 24 percent. These older immigrants need only 10 years’ residence to get full New Zealand superannuation and will also get the benefits of free health care ACC and so on.This Government’s policies about immigration generally in respect of both illegal and legal immigration are far too lax. This is not what New Zealanders want. Nobodycould have any confidence in the immigration policies of Labour or the Greens either if indeed they actually have comprehensive policies at all. But New Zealand First is especially concerned in respect of all cases of illegal entry and more especially again if New Zealand is faced with illegal mass arrivals in the future. If it means that perceived but not actual non-compliance with international convention is the result then so be it because we in New Zealand First see New Zealand’s interests first and as the priority rather than the soft approach that other parties would foist upon us.In this day and age this matter is at the forefront of the protection of New Zealand and the integrity of our borders. New Zealand First will not tolerate that situation. It will not accept the many and various excuses that some people give for their illegal entry. It wants to see the maximum effort made to fight back at illegal people-trafficking with all the criminal usages that it involves. We also know that if we adopt a soft approach we will not be doing enough to protect the lives of people who are the customers of those people-traffickers.New Zealand First’s hard-line approach is the one it thinks New Zealand should adopt. But New Zealand First is committed to meeting New Zealand’s international obligations under the United Nations quota programme of currently 750 people less the 150 people gifted for some reason to Australia. Illegal immigration puts a strain on our ability to meet those obligations and too many illegal arrivals are actually queue-jumpers who must not be rewarded at the expense of those who follow the correct process.The bill assumes that New Zealand authorities have the capacity required to deal with a mass arrival as defined in the bill. This means the relevant Government departments and agencies must have the capacity to set up detention centres for illegal refugees soon after their arrival. There is no guarantee that such systems or plans are in place and the bill in its present form places no expectations on the authorities to develop them. New Zealand First deplores the Government’s failure to support Winston Peters’ Supplementary Order Paper which would have ensured that proper systems are in place to deal with mass arrivals should they happen.Parties should set aside their differences and do what is in the national interest. Our national interest is in making the protection of our national borders paramount. Our national interest is in making the protection of our immigration system paramount. Our national interest is also in making the protection of New Zealand’s international reputation paramount. New Zealand’s interests require nothing less. This bill fails to sufficiently deliver a robust approach so New Zealand First will vote against it. We want a much better bill than this.