Bakshi Kanwaljit Singh; Tisch LindsayKANWALJIT SINGH BAKSHI (National): Thank you for the opportunity to contribute in the second reading of the Enhancing Identity Verification and Border Processes Legislation Bill. First of all I would like to thank the officials for their support during the select committee process. There were a few issues that were raised at the Law and Order Committee that—as the Minister has just alluded to—had to be tested to make sure that the recommendations were made. What is paramount in this bill is the safety of people and that is what we have been doing in the past 8½ years. National is strengthening how the front-line agencies verify the identity of offenders and share the information across the public protection agencies.There was an inquiry after the escape of Phillip John Smith. He escaped from prison and escaped to Brazil and then he was tracked down from there and brought back. Then a Government inquiry was started and this bill was introduced to Parliament to fix some of the issues that were raised in that inquiry. The bill contributes to the Government's priority of delivering better public services by reducing crime and reoffending. This is again part of the Safer Communities work that this Government has been doing. This omnibus bill aims to strengthen the ability of the Government agencies to perform their functions related to law enforcement including the detention of restricted patients and special patients who are under special care and serving their sentence also.I would like to highlight some of the recommendations that were made by the select committee so that we can understand why these recommendations were made. First of all I would like to touch upon the collection of biometric information from offenders on community work. The bill as introduced did not include the provision that offenders serving community work should have their biometrics collected. But we found it would be consistent for the management of the offenders to make sure that when an offender comes up for community work the person is the right person not somebody else who is presenting for their service. That is why the select committee thought it would be important that people who are serving their sentences through community work should be entitled to give their biometrics.Another point that came up during the select committee process was that if somebody resists giving their biometric samples it can be considered an offence. Three months' imprisonment is the maximum that can be imposed and a maximum $1000 fine can also be imposed in cases where a person is not ready to give his biometric samples.There is the collection of biometric information from prisoners for the wider purpose as I mentioned. The identification and the management of the prisoner are equally important for Corrections. This amendment would ensure that prisoners use the same standard and I would also like to say that it standardises the types of biometric samples collected at all stages. This amendment would ensure that the prisons use the same standard of identity verification so that it is used in other parts of the criminal justice system. It will be consistent and there will not be any difference. So when a prisoner arrives at the police station or at the prison the same kinds of biometrics are collected at all stages.I would also like to highlight a recommendation from the select committee. When somebody is trying to travel overseas particularly when they are on community service they do not have to go and ask for permission to travel overseas if the probation officer gives permission. We understand that it is unnecessary and inefficient to include in the border alert process the offenders who pose as a low risk of flight. In practice probation officers prohibit only a small portion of offenders on supervision from leaving New Zealand. For an offender to be prohibited from travelling they would need to present a risk such as issues caused by absence from a drug and alcohol rehabilitation programme. A probation officer can give permission to travel if he feels that the prisoner or the convict is fit to travel and there is no major risk in any manner.We also recommended that information sharing between the agencies—the judiciary the Police and border customs—is also important. They should be on the same page so that they have information about everyone who is trying to go overseas. If a person has been convicted for any reason they should be able to identify the person and it can be alerted to Corrections that this person is trying to escape from New Zealand unless they have got permission.These select committee recommendations were recommended by majority. The Green Party had their own minority view. They had some concerns about this. But overall the majority of the members of the select committee were—The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Lindsay Tisch): I am sorry to interrupt the honourable member. The time has come for me to leave the Chair.Debate interrupted.The House adjourned at 6 p.m.