Hayes John: Border (Customs Excise and Tariff) Processing Bill — First Reading 
Hayes John: Border (Customs Excise and Tariff) Processing Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:658;Page:7125] 
JOHN HAYES (National—Wairarapa) 
: 
 That was a particularly measured speech that reminded me of the radio programme  
Repetition 
 or is that simply a Scrabble word. We heard quite a lot from that member and his colleagues that was quite irrelevant and myopic in its focus though certainly not as prehistoric as the position of the Green Party which will vote against the first reading of this legislation because Mr Hague did not have sufficient time between receiving the bill in its written form and walking here to the House to read it. More nonsense I have not heard. 
I think it is very important that we lift our eyes to the horizon. This Government led by the aspirational John Key was elected to Parliament by the people of this country because the Prime Minister aspires to take this country forward. He wants to lift productivity and he wants to bring our wealth generation up to the same level of the Australians. The Border (Customs Excise and Tariff) Processing Bill modifying our customs and tariffs processing is so important because it will allow economic activity to take place at a far greater rate than has been possible under the current legislation. We are chasing efficiency. All of us have to adopt a New Zealand Inc approach and drive much harder for more efficient arrangements. 
I listened to the comments from my colleague in the Maori Party about Watergate “Helen-gate” “paintergate” and various other “gates” but SmartGate is about improving access to the Australian market for people and for goods and services and the reverse for Australian products coming here. If we can improve efficiency we can drop the cost of compliance and improve efficiency of economic activity. The better we can deliver to our economic engine the more we can grow the wealth for all of us. That is why this legislation is important and why I rise to support it. 
Most of the amendments that relate to border processing and administration will enable New Zealanders and Australians to get through the other country’s border quickly. We will use new technology. It may mean that we use capital to replace labour but we are doing it to improve efficiency and that is important for every New Zealander. The amendments proposed in the legislation are quite minor but yes some systems will be automated and used in place of customs officers. I think there has been consistent confusion in the House this afternoon particularly around questions of biosecurity because those issues are dealt with by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry not by the Customs Service. It does not seem to have been something that has occurred to the majority of speakers here this afternoon. We are here to improve arrangements for the travelling public. 
We will move to biometric technology. This process has been coming for the last 9 years. The previous Government did nothing to advance this cause and I congratulate the Minister on moving forward so quickly after only 10 months in office. Biometric technology will allow New Zealand and Australian passport holders to complete customs and immigration arrangements using an automated system instead of chatting to the friendly person at the arrivals desk when they reach the other country’s border. It is already used widely in Australia and it could have been introduced here if the previous Government had been on its game for the past 9 years which it clearly was not. 
This bill will come to a select committee that I am a member of and I will be looking forward to processing it through the committee by the middle of November. Accordingly because I will have another crack at this cherry I will sit down. I support the first reading of the bill.