Wagner NickyWILDLIFE (POWERS) AMENDMENT BILLThird ReadingHon NICKY WAGNER (Acting Minister of Conservation): I move That the Wildlife (Powers) Amendment Bill be now read a third time. I rise to take this call on behalf of my colleague the Hon Maggie Barry who has overseen the development and the passage of this bill. It is a small but vital modernisation and expansion of the Wildlife Act which is the principal piece of legislation that underpins the Department of Conservation (DOC) and the ability to protect our vulnerable native species. The powers of this Act have not been updated for 60 years and they are no longer fit for modern purpose.The threat that is posed by the smuggling poaching and hunting of our native species is something that we cannot overlook. It is very real and there is a lucrative international black market particularly of our spectacular native geckos skinks and other lizards. I think some of you will remember a very high-profile case where a German was caught leaving the country with more than 40 reptiles geckos and skinks hidden in his underpants. That drew a lot of attention to this topic. These smugglers particularly target young pregnant female lizards and that poses a direct threat to isolated groups or clumps of these species.Over the last few years not only have people smuggled but they have also killed really significant wildlife—whio tūī kereru kea kākā shags petrels oystercatchers herons; any of those. They have also tried to sell blue duck chick egg and eggs. Of course it is not just people. People's dogs have killed kiwi gulls and weka. These species are important to New Zealanders and therefore we need to amend this Act to make sure that we can take action in these circumstances.I particularly would like to thank the Local Government and Environment Committee which has been very ably chaired by Scott Simpson. I think they all worked very hard to make sure that they put this bill through proper scrutiny.I would like to state again just for the record that the amendment bill grants five new powers to warranted—warranted—DOC rangers. The first is the ability to take action to prevent an offence that is about to occur or is in progress. An example of that would be if a DOC ranger came across somebody in the middle of taking geckos perhaps on a rocky outcrop in the middle of Central Otago he or she can take action in a manner that is reasonable to the circumstances to stop it.The second is to temporarily stop persons suspected of an offence to allow investigation. At the moment rangers can stop and search vehicles also vessels bags and other items in transit but they cannot stop people from leaving the scene. They cannot stop them while they ensure they can get evidence of what has actually happened at that scene.The third is to seize a broader range of evidence such as laptops cameras and mobile phones. The Act currently allows rangers to seize only a few types of evidence—if you think back 60 years none of these things probably existed and they do not cover modern technology such as mobile phones and laptops. These things are often absolutely vital to an investigation. They will now be empowered to seize any evidential material as defined in the Search and Surveillance Act 2012.The fourth is to require the date of birth and proof of identification details from suspected offenders. As it stands the Act allows rangers to require a name and address but there is no provision to provide any proof of identity and this is obviously open to abuse. Under section 66 as amended by clause 6 of the bill rangers will be able to require proof of the date of birth name and address. Full-time fish and game rangers will also have this extension of powers and they will now be able to require people to give their date of birth as well as their name and address. Failure to provide these details can result in a fine under the Wildlife Act not exceeding $100000 or a year's imprisonment.The fifth amendment is that this bill grants the power to arrest limited to serious offending against absolutely protected wildlife such as involving illegal hunting killing or export. Access to the power of arrest is limited to DOC's small specialist team of enforcement officers. These are highly trained people. They are often former members of the police force and they carry out the most serious investigations for the department. Officers from other Crown agencies such as the Police Customs and the Defence Force who sometimes collaborate with DOC on joint operations will also receive the power to arrest under the Wildlife Act as a result of this amendment.Finally the bill also modernises some of the anachronistic language within the Act such as the requirement that rangers can call on only males over the age 18 for assistance. It is well and truly time that that was changed.I am pleased the bill has support across the House. I know that David Parker was disappointed in his bid to add a Supplementary Order Paper (SOP) extending some of these powers to the honorary or volunteer fish and game officers. There is a very simple reason why we could not support that SOP. Honorary rangers are at arm's length from the Government; they are not public servants and therefore they are not subject to the Public Service code of conduct which binds DOC and other full-time Crown staff who are employed by the Crown. This is an important distinction and it is the reason why we could not support that SOP from Mr Parker.Despite that disappointment from the Opposition I am pleased that we have attracted broad agreement for this bill. I think it is a good example of the parliamentary process working well. Once again I would like to commend the select committee and the DOC team who helped put this together and to see it through the House. I would also like to thank submitters for the work that they have put into this process.As a result of this bill DOC's heroic front-line staff will have the powers they need to deal with poachers with smugglers with illegal hunters and with anyone else who seeks to take advantage of our natural heritage. Thank you.