Little AndrewHon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister of Justice): Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker. It's a pleasure to take a call on the Maritime Crimes Amendment Bill and to acknowledge—as indeed the Rt Hon Winston Peters did—that this is actually a very important piece of legislation. It does a number of very important things not the least of which is that it enables us to ratify a protocol to a very important international treaty that we first signed up to in 2005. Having now got our ducks in a row—in fact we got our ducks in a row some time ago—it is a bit of a surprise that this legislation wasn't passed under the previous Government when it had ample time to do so.This deals with threats posed by the potential for terrorism activity at sea against ships and also platforms as well. In this day and age every nation State has to be getting itself prepared and alert to the varied and increasing threats of terrorism being expressed whether on the high seas or on things like oil-drilling platforms and the like. So this bill is very important and will play a very important function in terms of New Zealand being able to provide protection to itself to its citizens and indeed to visitors to these shores.We know that it also makes it very clear—and this is one of the things that came out of the earlier consideration of the bill—that legitimate protest activity is fully protected. So I can say to those who were concerned that the provisions of this bill consistent with the international treaty that we'd signed up to and the convention that we'd signed up to would be used against those who were expressing their opposition to the activities of corporates or activities at sea—whether it was drilling or whether it was in whatever form—that those protest activities continue to be not only legitimate but protected in this legislation. This is aimed at activities or threats—for example the carriage of arms or of nuclear chemical or biological weapons by vessels at sea—that can be used to threaten a nation State its population or indeed innocent seagoing citizens around the world. We must have legislation that affords that protection.One of the other important things it does is—in order to be effective it does a very unusual thing for us but it is allowed under the treaty—to extend New Zealand's jurisdiction beyond its conventional 12-mile limit. So the enforcement of New Zealand law—specifically this law which is about protecting vessels and fixed platforms—is permitted as a result of this bill and as a result of ratifying the treaty that it's part of so that we can provide proper enforcement against the threats of terrorist activity that might be waged through ocean-going vessels.So it is right that those sorts of measures are given appropriate scrutiny in this House and this—the final opportunity for this House to give that scrutiny—is our chance to draw attention to those very important aspects and also then to highlight just the important role that this country will play in this neck of the global woods to make sure that every effort towards counter-terrorism is being taken.We have seen activities on the high seas. We've seen piracy off the coast of Somalia which was actually some years ago—that is I echo the sentiments of the Rt Hon Winston Peters who said Look we know what's been going on in other parts of the world. Why would we not have acted earlier? Why would this not have been given a level of urgency as it passes through all stages of this House to here—the third reading?" So I'm very proud to be part of a Government that has stepped up has seen the importance of this legislation and knows how important it is. The Government of the day provides security and protection to its citizens and to those innocent overseas citizens who visit our shores and we take every step we can to make sure that that security and protection is in place. So this bill is very important in that regard.I want to refer specifically to a couple of provisions that this bill covers off. One is that it of course not only relates to actions—for example the actual carriage of biological chemical and nuclear weapons or the threat to use a ship in a violent way—but also covers the threat to use a vessel in that sort of way.Sitting suspended from 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.Hon ANDREW LITTLE: Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker and it is a great pleasure to return to the House to continue hopefully where I left off.As I was saying before we were interrupted this bill is important because it allows us now to ratify international treaties that were signed in 2005 and in the obvious circumstances of the growing incidences of terrorism on the high seas. We saw the acts of piracy usually off the coast of Somalia and other parts of the world as well. The world community got together and said "We have to have better protection and better laws to do this." So in 2005 the relevant international treaties were signed. For some mysterious reason it has taken us this long to pass the legislation that enables us to ratify that treaty so that we can take the remedial measures and the active measures that provide the protection to those in or near New Zealand waters that they need against terrorism.As I said before the dinner break one of the interesting aspects of this legislation is it will enable New Zealand effectively to extend its jurisdiction beyond the 12-mile limit and have a law that applies for the protection of people on vessels or at least use the law to stretch out to people with a nefarious intent who are motoring their way through the waters that we don't presently have territorial jurisdiction over. So it has that important aspect to it.What it allows New Zealand to do is to extend its jurisdiction beyond those outer limits providing that there is an offence that is committed against or on board a New Zealand ship—or on a fixed platform like a drilling rig or it could be some of the production vessels that are sitting off the coast of Taranaki at the moment—and where the alleged offender is a New Zealand citizen or a New Zealand resident or a Stateless person but who has a plan to act improperly towards New Zealanders and their interests. So that's an important thing that ought to be brought to the attention of the House on this final occasion that this bill passes through the House.As I said the bill implements the obligations that we've already signed up to in the 2005 protocol to the Rome Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation—don't ask what the anagram for that one is Madam Deputy Speaker because that will be horrifying.The other thing that I think is important to it because it was one of the fears expressed by many people is that this type of counter-terrorism protection could be used to suppress legitimate justified protest activity. On this side of the House we would not pass a piece of legislation that allowed that to happen. Fortunately as this bill has passed through all stages of the House there has been a consensus between members of the House that that is also a protection that ought properly to appear in this bill and it does very much so to ensure that someone undertaking a legitimate protest activity—which will be noticeable which will be visible which may be seen by some as aggressive—is not captured by the crimes and offences spelt out in this piece of legislation.It is of course the case that this bill provides offences not just in relation to the doing of particular acts—the carrying of biological chemical and nuclear weapons at sea or using a vessel to cause harm—but actually merely threatening to do those things is an offence under the Act and we want those things to be caught because that will help the enforcement agencies to do that. Of course the other thing it allows is for the authorities to go after fugitives who have committed offences against the particular Rome convention that I talked about. All those things are covered by the legislation as well.This is important legislation. It allows New Zealand to hold its head up high in the community of nations that are serious about counter-terrorism measures on land but also under this bill at sea."