O'Connor GregCHILD PROTECTION (CHILD SEX OFFENDER GOVERNMENT AGENCY REGISTRATION) (OVERSEAS TRAVEL REPORTING) AMENDMENT BILLFirst ReadingGREG O'CONNOR (Labour—Ōhāriu): Thank you Mr Speaker. I move That the Child Protection (Child Sex Offender Government Agency Registration) (Overseas Travel Reporting) Amendment Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Justice Committee to consider the bill.Nothing raises the fears and anxiety of New Zealanders more than the knowledge that there are those in our society who for any number of reasons choose to sexually abuse children. These people almost inevitably men range from those with low intellect and poor or non-existent social skills and understanding of boundaries to those who can be described as genuine predators who select their victims and work to place themselves in positions of trust and authority in order to sexually abuse those victims—often family members or those living in their household.As a police detective I dealt with many such offenders—and if I'm honest rather than regarding them as sophisticated manipulative individuals I found the vast majority to be sad socially isolated men poorly equipped to deal with their sexual urges. Also many had been victims of sexual abuse themselves and were perpetually perpetrating the cycle of abuse. I do have to say though that in researching for this bill I wasn't able to find evidence for the oft-repeated claim that all child sex offenders were victims themselves.Sadly the impact on the victims is the same with the lives of these children permanently damaged physically and emotionally especially as often the offending is only exposed some time after the offence is committed with the damage on those victims permanently marring their lives for ever.For this reason society through the criminal justice system treats such offending extremely seriously. Those convicted of such crimes are subject to criminal sanctions which reflect both society's abhorrence of such offending and the need to protect potential victims from such offenders. There exists legislation such as extended supervision orders in the Public Safety (Public Protection Orders) Act to deal with the most serious offenders. But those provisions are limited to those most serious offenders who present an immediate risk. Corrections manage offenders while they're sentenced to them and the worst offenders usually remain with corrections.However Department of Corrections research usually shows that a characteristic in sexual offending is the compulsive behaviour which persists over the offender's lifetime. So it is necessary to ensure that offenders who come off sentence are monitored.It is therefore that desire to prevent further offending and to protect children from such offending that led to the passing of the Child Protection (Child Sex Offender Government Agency Registration) Act in 2016. The purpose of the Act was to establish a child sex offender register that will reduce sexual reoffending against child victims and the risk posed by serious child sex offenders by providing Government agencies with the information needed to monitor child sex offenders in the community—including after the completion of their sentence—and to provide up-to-date information that assists the police to more rapidly resolve cases of child sex offending.A registerable offender is a person who has been convicted for a qualifying offence and has been sentenced to imprisonment or has been sentenced to a non-custodial sentence and has been made subject to a registration order. A person is not a registerable offender if at the time they committed the offence they were under 18.A qualifying offence is a class 1 class 2 class 3 offences as defined in the Crimes Act and cover the full range of sexual offending as defined in the Crimes Act where the victim is under 16 years of age.Of note is that a corresponding registerable offender is a person who as a consequence of a conviction in a foreign jurisdiction for a corresponding offence has been sentenced to imprisonment or essentially would still be eligible for an equivalent child sex offender register in that jurisdiction. The register imposes on offenders reporting obligations of a number of relevant pieces of personal information particularly around his or her address or addresses and importantly the name sex and date of birth of each child who generally resides at the same household of which that offender resides. These provisions are laid out in section 16 of the Act.An important part of the bill—and the basis of this amendment I am introducing today—is the section 21 provision of the Act that the recent offender must have been intending to be away from their registered residential address within New Zealand and 48 hours before they travel provide to police the details of each address in which the offender intends to stay; the dates on which the offender intends at each of those addresses; whether any child will or is likely to reside together with the offender at any of those addresses; and the date the registered offender intends to return to their registered residential address.Under section 21(4) the registered offender can leave New Zealand provided they provide the dates of their travel and the date their intent to return. However unlike such travel within New Zealand the registered offender is currently not obliged to supply police with their intended addresses in the country they will visit and whether or not there will be children at the address.The bill I'm introducing today is a relatively simple one which requires that registered offenders must advise police of the names of all countries they will stay in for more than 48 hours; the addresses they intend to stay in in that country; the date they intend to travel to that country; and the date that intend to leave that country. It also requires them if they do not intend to return to New Zealand to provide details of the country they intend to reside in.The bill also requires the registered offender to provide details of all their passports held including the place of issue and the date of expiry of each valid passport to prevent onward travel.This is a very simple addition to the requirements of the registered Child Sex Offender Register but it does provide protection for potential victims of child sex offenders who travel overseas in the places they will travel. This is a timely bill as international travel resumes and it can be expected that sex tourism in Asia in particular will once again become common.As I outlined at the beginning of my speech the essence of child sex offending is the absolute breach of trust that those who offend against children break. The obvious and most serious breach of trust is against the child victim where the inherent trust children have in adults is an enabler for their offending.Having given context to the issue of child sex offenders I now come to the rationale for this member's bill and the gap in the law it seeks to remedy. Many child sex offenders have absolutely no desire to return to prison—such experience being a particularly harrowing experience as fellow prisoners regularly mete out their own justice to such offenders.Speaking with those involved in administering the register the overwhelming response is that many of those offenders welcome the protection provided by the disclosures they're required to make as it removes temptation by extending the reach of the register—as the bill intends.These offenders who are required to provide the same details to the police as they do in New Zealand will have their opportunities for reoffending reduced. Most importantly New Zealand will be providing the same level of protection to potential child victims outside New Zealand as the current Act provides to New Zealand children.I must note the Attorney-General has concluded that the bill appears inconsistent with section 25 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act; the basis of this is its being intended as an additional punishment. I believe that is not the case. As I have explained the substantive Act and this amendment do in my opinion serve as a layer of security for the child sex offenders by providing them the protection from being in a situation where they will reoffend.I'll also be suggesting to the committee—and by the Police and Corrections—to advise on this bill to ensure it comes back from the committee in the best possible shape to provide the protection for potential child sex victims internationally.The bill should also provide a safety net for offenders by ensuring they are reminded when heading overseas the likelihood of them returning to prison increases if they offend here in New Zealand or overseas.In summary I'm very pleased to be able to introduce the bill which I hope will receive the support of all parties in the House as a strengthening of the primary piece of legislation which is now well embedded not only in New Zealand statutes but also in the minds of child sex offenders whose actions have devastated many lives especially those of their victims and who may be contemplating continuing such offending while overseas.I note that my parliamentary colleague Erica Stanford has had her bill drawn which is very complementary to my bill dealing with notifications to other relevant agencies including Customs and Ms Stanford has graciously agreed to fold her bill into a Supplementary Order Paper which the Justice Committee will work through. Protecting children everywhere from sexual abuse is the goal of every legislator and such co-operation is to be commended. I commend this bill to the House.DEPUTY SPEAKER: The question is that the motion be agreed to.