McKee NicoleNICOLE McKEE (ACT): Thank you Madam Speaker. I stand to speak on behalf of the ACT Party to the Returning Offenders (Management and Information) Amendment Bill. I'd like to start first off by acknowledging the Minister of Justice in the House and hope that all is relatively well in Te Tai Rāwhiti and appreciate the work that has been done by that Minister the Hon Kiritapu Allan in her rohe. And I also appreciate the inclusion that the ACT Party had in being able to have a look at this bill and have some predeterminations before we came into the House to have it all heard under urgency. I did know where I was going to start here but I think I just might change it because there's a few rebuttals I'd like to do to the previous speaker Golriz Ghahraman's comments—those where she talked about mental health issues of those being returned and those people actually not being looked after. I agree with some aspects of the mental health that we need to look at and I will address that in some later speeches but these offenders are being returned and basically going on to parole conditions. That means they are being looked after and if mental health is an issue or there are other needs that is why they will have these conditions placed upon them—so that the Parole Board can help to reintegrate people into society in a better way. Also I don't think that this is about race it's not about colour and it's not about ethnicity. Those that are being returned to New Zealand from overseas from Australia as 501s have committed crime and it doesn't really matter what colour the skin is. It's the crime that counts.ACT stands in support of this bill which we've colloquially called The 501s Retro Bill" because the reality is that it affects more than those deported under Australia's section 501 Migration Act 1958 regime. But this amendment is targeted because of and at one specific individual: the 501 who went to the High Court to have the conditions that were placed on him and the information that was gathered from him destroyed—and that's his photos his fingerprints and his DNA. The appellant was successful in the High Court because there was no ability within the current Act to place conditions or to be able to get these details from him. The retrospectiveness of this Act being made in 2015 means that we do need to ensure that those that were convicted and served a sentence before 2015 are captured in this legislation. And in this particular instance the crime that was committed in Australia occurred in 2012. The man was convicted in 2014 and then in 2019 he was released back to us. Conditions and information were garnered from him and the High Court has decided that it shouldn't have been. Further to this if the Court of Appeal upholds the High Court's decision then a further 40 deportees will be entitled to have their information destroyed too. Officials have indicated to us that 21 of those 40 are considered high-risk individuals and are currently subject to electronic monitoring. So it makes sense to ACT that we support this bill. If a person committed a crime before November 2015 and is getting deported to us now some eight years on for a conviction from a crime that occurred before 2015 then it stands that they have been in prison for over eight years. They must have done something pretty bad to be incarcerated for that long. It also makes sense to ACT to support this bill because if this bill is not passed it means any future deportee from an overseas prison convicted before November 2015 released and deported to New Zealand would not have to undergo a parole-like regime that they would have been expected to participate in if they were released from a New Zealand prison for that same offence. To help this make more sense and maybe for the benefit of the Green Party member here's a rundown on how the Act actually works. New Zealand Interpol receives notification usually in advance of the arrival of a person being deported to New Zealand. New Zealand has an information-sharing arrangement—not an agreement not a deal but an arrangement—with Australia. It's proven to have improved not only the timing of the notifications but also the information that is being shared with New Zealand authorities. This includes names aliases dates of birth summaries of facts and records of convictions. Once Interpol has the information they then share it with Police and Corrections. Police has a register of deported offenders and they update that register. Before the deportee arrives Police will assess whether they meet the "returning prisoner" definition and that means they look at whether or not they were sentenced to one year or more for a crime committed in another country whether they returned to New Zealand within six months of their release from custody overseas and whether they were imprisoned for behaviour that would be an imprisonable offence here in New Zealand. If the criteria I just spoke to is met then the Police prepare a written notification for the offender as to what their obligations are under the supervision regime that will be imposed upon them on their return. Corrections may also apply for interim special conditions before a returning offender's arrival. When the deportee arrives Police are able to detain them either at the airport or within six months of their arrival and require them to provide identifying information like the fingerprints the photographs and maybe even the DNA. The deportee is also served with a notice stating that they are subject to a regime set for them and that they have to report to a probation officer. The term of their supervision will depend on the length of their sentence overseas. These conditions are what would be imposed on a released prisoner undertaking parole conditions if the deportee was sentenced and released from a New Zealand Corrections facility. Standard conditions like reporting to a probation officer and the probation officer being able to direct where a person might live or work or even who they can associate with are part of those orders. Corrections will be able to apply for an extended supervision order or a public protection order while a deportee is subject to the standard conditions under the imposed supervision regime too. This shows to me a type of support for those prisoners. This is a standard practice of management of a prisoner upon release from prison in New Zealand. It has been undertaken since this Act came into effect and the ACT Party supports what we view as its necessary continuance in order to not only reassure Kiwis that serious violent criminals returning from overseas have mitigating actions placed upon them but that they will remain safe from harm as a result. We do have some questions around the speed that this bill is going through in the House and I will address those in my second reading speech. But the ACT Party opposed the House sitting under urgency to hear this bill. Removing the select committee process from the people is not going to be something that we support but ensuring their imminent safety is. So while we don't support the process we do support the bill. Thank you Madam Speaker."