Bindra Mahesh: Organised Crime and Anti-corruption Legislation Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBindra Mahesh: Organised Crime and Anti-corruption Legislation Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 20 May 2015. Volume:705;Page:3521. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]MAHESH BINDRA (NZ First): It is a pleasure to rise on behalf of New Zealand First to speak to the Organised Crime and Anti-corruption Legislation Bill. But before I do that I would like to join the earlier speakers in paying homage to the late Ērima Hēnare—and our sympathies to our Labour colleague Peeni Henare.New Zealand First supported this bill to the Law and Order Committee and we will continue to support this bill. This bill aims to strengthen the law to combat organised crime and corruption. Proposals within this bill aim to improve New Zealand’s ability to work alongside international efforts to disrupt and respond to organised crime. We have an enviable reputation for being a corruption-free society. Well that reputation may be a little overrated because low corruption does not mean no corruption at all. We need to keep it that way. We are one of the least corrupt countries in the world and I have seen the whole spectrum having grown up in a country that has the dubious distinction of being one of the most corrupt countries in the world. So I have seen the whole spectrum during my career and I am proud to say that I do now belong to a country that is one of the least corrupt countries in the world.New Zealand First supports the new offence criminalising the acceptance of a bribe by a foreign public official. We are pleased that the new offence also identifies the acceptance of a bribe in return for influencing an official. I know of countries where the payment of a bribe is termed as—the nomenclature varies from country to country. I look at this scenario in a certain country—which I would not like to name and I have just named—where say if you are an importer or an exporter and you expect a large consignment of goods from another country the customs officials are paid a certain facilitation fee which is called “speed money” over there which actually expedites the process of clearing those goods. That is perfectly acceptable in those cultures but we do not want to head that way.New Zealand has one of the strongest reputations globally for being one of the least corrupt countries as I said. We demand honest and fair dealings in all aspects of our lives. We expect our Governments to make laws that combat organised crime and corruption. We expect our law enforcement officers to effectively enact those laws and enforce those laws and advice from the New Zealand Police was welcomed by the select committee. In the select committee process I contributed by way of a couple of queries as to whether this bill will address the ambiguity of various nomenclatures such as in certain countries if it is called “speed money” will that be addressed by this bill or are we going to just stick to our own ways of addressing these things and just leave that and we will be there. I was assured by the officials that we will be addressing those things and we will also be addressing the issue of extradition of those suspects who are involved in these activities in foreign lands.The select committee recommended that a new clause 46B be added so that New Zealand police could take identifying particulars from a person arrested on an extradition warrant. This new clause recognises that police need to have the authority to take these particulars to ensure that they have arrested the right person. We expect our legal system to respond quickly to punish those who are involved in organised crime and corrupt practices. The select committee was grateful to receive advice from the Ministry of Justice and I acknowledge the great work done by the other committee members and also the officials and a large number of organisations and individuals who gave some very meaningful submissions during the select committee process. We have some very good legislation and our Crimes Act will be enhanced by this bill. It will allow New Zealand to ratify the United Nations Convention Against Corruption to which we are signatories. It will also improve our compliance with a number of other international conventions.During this bill’s first reading my colleague Denis O’Rourke welcomed the changes made to the human trafficking offence in the Crimes Act. Peopletraffickers can be prosecuted regardless of whether the crime occurred overseas. The recommended amendment to clause 15 ensures that money-laundering acts committed outside New Zealand will be captured by this bill. Money-laundering is a growing criminal activity and it needs the strongest possible deterrent. The ability to detect and investigate money-laundering is also improved through amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009.The bill amends the Policing Act to expressly provide the police with the power to share personal information with their international counterparts. New Zealand First took special interest in this part of the bill and challenged the select committee to ensure that any information sharing did not infringe on the right to New Zealanders’ privacy. So there will not be this issue of the Privacy Act either. After consulting with the Privacy Commissioner the select committee recommended inserting a new section 95CA. This section requires the Police Commissioner to consult with the Privacy Commissioner when entering into or making changes to agency-to-agency agreements.The bill will bring New Zealand into line with international best practice as set out by the United Nations conventions. It will update the definition of crime involving dishonesty in the Crimes Act to ensure that those convicted of corrupt offences cannot hold positions of trust in the community. New Zealand First supports the committee’s recommended change to clause 6 for foreign bribery penalties. Including fines as penalties for foreign bribery alongside the existing term of imprisonment is a positive move and will strengthen our compliance with the OECD’s anti-bribery conventions. Making fines available as well as imprisonment supports the OECD working group’s findings that monetary sanctions are a fundamental deterrent for economic offences. This bill will remove the dual-criminality requirement for foreign bribery offences in the Crimes Act. New Zealand will be able to effectively prosecute foreign bribery regardless of whether it is an offence in the country where the bribery occurred.In closing as I said earlier New Zealand First is heartened that the bill substantially increases the penalties for bribery and corruption in the private sector. Some offences will now be punishable by up to 20 years’ imprisonment or fines up to $500000. This bill has some very sound and useful clauses. New Zealand First will be supporting this bill.