Hawkins George: Identity (Citizenship and Travel Documents) Bill — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee 
Hawkins George: Identity (Citizenship and Travel Documents) Bill — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee 
[Volume:625;Page:20089] 
Hon GEORGE HAWKINS (Minister of Internal Affairs) 
: 
 I move  
That the Identity (Citizenship and Travel Documents) Bill be now read a second time 
. I would like to thank the Government Administration Committee for its consideration of the bill and to thank everyone who took the time to make a submission. The bill has been improved by the committee’s amendments. Part 1 of the bill amends the Citizenship Act which provides for the acquisition and loss of New Zealand citizenship. Under the Act migrants can acquire a grant of citizenship after settling permanently in New Zealand and meeting a number of specified requirements. In the last financial year approximately 21000 people received a grant of citizenship. One of the main purposes in the bill is to increase the standard period of residence in New Zealand for a grant of citizenship from 3 years to 5 years. That time frame will provide a sufficient basis for the assessment of applicants’ suitability for citizenship and commitment to New Zealand. 
The change to the residence requirement received a lot of public comment. Most people were of the view that the 5-year period should not apply to migrants who are currently living in New Zealand. As a result the Government amended the bill to ensure that the change to the residence requirement for citizenship would not apply to people who are already entitled to reside in New Zealand. Applications from those people will be assessed against the existing 3-year residence requirement provided the application is lodged within 5 years of the commencement date. The Government Administration Committee has made a further amendment to those provisions. Citizenship applications from people who applied for a residence permit before the commencement date but whose permits are issued after that date will be assessed against the 3-year requirement. 
The bill currently provides that changes to the requirement for the grant of citizenship will come into force on 1 January 2005 and obviously that will have to be changed. Supplementary Order Paper 359 in my name amends the bill so that those changes will come into force on the commencement date. 
Proposals to amend the citizenship by birth provisions have been incorporated into the bill at the select committee. From 2006 a person born in New Zealand will be a citizen only if at least one of the person’s parents is a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident. Restricting citizenship by birth will ensure that citizenship and its benefits are limited to people who have a genuine and an ongoing link to New Zealand. That proposal does not breach the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act or the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. No child will be stateless as a result of that proposal. The New Zealand Citizenship Act provides that every child born in New Zealand will be a citizen if he or she would otherwise be stateless. The select committee has made a change to the proposal to make it clear that a child found abandoned in New Zealand will be a citizen by birth if investigations have failed to establish the identity of at least one of the child’s parents. 
Part 2 of the bill amends the Passports Act which provides for the issue renewal and cancellation of New Zealand travel documents. In the last financial year the Passports Office of the Department of Internal Affairs issued approximately 390000 New Zealand travel documents. The bill reduces the maximum validity of passports from 10 years to 5 years. The purpose of that proposal is to reduce the likelihood of the successful forgery of New Zealand passports. The longer a passport series has been in circulation the greater the chance is that the security features will become outdated and easily altered or duplicated. International experience shows that a 10-year period is now too long because counterfeiting techniques have become more and more sophisticated. 
The bill also provides for the Minister of Internal Affairs to cancel or refuse to issue a New Zealand travel document in cases where national security is threatened. That provision could be used only in very specific situations where the danger to national security cannot be averted by other means. It also contains a number of procedural safeguards. The decline period is restricted to 12 months and the person denied the travel document may appeal the Minister’s decision to the High Court. The select committee has amended those provisions so that when notifying a person of the decision to decline a travel document the Minister must provide the person with reasons for that decision. That is in accordance with the principles of natural justice. 
An important amendment in the bill is the provision for the disclosure of New Zealand travel document information for border security and the processing of passengers. That will provide for the disclosure of information for Advance Passenger Processing. That procedure identifies unauthorised passengers before they can depart for New Zealand by enabling airlines to check the person’s travel document details against an up to date electronic record of passport visa and alert information. Currently Advance Passenger Processing’s effectiveness as a passenger risk management system is undermined because it cannot verify the details of New Zealand travel documents. 
This bill will rectify problems with New Zealand citizenship improve border security and reduce the likelihood of the forgery and misuse of New Zealand travel documents. I commend this bill to the House.