Wong Pansy: Aviation Security Legislation Bill — Second Reading 
Wong Pansy: Aviation Security Legislation Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:641;Page:11497] 
PANSY WONG (National) 
: 
 National supports the second reading of the Aviation Security Legislation Bill. I was somewhat surprised by the very subdued tone of the usually exuberant Minister for Transport Safety the Hon Harry Duynhoven during his second reading speech. But I acknowledge his gratitude towards the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee because once again I am happy to say this bill has come back to the House in much better shape than it was in when it was first referred to the select committee. 
I want to pick up on one of the quite significant amendments that were made at the select committee related to the seizure of prohibited items. The select committee listened to the very sensible submissions made by the various airline and airport companies concerned about the impracticality of retaining and keeping a record of the items that are being seized. I must say that it is quite an eye-opener to listen to details of the types of items that have been seized by security officers from passengers who tried to take the items on board. We were told that if airline and airport companies have to keep track of and retain those items then an almost warehouse-sized storage space would have to be built around the airport facility. So we agree that there is a problem and recommend that those items should be able to be confiscated and destroyed. 
In agreeing to that I want to pose a challenge and raise a question for the Minister. He informed the House and the public that he is confident this legislation will now be implemented successfully but one would have thought that the officials would have consulted with major operators when they first drafted the bill and would have been informed about the quite significant scale of the problem of keeping confiscated items. The fact that it was left to the select committee to pick up this issue and make amendments raises a question as to how much consultation has gone on and whether that practical advice has been taken on board in addressing this legislation. 
Now that the select committee has made the recommendation and it looks like this bill will pass through the House and become law it becomes increasingly important to have a promotional or educational campaign targeting the travelling public particularly about the risk if those items are taken on board. I think it is not the first time. Quite often when I have boarded a plane I have witnessed the anxiety anguish anger and frustration of the travelling public when foods are seized. Somehow they were not informed or they have forgotten and it has slipped their minds and they have packed that stuff in their carry-on luggage rather than in the baggage they have checked in. So it seems to me that we need to protect our staff and the security officers particularly because they become the face of the people who confiscate items and we need to avoid having the public take out their anger on those people I think that the Minister should take that on board and make sure that those staff are very well resourced and that we have a very smart public campaign to remind the public to avoid having that stress and antagonism that may arise in those circumstances. 
But I want to spend some time highlighting the particular issues that New Zealand has come to grapple with for the first time. I acknowledge a submission that was made by the Sikh community by the Sikh centre. I have read in various links to overseas websites in the United States and Britain quite a lot of material relating to the issues facing particularly I think the Sikh Muslim and other communities with regard to what they sometimes consider appropriate. For example the Sikh community has what it calls the five Ks. The turban is something that I think New Zealanders are now familiar with. Another one is that the Sikh male carries a kirpan which is a Sikh ceremonial sword about 6 inches long. They carry it from when they are young as it is of religious significance. In the United States and in Britain quite a lot of work has been done on the code of conduct and protocol that has been issued and agreed to between the security authorities and the Sikh community on how they can come to an understanding and not compromise aviation security and at the same time take into account the sensitivities of individuals and respect them. 
I will go into the background a little more because it takes quite an effort for ethnic or religious minorities to make a submission to Parliament and some politicians and other lobbyist groups might take this for granted. First of all how does the information about the invitation for the public to make submissions to Parliament happen? Usually the advertisement appears in what we call an English-speaking mainstream newspaper so that is another barrier for some of the minority communities to even know that such legislation is being considered. 
The background of the New Zealand Sikh community’s involvement with this legislation has happened in two quite high-profile cases. One was in regard to a group of visiting Sikh priests who were on board a small plane from Auckland to I think Napier. The other passengers became quite alarmed and the Sikhs’ kirpans were confiscated and packed away but because nobody knew how to handle the situation it caused quite a lot of ill feeling. The second case took place on a plane from Queenstown where some passengers raised the alarm and a young Sikh man was asked to leave the plane. I think one can imagine the embarrassment that man would have experienced on being told to leave the plane. But I am also positive that after those high-profile cases the Sikh community has been very proactive when I have met with them. I have introduced them to the various airlines concerned and when they have talked things through some improvement has been made in terms of the Sikh community working with airlines in training their staff to understand some of the matters of religious significance of that community. When I invited the community to make a submission I was quite thrilled that the select committee agreed to extend the time line for it to make a submission. 
 I emphasise that the Sikh community in their submission made it very clear that they were not asking for special treatment or exemption. They knew that carrying a kirpan on to a plane is not allowed. So they wanted more publicity and more education both in their community and in the wider community to increase understanding. They also asked that in the case of a person who has forgotten to remove a kirpan when boarding that person should be asked to board through the back of the plane where the removal can be conducted more discretely in a place where they will not be embarrassed. Ideally they also want pilots in a small plane to know exactly how to handle the situation so as not to embarrass people. 
I think this is quite a breakthrough for our ethnic minority communities to be involved in the passage of this legislation and I am looking forward to the debate at the Committee stage.