Goff Phil: Counter-Terrorism Bill — First Reading 
Goff Phil: Counter-Terrorism Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:607;Page:4619] 
Hon PHIL GOFF (Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade) 
: 
 I move  
That the Counter-Terrorism Bill be now read a first time. 
 This bill reflects the need for New Zealand in a new more dangerous era of international terrorism to ensure that we have a comprehensive legislative framework in place to help to prevent and to deal with terrorist offending. This bill complements the Terrorism Suppression Act which came into force on 18 October 2002. That Act put in place legislative powers enabling New Zealand to ratify international conventions on the suppression of terrorist bombing and the financing of terrorism and to implement Resolution 1373 of the United Nations Security Council passed following the World Trade Center bombing on 11 September 2001. 
This bill allows New Zealand to ratify the final two of the twelve conventions on terrorism passed by the United Nations that were not already implemented by New Zealand. Those conventions relate to the physical protection of nuclear material and the marking of plastic explosives. The bill makes it an offence to improperly deal with or obtain nuclear material or to threaten to use such material to cause death injury disease or damage. It also makes it an offence to knowingly possess use manufacture import or export unmarked plastic explosives. The aforenamed offences carry maximum penalties of 10 years’ imprisonment and a $500000 fine. The bill provides for extra-territorial jurisdiction extradition and mutual assistance requirements to the extent necessary to meet the requirements of the nuclear material convention. 
The bill also creates a number of new terrorist-related offences and penalties deemed necessary by an extensive review of existing law and of potential gaps that might be exploited by terrorists. It becomes an offence to infect animals with disease intending to cause serious risk to the health or safety of an animal population or major damage to the national economy. The maximum penalty for that is also 10 years’ imprisonment. A similar offence and penalty is created in relation to contaminating food crops water or other products intended for human consumption. Threatening harm to persons or property or falsely communicating information about danger to persons or property intending to cause significant disruption to commercial or Government interests also becomes an offence with a maximum penalty of 7 years’ imprisonment. 
It becomes a crime to harbour or conceal a person with the intention of enabling that person to avoid custody or conviction knowing that or being reckless as to whether he or she intends to carry out a terrorist act or has already done so. It becomes a crime to import acquire or possess radioactive material with the intention of using it to cause injury or threaten violence. Both of those offences carry a maximum penalty also of 7 years’ imprisonment. Terrorism becomes an aggravating factor under the Sentencing Act. That will attract higher penalties for crimes committed for terrorist purposes. And the crime of murder carried out as part of a terrorist act will carry a minimum non-parole period of at least 17 years. 
The third set of changes introduced by the Counter-Terrorism Bill gives new powers to the New Zealand Police and the New Zealand Customs Service. The bill provides a statutory regime for the use of electronic tracking devices as an investigative tool. It requires police or customs officers to obtain from the court a warrant authorising the use of such devices. In circumstances where it is not reasonably practicable to obtain a warrant an emergency procedure is provided for. The bill ensures that effective enforcement measures can be carried out and that evidence lawfully obtained using those measures will be admissible. The judge before issuing a warrant authorising the use of an electronic tracking device must be satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to suspect an offence is being or will be committed that information relevant to the commission of the offence can be so obtained and that it is in the public interest to issue a warrant taking into account such matters as the seriousness of the offence and the likely intrusion on privacy and property rights. The select committee may wish to consider closely submissions on that issue including those of the Privacy Commissioner. 
The bill also creates powers for the police to require assistance from a person in the execution of a search warrant. Where assistance is necessary such as providing a password in order to allow the police to access a computer system a court order may be sought for that purpose and will be granted if the assistance required is both reasonable and necessary. Failure to assist in accordance with an order will be an offence if the individual could have reasonably been expected to do so. 
The Customs Service’s powers are also enhanced by the bill. The Terrorism Suppression Act last year allowed the freezing of the property of designated terrorist entities. This bill expands on that allowing the Customs Service to detain property cash or cash equivalents intercepted crossing the New Zealand border if there is good cause to suspect that the owner is a designated terrorist entity or an entity that may be eligible for designation. There are safeguards to ensure that the exercise of those powers is done in a reasonable way. 
Finally the bill amends provisions of the Crimes Act and the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Act 1978 so that evidence obtained under an interception warrant may be used in court so long as it relates to an offence for which an interception warrant is properly given. The definitions of security and terrorism in the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service Act are amended to make them consistent with the Terrorism Suppression Act. 
In conclusion the bill allows New Zealand to ratify the last remaining United Nations conventions on terrorism not already implemented under New Zealand law. It closes potential gaps that may be exploited by terrorists by creating new terrorism-related offences and penalties. It gives necessary powers to the Police and the Customs Service to investigate and prosecute those offences. I intend to refer the bill to the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee to hear submissions from interested parties and to move that the committee finally report on the bill by 31 July 2003. I commend the bill to the House.