McKee NicoleFIREARMS PROHIBITION ORDERS LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILLFirst ReadingHon NICOLE McKEE (Associate Minister of Justice (Firearms)): I present a legislative statement on the Firearms Prohibition Orders Legislation Amendment Bill.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Teanau Tuiono): That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.Hon NICOLE McKEE: I move That the Firearms Prohibition Orders Legislation Amendment Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Justice Committee to consider the bill and at the appropriate time I intend to move that the bill be reported to the House by 31 July 2024.For too long gangs have been an intimidating and unwelcome presence in our communities. This Government is committed to restoring law and order and to ensuring that police have the tools that they need to take firearms out of the hands of gangs and criminals. The Firearms Prohibition Orders Legislation Amendment Bill is an omnibus bill which aims to do just that. The bill will amend the Arms Act 1983 the Search and Surveillance Act 2012 and the Sentencing Act 2002 to reform the firearms prohibition orders regime.We on this side of the House know that the changes we introduce here today will make a difference and will contribute as part of our wider law and order regime to making our communities safer. It does this by expanding the eligibility to cover more people in gangs those associated with gangs and those involved in organised crime. We will achieve this by giving the police greater search powers to enforce the orders upon those individuals.We have all noticed the increase in gang-related violence public intimidation and crimes involving illegally held firearms. We've seen it increase significantly since 2017 where the data and the evidence tell a horrid story. The Firearms Prohibition Orders Legislation Amendment Bill is an important part of the Government's response to this increased crime in all our jurisdictions—urban provincial and rural.Firearms prohibition orders—sometimes referred to as FPOs—are orders made by the court when offenders have committed serious violent offences. The way they work is that police make a case about an individual to the court and if the court decides that individual meets the criteria for an order then one will be placed upon them.Hon Dr Duncan Webb: What's the criteria?Hon NICOLE McKEE: It's valid for 10 years and it prohibits the individual from holding a firearms licence. And I am quite surprised to hear from the member across the way asking me what the criteria is seeing as it was his Government that actually brought it in in the first place and didn't do the job correctly so we've got to come back here and fix it up. But I will be telling them what the criteria is in a little bit. Just wait a little longer.Firearms prohibition orders sometimes referred to as FPOs are orders made by the court when offenders have committed serious violent offences. And the way they work is that police make a case about an individual to the court and if the court decides that individual meets that criteria of the order then one will be placed upon that person.It is valid for 10 years and it prohibits the individual from holding a firearms licence from being around or near firearms—meaning they can't go on to a range or into a gun shop as an example—and the order prohibits them from being in possession of or using firearms. If that individual breaches the conditions of an FPO they commit a criminal offence and that is punishable by up to seven years in prison.This amendment bill will make three key changes to the firearms prohibition orders regime that I just outlined. The first change is to expand the qualifying criteria so that FPOs can be issued to gang members and other criminals who commit drug firearms and other violent offences. Until now FPOs could only be issued to people convicted of certain specific violent offences like murder serious assault sexual violence and aggravated robbery. The reality is that senior gang members often end up with low-level convictions because they get their prospects or others to do the dirty work for them. The expansion in qualifying criteria means that we are adding a penalty starting point and we are including a few more Acts of Parliament as qualifiers. So any crime committed that has a penalty of one year or more under the Arms Act 1983 the Crimes Act 1961 the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 or the Psychoactive Substances Act 2013 meets the current FPO Act's criteria of being necessary reasonable and appropriate to managing the risk that the offender poses to public safety will be allowed.What this means in plain language: FPOs may be issued to members or associates of gangs or members of an organised criminal group that commits drug firearms or violent offences. The courts will be able to issue more FPOs to gang members gang associates and violent criminals helping to keep firearms out of their hands ultimately making our communities safer.The bill's second change is to give police new specialist search powers so that anyone subject to an FPO can be searched at any time. People with FPOs are deemed to be of the highest risk to public safety. To reduce this risk they should be subject to the highest level of monitoring. This is why we are creating these new search powers. There is no point placing an FPO on a criminal if the police don't have the legislation that allows them to verify compliance with that order. Police need to be able to search offenders with an FPO their vehicles and their premises for firearms at any time to ensure that they are complying with the FPO. This change supports New Zealand Police to keep Kiwi communities safe from gun crime. We are giving police the tools that they need to ensure that these high-risk offenders are not accessing firearms.Finally the third change to legislation made by this bill is to establish a process for people who no longer pose a risk to apply to have the FPO modified or even removed. Currently there is very limited ability to change or remove an FPO if a person's circumstance changes—for example if a person leaves a gang changes their life around and gets themselves back on track. Therefore we propose that a recipient will be able to apply to the court for a determination as to whether the FPO should be reviewed altered or revoked after five years. This will ensure FPOs remain targeted only to those high-risk offenders. The review mechanism provides an incentive for people with FPOs to engage in rehabilitation and pursue law-abiding lives.Keeping firearms out of the hands of gang members and high-risk offenders is fundamental to upholding this Government's commitment to public safety. This bill provides police with the practical tools that they need to enforce FPOs and it also sends a strong message to criminals and gangs that we are absolutely committed to addressing gang crime and to enforcing consequences for criminals and we are taking back our communities. Enough is enough. I commend this bill to the House.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Teanau Tuiono): The question is that the motion be agreed to.