Little AndrewHon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister of Justice): Thank you Mr Chair and I know my colleague Peeni Henare has a considerable contribution to make on this bill. I just thought it might be better if I make my more modest contribution and clear the way for him to take the time of Parliament to extemporise on the very important issues that I know he wishes to bring to the attention of this committee.As I said last time I spoke on this bill which doesn't seem that long ago but actually was at least a week ago the power of the customs department is extensive second only to the police. They are extensive powers of intrusion and coercion that our customs officers have. And of course because it's an important border control department and mechanism that we have it's very important that those powers are clearly laid out and clearly spelled out and there is no doubt or equivocation about them about to whom they should apply or about what they are. It is interesting throughout Part 3 and particularly in subpart 8 the extensive powers that are contained therein. They are some of the more intrusive powers that we would confer on any Government agent but in particular customs officers.So we see the obligation that the customs officers have. Having seized goods and established that they are contraband they are then forfeited to the State. We see that customs nevertheless before that forfeiture are required to provide a notice to people with an interest in the goods so that there is some sort of due process and natural justice followed. It's very important for the exercise of these extensive powers that that is there. So I acknowledge the Minister in charge of the bill the Minister of Customs. I congratulate her on a bill that actually clearly lays that out—clearly lays out those powers—because if there is going to be a challenge to anything that our customs officials do it will be in those more intrusive powers that they exercise: the right to stop at the border and the right to detain goods at the border and where there is suspicion about the legality of their nature then to seize those goods with notice to those with an interest in it following.For goods that have been improperly imported and for which no proper duty or excise has been paid they can be seized forfeited to the Crown and then the Crown in fact has the right to sell those goods—again actually quite an intrusive power into the private rights of the citizen corporate or otherwise who would otherwise be bringing those goods across the border for their merchanting and good health. And so it is important as I said when we are considering a piece of legislation that has powers that are that intrusive that we take good time to consider them carefully to understand them and to explicate them if not to the public at large then at least to ourselves because that's what our job here is to do.I think the Minister is correct in showing some courage frankly in ensuring that these powers appear in this bill that these powers continue to be exercised because in the end for a small isolated nation State like ours surrounded by blue water what we do at the border is absolutely integral to our ability to protect ourselves from undue incursions—not necessarily of the biosecurity nature; that's the Ministry for Primary Industries' job and we know that that department had an enormous struggle to do their job effectively because of poor resourcing under the last Government. Customs at least exercising its powers under this bill will have a huge opportunity to continue to afford to this nation the protection that we expect of it: the protection of goods that would enter our market—goods that can have an effect on people. It is important that when we are taking goods across the border we have proper regulation and management of the passage of those goods. So I just say to the Minister: it is good to see that those powers have continued and have been replicated in this piece of legislation as an outstanding act of courage from this outstanding Minister.