Burton Mark: Crimes (Intimate Covert Filming) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
Burton Mark: Crimes (Intimate Covert Filming) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:635;Page:6689] 
Hon MARK BURTON (Minister of Justice) 
: 
 I move  
That the Crimes (Intimate Covert Filming) Amendment Bill be now read a third time 
. Intimate covert filming is often regarded as a contemporary form of voyeurism: the act of a person visually recording others covertly as they undress undertake intimate bodily functions—such as using the toilet or showering—or engage in sexual activity. With the aid of modern technology this behaviour can pose a significant threat to commonly held notions of privacy. The recordings of the images can then be held for future use or sharing with others—particularly by placing the images on the Internet—or for commercial gain. We indeed live in a very different world from the one we lived in previously. Generally covert filming has a sexual element but not always. However it always constitutes an invasion of personal privacy as it concentrates on behaviour and aspects of the self that are for the vast majority of people very personal and private. 
 Since 1997 most instances of intimate covert filming have been investigated as breaches of the Films Videos and Publications Classification Act 1993. That Act relates to the making and distributing of objectionable publications. However an inquiry into the operation of that Act by the Government Administration Committee highlighted the fact that that approach is no longer appropriate. This was because of the weight given to considerations such as breaches of privacy which do not come within the reach of censorship law. Therefore the Government referred the issue of intimate covert filming to the Law Commission. In its 2004 study paper  
Intimate Covert Filming 
 the Law Commission proposed a dual response to intimate covert filming in New Zealand. 
This bill deals with the criminalising of specific types of conduct engaged in by a film maker distributor or person possessing a film. Under existing legislation there is no provision that specifically prohibits the taking of a photograph or other visual record of a person who is nude partially nude or engaged in sexual or other intimate activity or that prohibits the distribution of such images. The bill proposes amendments to the Crimes Act 1961 to create three new offences in line with the Law Commission’s recommendations. These relate to making possessing publishing importing exporting or selling images taken without knowledge or consent of a person who is in a place where that person could reasonably have expected to be private and where that person is naked or has the sexual parts of his or her body exposed partially exposed or clad solely in undergarments or is engaged in an intimate sexual activity or other personal bodily activity that involves dressing or undressing. 
 All the offences have a penalty of imprisonment for a period not exceeding 3 years other than simple possession. Possession without an intention to publish export import or sell the intimate visual recording has a penalty of imprisonment for a period not exceeding 1 year. Upon conviction the court will have the power to order a recording to be destroyed and any equipment used in the commission of the offence to be forfeited to the Crown. 
This legislation provides the victims of covert filming with an effective response. The investigative and prosecutorial resources of the police can be utilised. The process of conviction and penalty will I believe have both a deterrent and a rehabilitative effect. I thank members for facilitating the rapid passage of this legislation through the House. I commend it to members in the House.