Andersen GinnyVIRGINIA ANDERSEN (Labour): It's a privilege to speak on the Customs and Excise Bill and to see this bill proceed through its various stages through the House. And now to the bill the third reading—it's really good to see agreement across the House. There is a bit of a similarity between this bill and the previous one to see that there are those bills that are just good for New Zealand. While the previous one might have been addressing issues in New Zealand's history this one is forward-looking in order to equip our country to best respond to a changing world. It is that changing world that reminds us how important our border is. It's important to us for our economy and in many many ways but it's also important to our identity and who we are. That's why this piece of legislation is so important to get right—to set us up for a future where we can take full advantage of the fact that New Zealand is an island nation.I'd like to acknowledge those Ministers that have worked on this bill in the past across both sides of this House. I know that Maurice Williamson put in much work before Nicky Wagner took over and then Meka Whaitiri as well has taken this bill through its final stages. So it's good to see that transition happen across the House.Part of modernising this legislation is enabling New Zealand to adapt to a changing world. There are three areas that I would like to cover off during this third reading speech the first being information technology; the second looking at the role of interception and particularly touching on the increase of methamphetamine interception that New Zealand Customs Service has seen over the past few years; and thirdly in terms of information sharing and what this bill provides to enable New Zealand's agencies to share information more readily.So one of the more controversial parts to this bill has been the use of computers or laptops and phones where most people carry information the so-called digital strip searches which have been discussed quite a lot during the select committee stage—and has resulted through that select committee process to see the introduction of a two-stage search threshold and basing that on there being reasonable grounds for suspicion in order to demand passwords from those people. While it has been I understand initially the view of customs to have more freer access to be able to enable the ability to look through those items that might be causing concern I do see that there has been an increase in the penalty of withholding a password and that that is an outcome that has been well received in that space.So in order to get that balance right between protecting New Zealand from risks and also ensuring that people's own individual privacy is not infringed—it is always a delicate balance to achieve. But the fact that we have agreement across the House on the process of this bill is a good indication that this bill has that balance right.The second point that I would like to touch on is the role that the Customs Service plays in intercepting illicit goods. We have seen a real increase in the amount of methamphetamine intercepted at New Zealand's border. The interesting development over recent years is that while that used to be in the form of pseudoephedrine that is now coming into New Zealand in a ready-made form in a ready-form way straight over our borders and not so much being manufactured here in New Zealand. So that change puts even more emphasis on the importance of intercepting and we know that the vast majority of seizures of methamphetamine is done through customs and that trying to come into this country.It's important that this legislation enables customs officers to be well-supported by modern technology and processes that enable them to identify and to prioritise risks. In that space it is so important that we have good intelligence processes to enable those people to do that job to the best of their abilities. New detection tools an intelligence-led approach partnerships and the expertise of skilled officers have seen record seizures of methamphetamine over the past few years at the New Zealand border.The collaboration with offshore customs agencies has prevented I understand in excess of $205 million of social and economic harm by preventing that methamphetamine from coming into New Zealand. That figure comes from the 2015-16 financial year.So in terms of weighing up the harm that could have reached New Zealand's people New Zealand's population it emphasises the importance of why we need to get our border working well why we need to have modern technology processes access to information and good intelligence-sharing ways to make sure that we are protecting people from harmful substances such as methamphetamine.The third point I would like to touch on is around information sharing and the importance of accessing information that can be important to not only customs but also to other services such as the New Zealand Police. It's encouraging to see an increased ability of agencies to share information to make sure that those who have that information at the border are acting quickly and appropriately. So it's important that again just as with the issue of looking at laptops and phones at the border when information particularly personal information is being shared between agencies that we make sure that that balance is right and also protecting the individual freedoms of New Zealanders as well as making sure our border remains safe.It's really heartening to see that this will continue to look at making business good for New Zealand to give greater reassurance to those people doing trade and working with the level of assurance they know in order to make sure that importing into New Zealand and exporting out of New Zealand works as effectively as possible. It's really good to see that it is better for business and it will be not only easier for businesses to understand but it makes businesses' obligations clearer and more flexible in meeting the needs.The previous legislation we know was from 1996—over 20 years old. In some parts that legislation was over 100 years old—quite clunky and difficult for business operators to understand where they stood. Being able to give New Zealand businesses a strong understanding of where they stand will facilitate good business growth in New Zealand and it's great to see this legislation updates customs services to enable that certainty to take place.It's good to see that the Privacy Commissioner has been significantly involved in the development of this bill and allows us to assure the House that the bill will balance the protection of New Zealand's borders against the rights of individuals. That's such an important balance to strike right from the top all the way to the bottom.If we do see those areas it is important we know that there's an ability for people to query and question and raise those issues and that's what the legislative process has been about enabling that select committee process for people to see these ways through submitting.Without further ado I'm happy to see a bill that enables New Zealand as a country to make the most of who it is make the most of what we can do at our borders and to move with the times to make sure that we are safe that we protect people's rights but that we do the best we can with those who are always looking out to make sure our border is special and safe. I would like to commend this bill to the House.