Rosewarne Dan; Salesa JennyDAN ROSEWARNE (Labour): It's my privilege to be talking to this particular bill. It does concern me—with the Opposition not supporting this bill it just highlights a lack of understanding how democratic civil military operations actually work and a fundamental misunderstanding of what the bill is actually trying to achieve. It fills a critical gap in the New Zealand democratic civil relations construct. That is because it allows objective civilian control through allowing the military to carry out operations either here at home or abroad as part of a coalition without undermining the system of Government. Having served in these areas of operations which gave birth to the Burnham inquiry it's very easy for things to wrong. It's very essential that we have that civilian oversight of our operations when we are deployed overseas. I just also want to point out that the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) did actually ask for this and they wanted that transparency.This bill establishes the offices of the Inspector-General of Defence and the Deputy Inspector-General of Defence to assist the Minister of Defence to oversee the defence force and account accurately to the House of Representatives for its activities and to assure the public that activities of the defence force are subject to independent scrutiny. This bill is a result of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham. I won't go into the details of Op Burnham other than to say that in chapter 12 of the inquiry it recommended the establishment by legislation of an office of the independent Inspector-General of Defence to be located outside of that NZDF organisational structure. The purpose is to facilitate independent oversight of the NZDF and enhance its democratic accountability. The functions of the inspector-general would include investigating either his or her own motion by way of a reference and reporting of particular NZDF operational activities to ascertain whether they were conducted lawfully; investigating and reporting on such other matters requiring that independent scrutiny as are referred to by the Minister of Defence the Chief of Defence Force or the Secretary of Defence or the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee; and also providing an annual report to the Minister of Defence and to the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee.So people have been asking about why we need an Inspector-General of Defence. Well in short it's about social licence. It's essential that there is social licence between the NZDF and those it serves. Social licence gives the NZDF permission to operate and is critical in establishing and maintaining the trust and confidence of Ministers Parliament and by extension the New Zealand public. Strengthening that ministerial and public trust and confidence in the NZDF is a key focus for this Government in the aftermath of Operation Burnham. So there is a strong link between social licence and democratic oversight of the military which is exercised by the Government of the day principally through the Minister of Defence. So while processes are in place for transferring operational knowledge of public and political interest through multiple layers of command to the Minister of Defence knowledge flows ultimately depend on individuals making the right decisions based on the guidance and instructions provided to them and to mitigate risk that important information could be lost or misinterpreted as we have seen. There needs to be a formal top-down accountability for the end-to-end fidelity and flow of this type of defence knowledge as it moves through the tactical operational and strategic levels of decision making.The Inspector-General of Defence will allow for improvements to systems processes practices and structures as well as to attitudes and behaviours that will help provide the Minister of Defence with sufficient visibility and understanding of the NZDF's activities to carry out democratic oversight of the military effectively and to fulfil their accountability obligations to Parliament and most importantly the New Zealand public.So just in closing the armed forces occupy a unique position that confers on them both significant powers and significant responsibilities. Their actions can have serious consequences for individuals including in some circumstances death deprivation of liberty and also huge consequences for international relations. Accordingly they are bound to act consistently with the rule of law and the Government's defence policy objectives and in a way that facilitates effective civilian control. It is also critical in a democratic society that they have confidence and support of the public.This bill keeps civilians in control. That's why I commend the bill to the House. Thank you Madam Speaker.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jenny Salesa): The next call is a split call. I call on Joseph Mooney for five minutes.