Bayly Andrew: Immigration Amendment Bill (No 2) — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBayly Andrew: Immigration Amendment Bill (No 2) — In Committee[Sitting date: 31 March 2015. Volume:704;Page:2730. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]ANDREW BAYLY (National—Hunua): It is a pleasure again to be talking on the Immigration Amendment Bill (No 2). It is slightly disappointing to hear the Opposition talking about this bill because this bill is really important in terms of protecting those migrants and those immigrants who come to New Zealand and provide an important contribution to this economy. In my own electorate I see a number of them who come and support the horticultural industry in Franklin and they play a very important part. On the other end of this we need to also make sure we put in place proper controls so that the Immigration Service can do its job. This bill is particularly focused on legitimately enhancing controls and procedures particularly focusing on screening and monitoring and also powers of inspection.We want to make sure that those migrants those immigrants who come here are protected and that they are not exploited. A number of speakers have spoken about that concern and those issues that have been occurring and that we want to make sure we stamp out. Probably the most important thing about this bill is that it introduces quite severe penalties—namely a jail sentence of up to 7 years or a fine of $100000 or both. These penalties reflect the seriousness that this Government is putting on this issue. We are simply not going to tolerate illegal treatment of our migrant workers.I want to turn my mind to three clauses of the bill. The first is clause 42 which my colleague Iain Lees-Galloway from the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee just spoke on previously. Under this bill section 158(1) of the Act is actually widened by clause 42(2) whereby the definition now states that a person commits an offence if any information on the application form for a visa or an entry permission was fraudulent forged false—the three “f”s—or misleading or omitted relevant information whether or not the person holding the residence class visa or the entry permission provided the information. My view is that the first part of that change is absolutely understandable. The second element really gets to the heart of the issue with someone else filing on behalf of the resident or the person getting the entry permit some false documentation and therefore allowing a travesty to occur. I think that is a particularly relevant part of the clause—to make sure that all information provided to the Immigration Service is actually timely and accurate and full.With regard to the second clause I want to focus on it is new section 277A in clause 61. This clarifies the definition of “specified employee” as it relates to the powers to enter and search an employer’s premises. The new definition now gives the immigration officer powers of entry to search for employees on an employer’s premises—and this is the new bit—if they have “good cause to suspect” that a specified employee is committing an offence. Personally I think it is essential that the immigration officer can undertake their duties but it is also vital that the Immigration Service also undertakes that search in a proper manner.The third clause I want to just turn my own mind to is clause 80(3A). This addresses the obligations of the employer in relation to the hiring of unlawful employees. So you can see that on one side under clause 61 we have talked about the unlawful employees; on the other side we are now talking about the employers’ obligations. This new amendment replaces section 351(7) of the Act and states that an employer is committing an offence if he or she knows that an employee is not entitled to do any particular work if within a period of 12 months prior to that period the employer is informed of the fact by the Immigration Service whether or not that employee is holding a temporary entry visa or otherwise. Again this clause is really dealing with the issue of employers hiring—