Baldock Larry: Maritime Security Bill — First Reading 
Baldock Larry: Maritime Security Bill — First Reading 
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LARRY BALDOCK (United Future) 
: 
 I rise to speak on behalf of United Future on the Maritime Security Bill. The purpose of the bill is to establish in New Zealand a maritime security framework that will reduce the risk of terrorist attacks affecting ships or port facilities particularly those involved in international trade. That will impose costs on all of us as a society and is the consequence of the September 11 terrorist activity and the increasing terrorist activity around the world. As we approach the second anniversary of the attack upon the US that involved the World Trade Center in New York the Pentagon and the flight that crashed into a Pennsylvania field we count not only the awful loss of lives at that time but also those lost in subsequent tragedies in Bali Afghanistan Iraq and Moscow. We recognise the way the world had to change and will continue to have to change in order to address the threat posed by the terrorist organisations still operating around the world. The recent threats aired on radio that are attributed to Osama bin Laden are fresh reminders of the need for civilised nations to have to spend billions—perhaps trillions—of dollars in order to take all the measures necessary to protect the democratic and free way of life that we value highly. 
I take this opportunity to pay my respects to all the brave men and women who have given their lives in recent times to fight this new threat. I pay tribute to our own armed forces now deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq. I for one am grateful to our allies the US the United Kingdom and Australia which have so far taken a lead in addressing the menace of terrorism not only through the engagement of their armed forces and the costs that they are prepared to shoulder in that regard but also through the huge costs involved in maintaining security surveillance 24/7 around the world’s trouble spots. No one who values his or her freedom can afford to avoid contributing to the cost now demanded of us by terrorist fanaticism. 
The bill we debate today is part of our responsibilities in accordance with New Zealand’s obligations under the International Convention on the Safety of Life at Sea of 1974 which was amended in December 2002 in response to the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks. The legislative timetable is now relatively urgent as the new maritime security requirements must be implemented by 1 July 2004. The main benefit to New Zealand from implementing the new security measures will be continued confidence among New Zealand’s trading partners particularly the United States that New Zealand’s ports and international trading vessels have strong security procedures. The absence of such procedures could seriously hamper New Zealand’s maritime trade with security-sensitive trading partners like the US. As was pointed out by Harry Duynhoven earlier in his introductory speech on the bill we simply cannot afford not to take these measures to ensure that our security is kept on a par with the rest of the world not just because of how that would affect us as a trading nation but also because if New Zealand’s security becomes second-rate we would begin to invite the attention of terrorist groups which would see us as an easier target than others elsewhere. We simply cannot afford to let that happen. The well-known saying “All it takes for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing.” would certainly be applicable in that case. 
The main feature of this bill is that it provides enabling legislation to implement the convention amendments through the development of regulations and maritime rules. The legislation will apply to all international passenger ships large cargo ships and mobile offshore drilling units. It will also cover domestic passenger cargo and fishing ships as well as most New Zealand port facilities. It does not apply to naval or non-commercial vessels. The bill designates the Maritime Safety Authority as the regulatory authority for maritime security responsible for implementing and monitoring the new requirements. The legislation will place obligations on New Zealand’s shipping companies and port facility operators that trade internationally or that service international trading ships to have an approved security plan based on a security risk analysis and to implement that plan. 
There are some associated compliance costs both one-off costs and annual ongoing costs. While there is some concern about the accuracy of the estimates surrounding cost it is suggested that for a shipping company with one ship the one-off cost is estimated to be $13000 with an ongoing annual cost of $18700. For a port facility operator operating few facilities the one-off cost is estimated to be $17000 with an ongoing annual cost of $26000. It is indeed regrettable that at a time when the Government is being implored to reduce compliance costs for business in order to assist our competitiveness as a nation those costs must be introduced. However there is perhaps some consolation in the knowledge that all trading nations are facing the same issues and therefore the playing field will remain relatively even. 
In supporting the first reading of the bill and the sending of it to a select committee where it can be examined in conjunction with the Border Security Bill—which we consider to be a sensible suggestion by the Minister—United Future hopes the committee will listen to any submitters who may come forth with suggestions as to how compliance with the obligations of the bill can be met with the minimum of cost and without sacrificing the assurance of adequate security. That will indeed be a tough challenge to the committee but we commend the bill to the House. United Future will be supporting it.