Peters Winston: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
Peters Winston: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
[Volume:621;Page:16524] 
10.  
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader—NZ First) 
 to the  
Minister of Immigration 
: With regard to reported comments: “Immigration fraud from China has fuelled a thriving black market on the streets of Christchurch and authorities have struggled to come to terms with the fraud.” how widespread does he believe this problem to be and what plans if any does he have to deal with the problem? 
Hon PAUL SWAIN (Minister of Immigration) 
: 
 The Government is concerned about immigration fraud. The size of the problem is however hard to estimate. The Government has allocated an additional $20 million over 4 years to deal with the issue. It has increased the number of immigration fraud investigators established an intelligence unit strengthened the relationship between the police and the Immigration Service and is moving to regulate the immigration advice industry. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Is the Minister aware that in August 2004 a Christchurch newspaper by the name of  
i 
-Ball 
—“Bridging the Cultures” is on its title—has a front-page and third-page article outlining that international students mainly from China can buy camouflage passports from the Internet? 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: Obviously there have been lots of allegations of matters around people getting access to fraudulent documents. That is unacceptable. As a result the Government has increased money in order to be able to deal with that very very major problem of fraudulent documents. That is why the number of convictions and prosecutions is rising. 
Luamanuvao Winnie Laban 
: What success has the Immigration Service had in tracking down and dealing with immigration fraud? 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: It is as I said a big issue. However we are making some progress. For example last year the number of charges laid and successful prosecutions was up significantly on the year before and already this year the number of successful prosecutions has exceeded those for the whole of last year. The message going out to the crooks and the fraudsters is that this Government takes immigration fraud seriously and that the behaviour will not be tolerated. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: What steps has the Minister taken to ensure that international students have not been able to come here on a false passport and further abuse our laws by using fake identification in New Zealand; and has he been advised of that occurrence as outlined in the newspaper by his colleague Lianne Dalziel who appears on page 2 talking about crime? 
Hon PAUL SWAIN 
: I was not particularly aware that Lianne Dalziel was on page 2 but I am sure—[ 
Interruption 
] Was she on page 3? If there is a photo I am sure it is a very nice photo. Probably the member was saying good sense as she always does. However the idea of fraudulent documents is a problem. The new advance warning systems will help but the fact is that fraud is not just an issue for New Zealand—it is about a $24 billion industry internationally. We are doing a lot about it. We are putting more money into it and having more success as a result.