Adams Amy: Organised Crime and Anti-corruption Legislation Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeAdams Amy: Organised Crime and Anti-corruption Legislation Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 04 November 2014. Volume:701;Page:503. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon AMY ADAMS (Minister of Justice):I move That the Organised Crime and Anti-corruption Legislation Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Law and Order Committee to consider this bill. Organised crime is a global problem. It undermines public safety economic development good governance and national security. Unfortunately New Zealand is not immune to the threat posed by both international and domestic criminal networks which operate on many fronts—for example criminals use money-laundering to disguise their illegal activities and to profit from crime. Money-laundering involves transforming money from illegal activity often referred to as “dirty money” into funds that appear to come from a legitimate source. Other organised criminal activities include identity theft people-trafficking and a range of acts that fall under the umbrella of bribery and corruption. This bill tackles all of these.If we are to combat a global problem we need a global solution and New Zealand is committed to playing its part. This bill benefits New Zealand in three main ways: it improves our ability to combat crime domestically it improves our ability to coordinate with other countries to combat crime internationally and it improves our international reputation by ensuring compliance with international obligations. This bill gives law enforcement agencies greater powers to deal with organised crime and corruption and to cooperate with our international counterparts in the fight against transnational crime. It also enhances New Zealand’s compliance with a number of international agreements and allows for the ratification of others. This will help maintain and enhance New Zealand’s reputation as a trustworthy trading partner with a strong reliable financial sector.This bill demonstrates the Government’s ongoing commitment to tackling organised crime and corrupt practices in a number of ways. The 2011 all-of-Government response Strengthening New Zealand’s resistance to organised crime outlined a number of initiatives and new laws that this Government had introduced to target and disrupt organised crime. However we recognised that we could not afford to rest on our laurels. The report also indicated areas where we could further enhance how we are tackling organised crime and this bill addresses many of those areas that require legislation. It also responds to calls for reform to New Zealand law made by intergovernmental bodies that we play an important role in such as the Financial Action Task Force and the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions and it enables ratification of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption.I will now briefly outline some of the key reforms in the bill which is an omnibus bill amending 12 Acts. The bill amends the money-laundering offences under the Crimes Act and the Misuse of Drugs Act. The changes address practical law enforcement difficulties and corrects deficiencies in our laws required by international agreements. One of the changes clarifies that the intent to conceal is not necessary in order to prove a money-laundering offence. This requirement was never specified in the legislation but over the years New Zealand courts have read it into the law. The bill also removes the requirement that laundered proceeds stem from an offence carrying at least 5 years’ imprisonment. This will address a practical enforcement difficulty for police in establishing the specific criminal act from which the laundered proceeds are derived. These two changes will ensure that criminals can be more readily prosecuted for money-laundering and will help deter those who exploit the current limitations.In addition the bill amends the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act to improve our ability to detect and investigate money-laundering. Reporting requirements are introduced for two high-risk classes of transactions. Financial institutions will need to report to police all international wire transactions of over $1000 and physical cash transactions of $10000 or more. We know that criminals use such transactions to launder money. Better reporting will enhance the effectiveness of our efforts to detect money-laundering. Banks already collect identity information from their customers so they should not notice any difference from these changes. The amendments I have just outlined align New Zealand law with the laws of other countries and with best-practice recommendations from the Financial Action Task Force. This task force is the intergovernmental body that guides international efforts to combat money-laundering.The bill also adds new identity offences to the Crimes Act and the Customs and Excise Act. A range of offences currently cover situations where criminals use false identity documents to commit dishonest or deceptive acts. However currently there are no specific offences that prohibit criminals from selling or distributing unlawfully obtained identification information nor is there any offence of making or possessing goods intended to facilitate identity crimes such as credit card skimming devices. This bill closes those gaps in the criminal law. It also adds these goods to the list of prohibited items under the Customs and Excise Act.Other important amendments in the bill expressly provide police with the power to share appropriate personal information including fingerprint information with international counterparts. These provisions will enable the implementation of the agreement with the United States on preventing and combating crime. These amendments are subject to strict restrictions and a Cabinet directive for police to consult with the Privacy Commissioner.It is also worth noting that this bill includes several safeguards to protect the privacy of New Zealanders. The main safeguard is that the personal information may be disclosed by New Zealand Police only when two conditions are met. The first is where the information is being disclosed to a corresponding overseas agency that performs one of the functions that the New Zealand Police performs and the second is that the disclosure is reasonably necessary to enable the corresponding overseas agency to perform that function. It is only after these two requirements are met and subject to any other enactment that the information can be disclosed in one of four circumstances. In the event that these conditions are breached individuals may of course complain to the Privacy Commissioner.The Office of the Privacy Commissioner was consulted on the proposals of this bill and will be closely involved in its implementation including keeping a watching brief to ensure the statutory criteria for information sharing are being adhered to. These safeguards are important in balancing the privacy of New Zealanders.In addition the bill makes amendments to the Criminal Investigations (Bodily Samples) Act and the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act to allow DNA data bank information to be provided to assist criminal investigations and prosecutions overseas. The Attorney-General’s approval will be required on a case by case basis before any DNA information can be provided. Both sets of amendments will enhance international law enforcement cooperation and capability. The sharing of information with our counterparts is critical if we are to combat a global problem. However concerns around open data-sharing are also important. Although the bill outlines key restrictions around what information can be shared and with which overseas agencies I am certainly keen to hear from the select committee in this regard.A range of other amendments fall under the bribery and corruption umbrella. This Government remains committed to ratifying the United Nations Convention Against Corruption. New Zealand has already implemented several of the convention’s obligations by enacting the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act and the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act. Further amendments are required to the Crimes Act the Secret Commissions Act and the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act to bring New Zealand into full compliance with the convention. All those necessary changes are included in this bill. Other amendments in the bill will enhance compliance with the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions. Collectively these bribery and corruption amendments will ensure that New Zealand has a robust legislative framework that complies with international best practice in deterring and holding offenders to account.Let me conclude by briefly mentioning two other sets of reforms in the bill. The bill amends the Crimes Act offence of people-trafficking. It extends the offence so that it applies to people-trafficking within New Zealand not just when the victims are moved in or out of this country. It also introduces an exploitative purpose—for example prostitution or slavery—for trafficking of persons. Again the amendments bring the legislation into line with international best practice in fighting this very serious offence.Finally I will address amendments to the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act. The changes will extend the time frames for foreign restraining orders and will allow those orders to be registered without notice. The proposed amendments will ensure that criminals cannot conceal or dispose of assets before the relevant court proceedings conclude.The wide range of amendments in the bill will ensure that New Zealand has a robust fit for purpose legislative framework to combat organised crime bribery and corruption. The bill will further enhance this country’s compliance with international instruments and our ability to implement or ratify others including as I have said the Agreement on Enhancing Cooperation in Preventing and Combating Crime which was signed with the US and the United Nations Convention Against Corruption. This will ensure that New Zealand maintains and improves its already high reputation as a trustworthy trading partner with a robust financial sector. The bill signals this Government’s commitment to combat organised crime and corruption everywhere and on every level. I commend it to the House.