Leary IngridINGRID LEARY (Labour—Taieri) (remote): Thank you Madam Speaker for this opportunity to contribute on this the Maritime Powers Bill. When I last spoke on this it was about the importance of the proposed legislation on drug trafficking and being able to search and seize drugs in international waters off our coast prior to them reaching our shores. I spoke about the debacle at Ninety Mile Beach in 2016 which resulted in what was then New Zealand's biggest ever meth haul and it potentially could have been stopped sooner with the right surveillance and the right laws.Today I'd like to speak about something else. I sit on the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee which is considering this bill and we're also inquiring into illegal unreported and unregulated fishing and it's something that several others have mentioned in this debate. We've received many submissions on this and time and time again we've heard compelling evidence from submitters about the need for greater enforcement powers for Department of Conservation officers. Sea Shepherd has done a lot of due diligence in this space. They've worked with lots of Governments all over the world as vigilantes of the sea and in their oral submission they stress the need for greater enforcement powers for New Zealand Customs officers and it was something echoed by many others. It's because the problem at sea is that it's very easy to throw away the evidence of illegal activity and throw it overboard in the case of fishing or say weapons smuggling. Currently Customs officers don't have the power to be able to stop and search boats suspected of illegal activity and that goes for fishing for drugs for human trafficking and so on.So in short New Zealand is in some cases unable to act or disrupt criminal activity before it reaches our shores. Our maritime powers simply don't align with our criminal law jurisdiction or our rights and obligations in international law and that's why sorting this out has actually been a priority for Labour in our election manifesto.This bill extends powers to stop to search to detain and to arrest and these powers already exist in domestic law and the bill simply extends these powers into international waters. As other speakers have mentioned there were seven written submissions and one oral one—a really helpful one from the New Zealand Law Society and I'd like to thank them for that. They submitted on three areas including the application of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act and human rights and they basically said that these Acts apply and that an explicit reference was not necessary. In fact they said it would perhaps be confusing if it was to be included because it would put into question whether other legislation would also need explicit New Zealand Bill of Rights Act references.The second element that they mentioned was about powers exercisable without a warrant and there has been a lot of discussion on this. The short answer is that these powers already exist and they exist in the same way. Without this law there is uncertainty relating to international law and vessels and as I mentioned before the law deals with the mischief of evidence being thrown overboard which is very real.The Law Society also submitted about futureproofing for technological developments and as a committee we did acknowledge there will be developments and I'm thinking here of developments around say autonomous weapons—the work Minister Twyford is doing. There will always be technological developments but that issue can't be resolved here because it really involves all maritime law—but we will keep an eye on it.The law is not just needed to prevent illegal and unrecorded fishing. It also is needed as my colleague Ibrahim Omer has said this evening for weapons trading—for example firearms. The tightening of New Zealand's laws could lead to more smuggling through coastal borders. It relates to immigration. It relates to wildlife. The law supports important conservation and biosecurity work done under the Wildlife Act and it also is needed to address the geopolitical risks and we've seen those increase recently with the impact of COVID and with climate change. That's brought the Pacific to the fore and with the current terrible events unfolding in Ukraine it's not difficult to see how we might be wanting to ensure our own corner of the world is as secure as it can be.Another problem that this bill addresses is really what's been described as a good problem which is our large coastline: it's 15000 kilometres in fact. A beautiful coastline with lots of pristine beaches. And also another good problem is that we live in one of the world's largest exclusive economic zones. So the law is also timely. We're living in a changing world—we have a growing marine economy; we've got a domestic market that is increasingly reliant on marine connectivity in relation to our supply chains our shipping routes and again that's certainly come to the fore during COVID. We've seen the importance of shipping for importing and exporting and we do need it as I said to protect our national interests in the Pacific and in the Southern Ocean. This changing world that I'm referring to in relation to maritime areas was all recognised in the 2018 Strategic Defence Policy Statement and that statement said that Maritime security is fundamental to New Zealand's national security." It looked at climate change; it referred to transnational crime; to resource competition and the geopolitics that go with that; and to irregular migration.So this legislation supports the maritime strategy. It protects our economic interests our cultural interests and our environmental interests now and for future generations. What it does—and others have spoken about it—is it gives power to enforcement officers to respond to a range of criminal offending in international waters. That includes "offences that take place on board a New Zealand - flagged vessel in international waters; and offences that take place on board a foreign-flagged vessel or stateless vessel in international waters"—and that's vessels where—"New Zealand has extraterritorial jurisdiction; and situations where an alleged offender or evidence of criminal offending is located on a New Zealand foreign or stateless vessel in international waters." It does this in a manner that is consistent with New Zealand's rights and obligations under international law—so our human rights obligations for example the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea; or safeguards in the Search and Surveillance Act 2012. What it doesn't include is foreign ships outside those situations unless there is permission from a foreign State and unless they are in certain categories of offences such as slavery or piracy or the continuous pursuit after contravening a New Zealand law—those are all covered.So the benefits as have been traversed by my colleagues are that this law gives parity to agencies around enforcement powers for police the New Zealand Defence Force Customs and the Department of Conservation and it essentially puts those agencies under one regime. It counters transnational organised crime. It allows prosecution for criminal acts against our laws when the act is done outside New Zealand.In summary our maritime laws do need updating. We need to protect the 15000 kilometres of beautiful coastline that we have and our interests from organised crime security threats and wildlife threats. This piece of legislation aligns with international law and human rights. It's a strategic approach. It has long-term benefits and it shows the international and intergenerational approach of our foreign affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta. I am personally invested in this legislation. I support all legislation that reduces the incidence of methamphetamine on our shores. I worry about the dangers of human trafficking and this legislation deals with that. It has been through a full select committee process and it's a real pleasure to commend it to the House."