Guy Nathan: Crimes Amendment Bill Local Government Amendment Bill Sentencing Amendment Bill (No 3) — Third Readings 
Guy Nathan: Crimes Amendment Bill Local Government Amendment Bill Sentencing Amendment Bill (No 3) — Third Readings 
[Volume:658;Page:7527] 
Hon NATHAN GUY (Associate Minister of Justice) 
on behalf of the  
Minister of Justice 
: I move  
That the Crimes Amendment Bill the Local Government Amendment Bill and the Sentencing Amendment Bill (No 3) be now read a third time 
. These bills are an important step towards addressing the serious problem of organised crime. They increase the range and effectiveness of the tools available to police for investigating and disrupting organised criminal activity and for prosecuting and penalising those involved. As these bills represent another of this Government’s initiative within its very busy first 100 days I am especially proud to see them passing into law today. 
Gangs and organised criminal groups are heavily involved in violent drug-related and property crime in New Zealand. They are also involved in more entrepreneurial types of offending. A significant proportion of the importation manufacture and supply of illicit drugs in this country can be attributed to organised criminal groups. At a local level inter-gang violence and fortified premises intimidate communities right across New Zealand. Indeed I experienced that as I was growing up in Horowhenua. Clamping down on gangs is part of the Government’s priority to improve public safety. 
The Gangs and Organised Crime Bill has now pursuant to Supplementary Order Paper 51 been divided into three bills amending the Crimes Act 1961 the Local Government Act 2002 and the Sentencing Act 2002. 
The Crimes Amendment Bill provides the police with a broader and more effective range of tools for intercepting the criminal activities of organised criminal groups. The bill allows police to apply for an interception warrant to investigate participation in an organised criminal group which is an offence under Section 98A of the Crimes Act. It doubles the maximum penalty for participation in an organised criminal group from 5 years’ imprisonment to 10 years’ imprisonment. 
The bill clarifies the evidential requirements to prove that offence with the aim of securing more successful prosecutions of those who participate in an organised criminal group. It expands police surveillance powers in respect of gang communications by lowering the general threshold for a specified offence for interception warrant purposes from 10 years’ imprisonment to 7 years’ imprisonment. This will enable police to better investigate a wider range of organised criminal activity. 
The Crimes Act will also be amended through recommendations made by the Law and Order Committee. These include clarifying that people who contribute to the illegal activities of an organised criminal group from overseas will not escape prosecution under section 98A and increasing the range of offences that if undertaken or planned by a group qualifies that group as criminal. 
The Sentencing Amendment Bill (No 3) makes participation in organised criminal groups or other criminal association an aggravating factor at sentencing. I would like to especially thank members of the Law and Order Committee led by Sandra Goudie for their particular attention to this provision by removing the potentially onerous requirement on the prosecution to prove the motivation of an offender. 
The Local Government Amendment Bill enables the police and territorial authorities to seek a removal order against gang structures that are intimidating in nature. The combined effort of these measures is to give police a wider array of tools to combat the problem we have with gangs and organised criminal activity in New Zealand. I commend this legislation to the House.