Genter Julie AnneCONSERVATION (INFRINGEMENT SYSTEM) BILLFirst ReadingHon JULIE ANNE GENTER (Minister for Women) on behalf of the Minister of Conservation: I move That the Conservation (Infringement System) Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Environment Committee to consider the bill.I move that the Conservation (Infringement System) Bill be read. The bill is a long overdue reform to conservation legislation which had its beginnings back in 2002. It introduces an infringement system to better protect conservation values while ensuring that people do not risk criminal convictions for simply committing minor offences. I acknowledge the former Ministers of Conservation and Justice and the former Attorney-General for their work on this bill which was introduced under the previous Government. I hope National will continue to support the bill.The bill does not change what is illegal. It provides another tool—infringement notices—for dealing with lesser offences under conservation legislation. Infringement notices will sit between formal warnings and prosecutions and may be appropriate for many offences. The bill should make compliance and enforcement systems more efficient and effective because it gives the Department of Conservation (DOC) and council officers—in relation to reserves—this additional enforcement tool.I and I'm sure other members of this House want to see our national parks public conservation lands marine reserves and indigenous plants and wildlife kept safe from illegal human activities but I don't want to see people prosecuted and get a criminal conviction for a minor breech of the whitebaiting regulations or for dropping litter in a park. I also want a better deterrence tool to achieve protection for conservation than offenders simply receiving a formal warning.The bill amends eight Acts namely the Conservation Act 1987 the Marine Mammals Protection Act 1978 the Marine Reserves Act 1971 the National Parks Act 1980 the Reserves Act 1977 the Trade in Endangered Species Act 1989 the Wild Animal Control Act 1977 and the Wildlife Act 1953 by inserting a new part in each of those Acts with a new set of infringement offences that duplicate existing offences in conservation legislation. These new parts enable warranted DOC officers and local authority officials—in relation to the reserves that councils administer—to issue infringement notices for less serious breaches of the offence provisions. The recipient of such a notice would be liable to an infringement fee rather than a court summons and a potential conviction.In general each offence in the current law—fishing in a marine reserve for example—encompasses a wide range of offending. Somebody who fishes in a marine reserve inadvertently and does not catch any fish or do any harm to the reserve may well be suitable for an infringement notice. Conversely someone who deliberately flouts the rules and poaches fish from it is likely to merit prosecution action. The bill will make the treatment of less serious offending under conservation legislation consistent with the approach to enforcement we already have under our fisheries biosecurity and resource management laws. It should also remove unnecessary costs to the court system.The bill also provides for DOC's warranted officers to require information in evidence if needed for a prosecution or an infringement notice as currently there is no such power in the Conservation Act. This is an essential part for an effective infringement system and is already present in other Acts.The bill has been drafted so that those committing serious offences such as using a firearm in an unsafe way obstructing enforcement officers or causing significant harm to conservation values would not be able to be given infringement notices and would be prosecuted. These offences were identified in consultation with the police and the Ministry of Justice.Before the bill is enacted DOC will develop further procedures around the use of the compliance tools and how the infringement system will operate. These procedures will ensure that Māori customary rights are respected when doing enforcement work. The seriousness of offending criterion in the guidelines will recognise whether a particular species is a taonga species and the impact of the offending on wāhi tapu or other sites significant to Māori.The intention is not that warranted DOC enforcement officers will issue tickets on the spot; rather these warranted officers would collect information and pass it to a group of trained enforcement specialists who would then decide how the alleged offence should be dealt with: no action a warning letter an infringement notice or a formal prosecution. This approach is designed to ensure consistent treatment. The actual infringement fees will be set in regulations.One particular issue the Minister of Conservation would welcome public submissions on and select committee consideration of is whether Fish & Game councils should have access to the infringement notice system. The bill as introduced enables DOC to use infringement notices for managing the Taupō sports fishery. It does not however currently provide for Fish & Game—which is a non-governmental agency—to use infringement notices to manage other sports fisheries such as trout and salmon elsewhere in New Zealand or game-bird hunting which it is responsible for. Care is needed in giving non-government agencies the power to issue sanctions because unless the infringement notice is challenged the courts do not sit between the enforcement agency and the offender to safeguard due process and provide a check on the exercise of power.The Minister has explored with officials some safeguards that could be used if Fish & Game councils were given the power to issue infringement notices. One option would be to give Fish & Game rangers only new powers to collect information from suspected offenders to then pass on to DOC's enforcement team to decide whether a notice should be issued and to issue it. This would however place a cost on DOC to manage some fish and game enforcement work. The Minister would welcome public feedback and the select committee's consideration of the implications of this approach and whether there are other options for delivering a more effective and efficient system for fish and game management while ensuring the interests of the public are protected. So rather than proposing a specific solution to Parliament in a Supplementary Order Paper the Minister of Conservation will be asking the select committee to consider the issue and then provide either an amended bill for Parliament to consider or a report setting out why no changes to the bill are needed in relation to fish and game.I believe this bill will make the enforcement system for conservation legislation more effective and efficient make better use of DOC's enforcement resources and by keeping less serious offences out of the courts save court time and resources. I commend the Conservation (Infringement System) Bill to the House.