Tizard Judith: Protected Objects Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Tizard Judith: Protected Objects Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:624;Page:19616] 
Hon JUDITH TIZARD (Associate Minister for Arts Culture and Heritage) 
: 
 I move  
That the Protected Objects Amendment Bill be now read a first time. 
 At the appropriate time I intend to move that the bill be referred to the Government Administration Committee for consideration. 
The illicit trade in cultural objects is a significant international problem often associated with organised crime the looting of archaeological sites and the theft of objects from public and private sources. Interpol estimated in August last year that the illicit trade in art and artefacts worldwide each year is valued at somewhere between US$4 billion and US$10 billion. 
 Important New Zealand objects have been illegally exported in the past and continue to be vulnerable. The recovery of stolen or illegally exported objects is hindered by a range of legal and practical problems that are best addressed through international agreements. The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization Unesco has taken the lead in securing international agreement on measures to protect heritage objects. 
Two international conventions have been framed to address the problems. The 1970 Unesco Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property provides a framework for cooperative action between State parties. That is complemented by an International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) convention—UNIDROIT being the international institute established to provide for the harmonisation of private and commercial laws between States. The 1995 UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects creates a specific judicial framework that aims to unify the private laws of member States in relation to the recovery of objects. In July 2004 the Minister for Arts Culture and Heritage the Rt Hon Helen Clark announced that New Zealand is to sign up to those two international conventions. Some legislative change is required however before we can do so. 
The Protected Objects Amendment Bill introduces revised provisions for regulating the export of heritage objects. Those provisions update established practice and continue New Zealand’s longstanding commitment to protecting objects of heritage value within New Zealand. For more than 100 years New Zealand has had legislation that has been designed to prevent the loss of certain precious objects and that reflects the principle that the Crown has a legitimate interest in protecting objects of heritage value to New Zealand and in particular in regulating the export of such objects including those in private ownership. 
 The current legislation the Antiquities Act provides for a system of domestic control of the export of cultural heritage objects. The Act does not however provide the means to recover objects that have been illegally exported. It has other shortcomings that prevent optimum protection of our removable cultural heritage. As a good international citizen New Zealand also has an interest in respecting and protecting the cultural heritage of other countries. Participation in both conventions meets our responsibility to recover and return important cultural objects imported here from other countries as well. 
The purpose of the bill therefore is to address the shortcomings of the Antiquities Act and to strengthen the safeguards protecting valued New Zealand and international cultural heritage objects. The bill will do that by clarifying meanings and introducing more precise categories that describe the heritage objects for which permission to export is required. It will clarify the processes for applying to export heritage objects and will provide for systematic and accountable advice to be given by recognised experts on heritage objects in that process. The bill will thus ensure we retain those objects that are of such importance that their export would substantially diminish New Zealand’s cultural heritage. 
Existing penalties for breaches of the Act are so low right now as to provide little effective deterrent. That is especially true in an age when very high prices can be obtained for rare heritage objects on the international market in stolen and illegally exported items as well as for those objects that are at present exported legally. That market has taken advantage of technological advances such as trading over the Internet. Under this bill monetary penalties will be increased to align with those in the Trade in Endangered Species Act in recognition that both endangered species and cultural objects are vulnerable and irreplaceable world resources. The Government intends those penalties to provide a genuine disincentive to illicitly export our precious heritage objects or to gratuitously destroy any object for which permission to export is not granted. 
The bill will also align the legislation with the Customs and Excise Act ensuring that the New Zealand Customs Service can effectively monitor border compliance in terms of the international conventions. The bill establishes a register of objects in which New Zealand has a national interest and which may be subject to claims for repatriation through these conventions if they have been illegally exported. 
The bill establishes new administrative processes to ensure that ownership can be established over found Maori cultural heritage objects. This will mean that those claiming ownership will not need to enter into costly legal proceedings. This legislation will assign to the chief executive of the administrative department responsibility for consulting appropriately when a Maori cultural heritage object is found. The processes will it is hoped dispel concerns that the Crown may be assigned ownership over such newly found objects. 
The bill changes the title of the principal Act. The words “antiquities” and “artefacts” as used in the current legislation are outdated and do not reflect the tenor of the bill or its contemporary purposes. The new title recognises that the bill is concerned with the cultural and heritage values of both New Zealand and other States. Although the legislation will continue to be an amendment to the Antiquities Act on its commencement the title of the principal Act will change from the Antiquities Act to the Protected Objects Amendment Act. 
The bill completes a series of reviews of the Act that began in the mid-1980s and addresses issues that have evolved significantly since that time. New Zealand will benefit because international demand for illicitly obtained objects will be reduced as deterrents come into effect. We will also benefit from a more transparent and enhanced environment for the legitimate international trade of cultural objects. 
I am very pleased to introduce this bill. It is long overdue and is the outcome of thoughtful consideration and review. It is now time to ensure that our legislation reflects both the realities of the present day and the value we place on heritage as part of our living culture as well as the past upon which it has been built. I intend to move that the bill be referred to the Government Administration Committee for consideration.