Ryall Tony: Courts and Criminal Matters Bill — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee 
Ryall Tony: Courts and Criminal Matters Bill — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee 
[Volume:626;Page:21714] 
Hon TONY RYALL (National—Bay Of Plenty) 
: 
 The Government has introduced the Courts and Criminal Matters Bill to try to improve the collection of outstanding fines. The debt mountain was below $300 million at the start of this Government’s term and has grown to an estimated $650 million today. The estimated outstanding debt—fines that are not under any payment schedule—is $330 million. That is an awful lot of money and that is why this Government is making these changes to the legislation. The Opposition says the changes do not go far enough. 
Part 5 makes changes to the Misuse of Drugs Act to give new powers to registrars and deputy registrars in respect of the enforcement of fines imposed by the High Court. I ask the Minister to take a call and explain exactly how the new provisions of this bill will apply to people who may be subject to the various orders issued under the Proceeds of Crime Act. People who receive convictions under that Act can be subject to various orders. What will this Government do to prevent people who are subject to proceeds of crime orders and who have not satisfied those orders from travelling overseas? Those people are serious fines defaulters who have been required by the authorities to provide assets for sale under the proceeds of crime legislation. They should not be leaving the country if they have not paid the money because they are evil people who have sold drugs to our young people. They should not be allowed out of the country while they have outstanding fines. 
Which provision in this bill will stop those people from leaving? Which provision in this bill will deal with drug dealers in the same way we deal with speedsters? A speedster with more than $5000 worth of fines and an arrest warrant out will be prevented from getting on a plane but a drug dealer with outstanding orders under the proceeds of crime legislation can get on a plane and fly off to Bali or Thailand. What will be done to stop that? The Opposition agrees with what has been proposed in Part 5 but says it could go further. I ask the Minister to tell us what he is doing to stop people who are subject to an order under the Proceeds of Crime Act from getting on a plane and flying out? Those people should meet their obligations because of the evil they have perpetrated on young New Zealanders. They should not be allowed out of the country until the order has been completely satisfied. I think that is quite an important issue. 
I would also like the Minister to explain why the system sometimes makes it so difficult for people to pay their fines. People ring me up or come to my electorate office who say that they have been trying to pay their children’s fines but that they cannot get any information on what is outstanding and how they can pay it. I have constituents who have rung the department and said they want to pay their son’s fines and the department has said it is sorry but it cannot talk to them about their son’s fines. People who want to reduce the debt mountain are being turned away by the Minister’s department. They ring the call centres or they go into the courts and they say they want to make payments on behalf of their son. The parents ask how much the son owes and whether they can make a contribution. The departmental officials say they cannot tell those people anything about the fines and that they must deal with their son. If the constituent says the son is overseas the officials say that is too bad. The department is effectively saying that it does not want the money. Why does the department make it so hard to pay fines? I have had two cases in the last 2 months of parents trying to pay their kids’ fines but they have not had any cooperation from the Government. 
Can the Minister take a call and tell me two things. First how are we dealing with people who under the proceeds of crimes legislation may have various orders outstanding? What are we going to do to prevent them from leaving the country? Secondly why is it made so hard for parents who want to pay their kids’ fines?