Parmar Parmjeet: Child Protection (Child Sex Offender Register) Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeParmar Parmjeet: Child Protection (Child Sex Offender Register) Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 15 September 2015. Volume:708;Page:6651. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Dr PARMJEET PARMAR (National): Thank you for the opportunity to speak on the first reading of the Child Protection (Child Sex Offender Register) Bill. I would like to acknowledge the Minister in charge of the bill the Hon Anne Tolley for bringing this bill to the House.This bill will enable the establishment of New Zealand’s first child sex offender register from July next year—that is July 2016. This register will enable information sharing among entities dealing with the issue. This register will be established by the police and the Department of Corrections. Once it is set up authorised staff members will have access to this register to identify and manage risk posed by convicted child sex offenders when they come to the end of their sentences or by those who are serving non-custodial sentences.As we have heard from the Minister and other speakers this information will not be publicly available but it will be made available to third parties only if there is a significant risk to a child’s safety posed by a convicted registered child sex offender. This information will then be released to third parties like parents guardians or school principals. Convicted child sex offenders over the age of 18 will go on this register—those who are convicted for committing such crimes against children under the age of 16. So if they have been sentenced or if they are serving non-custodial sentences or if they have been convicted overseas for a qualifying offence and they come back to live here in New Zealand for more than 6 months they will be required to go on that register.This register will contain quite a bit of information about the offender—not just the name and the address but it will have some identifying particulars about the offender. It will also have information about the offence and the date of sentencing for the qualifying offence. So as this register contains extensive information about the offender and also the offence committed this register is not going to be publicly available. As I said before this information will be made available to third parties as specified agenciesonly if there is a significant risk to a child’s safety overall welfare or sexual safety.This bill also covers the suppression order aspect. It is quite common that in these kinds of cases people apply for suppression orders. In respect of convicted child sex offenders who are subject to suppression orders their information on this register may also be disclosed to third parties. These convicted child sex offenders on the register do not have any restrictions on their usual activities. If they wish to travel they will be able to travel but there will be some reporting requirements. For example if a convicted child sex offender on the register wants to go away from their usual residential address for more than 48 hours they will be required to report to the commissioner. They will be required to provide information about their plan at least 48 hours before they commence their travel.This bill is part of National’s big programme to keep young people safe from harm. It is important that we look after people. They should feel safe in their homes and communities. It is important that everyone including young people is treated with respect and dignity. It is not just about tackling crime; this register is about preventing crime as well. Our focus is to make sure that we are preventing crime from happening in the first place. We know that the crime rate is the lowest in 35 years in New Zealand and that New Zealanders are benefiting from this low crime rate. This has happened because this National Government is hard on criminals. We have toughened prison sentences for gang members. We have stopped the release of violent criminals on parole and also the street racing offences have halved since the new legislation passed. This bill is an example of how we are continuing our work to protect our young ones—children—in the community. It is important that we protect them from any violent or sexual crime. Our goal is to protect the public and to hold offenders accountable.We are using technology. National introduced 24/7 GPS monitoring of high-risk offenders but this register is going to be useful because it will allow information sharing among different entities. This is also about breaking the cycle of reoffending and imprisonment. The register will help different agencies to keep track of these convicted child sex offenders and to also monitor their circumstances. Our interest is to keep victims safe. Our interest is to make sure that victims are not revictimised and offenders are not reoffending. Victims should not be always living in the fear that offenders are around them. Parents of children should not be worried about offenders hanging around their houses playgrounds or schools. We need to make sure that the system provides an assurance to them that we are keeping track of convicted child sex offenders. We should be able to protect children from known offenders so that children get the best possible opportunities to get ahead in life.Children if they are abused sexually or physically can take a long time to recover. They may not get back on track for their whole lives. They may suffer mentally and physically because of the abuse that they might have faced at a young age. So we want to make sure that victims get the right kind of support firstly to deal with the aftermath of the crime also long-term support should be available to help bring them back on track.The Government is ensuring that our focus is on victims. We want to prevent sexual abuse happening against children and this can be done with the help of communities parents schools and legislation like this. It is very sad to see when offenders go out and commit the same crime repeatedly and victims are revictimised. That is where this bill is going to provide protection for children. At a recent public meeting in Mount Roskill I spoke to inform them about this bill coming before the House. It was quite well-received and there were a lot of positive responses to this bill. We want the public to have trust in the system and that trust will come only if we have the right kind of mechanisms in place. The setting up of this sex offender register is a significant step forward to protect children.Another important thing about this bill is that it also establishes an offence for people who do not provide information for this register. So if convicted child sex offenders fail to provide information to go on this register they can be fined up to $2000 and can be sent to jail for up to 1 year. If they provide misleading or wrong information that is taken even more seriously and they can be fined up to $4000 and sent to jail for up to 2 years. Convicted child sex offenders serving a sentence at the time the new legislation comes into force will also go on to this register.So the aim of this bill is to keep track of convicted child sex offenders monitor their circumstances and see whether there is any need for any action to be taken. The information on these convicted child sex offenders will be continually updated so that the information will be the most recent. Because of the type of information on the register the register is not publicly available but as I said earlier that information will be made available only if there is a significant risk posed by a convicted child sex offender to a child in the community. I believe this step will reduce child abuse so I support this bill and commend the bill to the House. Thank you.