Sio WilliamSu'a WILLIAM SIO (Labour—Māngere): My colleague Kelvin Davis has already indicated to the House our position regarding these bills—the Returning Offenders (Management and Information) (Drug and Alcohol Testing) Amendment Bill the Public Safety (Public Protection Orders) (Drug and Alcohol Testing) Amendment Bill the Sentencing (Drug and Alcohol Testing) Amendment Bill the Parole (Drug and Alcohol Testing) Amendment Bill the Bail (Drug and Alcohol Testing) Amendment Bill and the Drug and Alcohol Testing of Community-based Offenders Bailees and Other Persons Legislation Bill. I do not resile from the position that Kelvin Davis has put forward. I do want to start my remarks by referencing what Jonathan Young said earlier in his contribution. When he said—I think it was an appeal and I am paraphrasing what he said—that all of our communities need to live by the law I do not think that there is anyone in this House who disagrees with that. I have to then say that what Peeni Henare said was something that this House needs to consider when we are laying down legislation with the intention of preventing people from recidivism. The reality is that we are giving new powers to the police and to the Department of Corrections to be able to impose bail conditions on drugs and alcohol upon offenders who have been released. Here is my concern: alcohol is freely available—alcohol is freely available throughout our country. In some communities such as mine despite efforts of the community to say No more outlets." the rules that govern outlets and the sale of alcohol—rules that were passed by this Government—prevent the community from stopping new alcohol outlets in our community. There is a dilemma here. On the one hand we are saying that we do not want released offenders to continue with the alcohol consumption and the drug consumption but on the other hand we make these things so readily available out on the streets and in the community. That is almost saying to a bull: "Here's the red flag; don't run after it." We have got to look more broadly than simply saying that this is going to address recidivism. Yes I note that the report says that these bail conditions are very effective in the United States but then you have got to consider the type of society that the United States is. I have seen people on the streets of Los Angeles walking backwards and walking all over. When you ask somebody "What's that person doing?" they say that they are on some kind of drug. I think that if we are genuinely sincere about offenders who are released and on parole conditions then we have got to also have some thought about ensuring that these things that we are wanting to prevent these parolees from accessing are not so readily available in the community. At least we have been able to define the controlled drugs. But I think there is a debate that we still have to have about ensuring that these released prisoners do not end up returning to prison because of their inability to control their desires towards alcohol and drugs. There is a woman who is in prison at the moment. Her name is Vicki Letele. She was imprisoned in March of this year for fraud. She is serving a 3½ year term. My colleague Louisa Wall has been engaging with the Department of Corrections and with the Parole Board to implore that group to release this woman so that she can be with her family. This woman Vicki Letele has been diagnosed with a terminal disease cancer of the stomach. I raise this issue because we are giving the Parole Board some significant powers to make decisions on when it can search these parolees. I am saying that I think we have got to be very very careful with the kinds of unfettered powers that we give to some sectors of our public service. With Vicki Letele I would have thought it was just plain simple. A woman is in her twilight hours. She is dying. Her dying wish is to be with her children and to be surrounded by her family. Corrections and the Parole Board say that she should remain in prison because that is where she can get medical care in the hospital prison. The family says that she is dying. Is it not better to save taxpayers' money and release her and have her spend time with her family and with her children? I just think it is bizarre and I am imploring the Minister of Corrections the Prime Minister and members of Cabinet given that we are discussing these powers—they have the power to release this woman if they so want it. I am imploring the Minister of Corrections and the Prime Minister to do so. These are the dying days of Vicki Letele and surely she deserves to be released so that she can spend her dying days and hours with her children and with her family. Our politicians our Ministers—The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Lindsay Tisch): This is not in the bill.Su'a WILLIAM SIO: —have the ability to listen to and to observe what is happening on the ground. I sometimes think that the Parole Board does not have its eyes and ears close to the ground. That is the concern that I raise today. It was a concern that was also discussed by the Law and Order Committee. I note in the report that it says that "the drug and alcohol testing proposed by the bill may engage the right under section 21 of the Bill of Rights of Act 1990 to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure." and that the committee "considered that because the drug and alcohol testing had implications for human rights drugs and alcohol conditions for bailees might be more appropriately imposed by a judicial officer rather than a registrar." I raise the point that we are giving these significant powers to certain parts of our Public Service and the experience that we have had is that they are often disconnected from the realities of what is happening in the community. Again I want to put it on the record that tonight this week the Minister of Corrections the Prime Minister and Ministers in Cabinet can do a good thing. They can do the right thing and support what my colleague Louisa Wall is asking the Department of Corrections and the Parole Board to do. But I say they should just simply release Vicki Letele and have her spend her dying days and hours with her children. That is the right thing to do. It is a good thing to do."