Brownlee GerryIMMIGRATION (MASS ARRIVALS) AMENDMENT BILLFirst ReadingDebate resumed.Hon GERRY BROWNLEE (National): Can I just say that this is a bill that the National Party will support today to a select committee but it is a bill that does raise a number of concerns as well and we want to test those out during the select committee process. We've got to remember that should there be a mass arrival in New Zealand those who are part of that mass arrival are stepping ahead of some 20 million United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees refugees who are located at refugee camps all around the world. They are stepping ahead and jumping the queue on the around 1500 refugees who we accept into this country every year. And it's therefore important that we don't have legislation that makes it attractive for these people smugglers to give it a go getting across the Tasman into New Zealand or for that matter finding themselves somehow stranded inside some of the vast territorial waters that New Zealand has responsibility for. So our position is simply that while we think that there is a whole lot of things about the immigration department at the moment—or the department inside the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment that handles immigration—that could be described as a bit of a shambles it is important that the integrity of the immigration system is maintained. And so some look at this sort of provision is important. What I think is most relevant in all of this is the time that the immigration officers and then the court have to determine the status of those who arrive on our borders. It makes it very clear as the Minister has just said that they are not normal passengers and that they cannot expect to be treated like that and that they will be detained under arrest according to a warrant that will be issued once they do arrive on these shores. Where it gets a bit loose from that point is what happens to them. And so while the Minister says that the detention period should be for a minimum of time the question is where that detention would be. Would it be in fact a situation where it becomes a little bit pro forma: arrive in New Zealand as part of a mass emigration—remembering that everybody who would be part of that would have paid some nefarious operator large sums of money in order to be able to get here—and then simply go through a process that means refugee status might be exercised or provided?I think we've got to be very careful that we don't have an administrative law that makes us an easy target when in fact so far unlike so many other countries we have avoided this sort of mass arrival not that it hasn't been a prospect at various times in the last decade or so. There have been wide reports of there being boats that might be on their way to New Zealand and of course that triggered the original 2013 legislation that was brought down by a previous Minister. When we come to the select committee I think it will be very interesting to hear from immigration officials why they think they need so much extra time. It may seem like a lot but if you can get the picture that none of these people arriving have a right to arrive. Anybody who arrives on an international aircraft today on a passenger cruise ship or even on a commercial vessel have a permission to be here. They are granted the right to come into New Zealand. None of these people are in that position. They've just decided they're going to disregard our provisions shortcut the whole arrangements for coming into any country and just take their chances.If the bill were to mean that their chances were pretty good at getting citizenship here and getting residence here then I think we would have a little bit of a problem because we'd be signalling to a lot of these people that we're an easy target. And remember too that the people who come on these boats even though they're a bit shonky and a bit rumpty can afford to be there. They pay a lot of money. So the prospect of a better-quality ship coming to a country where there was almost no question about what the outcome was going to be would be very alarming indeed.So we will as I say support this bill to the select committee today. However we do want to go through—with the officials and those who might submit on it—our concerns to ensure that the bill is actually doing what it should do which is deterring these operators from targeting New Zealand and making it clear that should they be successful in negotiating our waters there is no automatic path that would lead them to a good outcome. There will be subsequent speakers today who have considerable experience in the role. My colleague Michael Woodhouse a former Minister the Minister who brought the 2013 legislation to the House will be able to elucidate a lot better on the concerns that we have with significantly more detail. So with that can I say once again that we will participate responsibly in the select committee process. While the Minister describes this as a bill that is not overly consequential or not exactly the one that he would get most excited about—it's very hard to work out what part of immigration he does get excited about—we will of course engage properly because it's important and has potentially long-term consequences for New Zealand.