Carter Chris: Customs and Excise Amendment Bill Tariff Amendment Bill — Third Readings 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Carter Chris: Customs and Excise Amendment Bill Tariff Amendment Bill — Third Readings 
[Sitting date: 24 November 2009. Volume:659;Page:8235. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon CHRIS CARTER (Labour—Te Atatu) 
: 
 I am pleased to rise on the third reading of this legislation to assure the Minister that the Labour Opposition will support it for many of the reasons outlined by my esteemed and honourable colleague Su’a William Sio who is the Labour member for the seat of Mangere. 
We have touched on the importance of keeping our borders secure. The Minister who is responsible for the Customs Service works in close dialogue we hope with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry which is responsible for biosecurity issues and the Immigration Service which of course is responsible for the flow and regulation of visitors as well as returning New Zealand citizens and residents. Working together in that partnership is critical not just for the security of our border but also for the economic growth of our country and the sense that everybody passing through the airport is a respected and valued member of our community. During the second reading I spoke about my experiences as Minister of Conservation and the importance of keeping our unique and natural environment as well as our agricultural industry safe from pests which is the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. 
I wanted to talk to the Minister a little bit today and to say that customs officials have a great responsibility put on them. They have to deal with a huge range of issues from drugs and other illegally imported substances to check that illegal goods are not being brought into the country to ensure that New Zealanders are obeying the law around those issues to keep our border safe and to make sure that commerce flows freely as well. 
I mentioned briefly in the Committee stage that I was privileged to be the Minister for Ethnic Affairs for 6 years and during that time concerns were raised with us not just about immigration but also about customs and the profiling of different groups of New Zealanders who were deemed to be more of a security risk whether that be through terrorism which is the issue that Mr Su’a William Sio touched upon or whether they were more likely to be at risk of being importers of drugs illegal firearms or other illegal substances. 
For an efficient use of any service there has to be profiling: who would be most at risk. In respect of drugs for example it may be young people who may have a very limited income and who may be coming from at-risk places—places where illegal substances are produced—and we would expect there to be greater scrutiny. Who could challenge that? But the issue I had to deal with as Minister for Ethnic Affairs was members of the Muslim community—some 50000 New Zealanders— 
Dr Ashraf Choudhary 
: 56000. 
Hon CHRIS CARTER 
: Our Muslim MP and my good friend and colleague Dr Ashraf Choudhary has just reminded me that 56000 Muslims live in New Zealand. They are New Zealanders who are respected members of our community. They are law-abiding honest Kiwis who like all the rest of us are just trying to get ahead in life. They actually come from over 80 different nationalities—from Bosnians to Somalis from Indonesians to Fijian Indians. Some of these people have felt as they have moved through customs and immigration that they have been profiled. I am sure that my good friend Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi who is an MP from the Punjabi community here would be able to attest to that in relation to Sikhs who of course are not Muslims. In fact the history of Sikhism has been to struggle against the Mogul Muslim rulers of India. It has been a long tradition and I guess that in the past Dr Choudhary’s ancestors fought against Mr Singh’s but they are good friends now as we would expect Kiwis to be. But because the Sikh community wears turbans they felt they had been profiled following the September 11 attacks on the Twin Towers the London bombings and the so-called shoe bomber who attempted to blow up a trans-Atlantic plane. The Sikh community felt doubly outraged about this because it felt it had been labelled into a particular set of terrorists and that because they wore turbans there was a simplistic view that they somehow might be terrorists. 
I met with the Sikh community several times in South Auckland along with the Minister of Customs and the Minister of Immigration to see how we could address this issue. We heard many anecdotal stories of people who felt they had been profiled. We thought we had put the whole issue to bed then at Queenstown Airport a cabin crew member refused to admit a Sikh man wearing a turban on to the plane. That was some 2½ years ago. We hope that the Customs Service has now learnt from that experience and that all New Zealanders whatever their religion or ethnic origin are deserving of respect and that people should be challenged only where they pose a genuine and real risk to the security of our country. 
I want to use this opportunity to say to the Minister and to the House and to anybody who is listening or watching Parliament today that we in the Labour Party are totally committed to respecting all New Zealanders regardless of their ethnic or religious background. We urge the Minister of Customs as well as the Minister of Immigration and the Minister responsible for biosecurity and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry not to racially or religiously profile any New Zealander coming through our airports or any New Zealand resident because only people who pose a genuine risk to New Zealand should be intercepted. 
I also heard my colleague Su’a William Sio talk about the danger of drugs. I was in Tonga 2 weeks ago with Phil Goff the leader of the Labour Party. We went to see how Tonga and Samoa were dealing with the after-effects of the tsunami. At the meeting Chris Kelley the New Zealand police officer who is now in charge of the Tongan police force talked about the real issue of the network in the Pacific where illegal drug substances are being funnelled around the Pacific and into New Zealand and Australia. The challenge for our customs immigration and agriculture people grows ever greater. I am pleased to see that new technology is being introduced here. There will be an enhanced ability to search intercept and prosecute. These are all good measures. I am pleased to see the technology to facilitate more effective and efficient passenger flows because as well as these safety measures it is good for our country. 
I say to the National-led Government that these are good ideas. They have their genesis in much of the work we were doing when Labour was in power. We should not short-change these services by cutting their budgets. The Customs Service the Immigration Service and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry must not have their budgets cut. These new technologies—these good measures—will not work if the people are not there. Thank you very much.