Robertson H V Ross: Arms (Military Style Semi-automatic Firearms and Import Controls) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Robertson H V Ross: Arms (Military Style Semi-automatic Firearms and Import Controls) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Sitting date: 22 May 2012. Volume:680;Page:2281. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
H V ROSS ROBERTSON (Labour—Manukau East) 
: 
 Kia ora tatou. No reira Mr Speaker and greetings to you in that fine office that you have there. Can I first of all acknowledge the work of both the Law and Order Committee of this Parliament and the last one for the work that they did on this piece of legislation the Arms (Military Style Semi-automatic Firearms and Import Controls) Amendment Bill. I think that they have managed to get the rights of gun owners and distributors about right.  
I am a strong advocate of disarmament issues and have become actively involved around the world in support of a treaty that seeks to ensure the more responsible control and transfer of conventional weapons. I know Mr Deputy Speaker that you—and I should not bring you into it Mr Deputy Speaker—are a responsible firearms owner and probably know more about firearms than many of us inside this Chamber. We will have a talk about that later on. As the Labour spokesperson on disarmament small arms and light weapons I am aware of the issues locally and internationally. As legislators I believe that it is important for us to remember that there are constituents—not all of us will have these constituents—who have been directly impacted by the irresponsible transfer and control of arms which has resulted in the loss of life.  
This bill that we are debating tonight and which we in the Labour Party support amends the Arms Act of 1983 to change the definitions and regulations about what constitutes military-style semi-automatic weapons. It places restrictions on the importation of airguns that look like real pistols military-style semi-automatics or restricted weapons. It links with what is proposed through an arms trade treaty to prevent weapons from being exported to Governments or countries around the world where they should not go such as Governments with poor records in terms of how they treat their own people.  
As we here seek to control the importation of armaments the world and those who are concerned enough seek an arms trade treaty in a diplomatic conference to be held in New York in July which has the objective of ensuring that the international arms trade industry is cleaned up. As a nation State we need in this country to continue to play a constructive role on armaments and to lead and as a Labour Party we support any measures to prevent and mitigate the harm that military-style semi-automatic weapons cause to society. In this country we support the need to mitigate the costs of law enforcement as a result of the importations of weapons that look like military-style semi-automatics.  
We do it for a reason and there has to be a reason why this legislation is necessary. It is necessary because of a court case here in 2010 and it is necessary due to the uncertainties of the definition of military-style semi-automatics as a result of that High Court case. I think it was  
Lincoln v New Zealand Police 
. It is also a mechanism through which the Government hopes to reduce the number of incidents due to the weapons that look like military-style semi-automatics. We support the need for there to be greater import controls on imitation weapons—in fact any weapons for that matter—given their increased use in the commission of crimes and the need for police resources.  
I am sure that many of us who have close contact with the police through our own constituencies will have anecdotal evidence of where imitation weapons have been used for burglary robbery and the like. In New Zealand we are told that the Government asserts that the police estimates indicate that there could be up to one incident a week where a member of the public presents an airgun that looks like a real pistol or a military-style semi-automatic or restricted weapons requiring an armed police response sometimes involving the call out of the armed offenders squad. Tightening import controls would reduce the easy availability of these replica firearms.  
I think that is the reason why we in this House need to be responsible when it comes to the whole issue of firearms because it is an area that requires controls to ensure that these particular types of weapons do not fall into the wrong hands. I have had a number of people write to me on this issue. One of the purposes of this bill is to ensure responsible ownership but I want to say to those firearms owners who are concerned that it should be noted that the bill provides an appeal process to the District Court where an owner disagrees with a classification of a firearm as a military-style semi-automatic weapon. So there is the opportunity for gun owners who are concerned to have the ability to go to the District Court and I am sure there will be responsible firearms owners in this country who will use that mechanism.  
Can I draw to the House’s attention Labour’s minority view in the bill. In the select committee our members there proposed an initiative that was to aid in the consultation process in the form of an independent reference group. We asked that it be established to provide contestable advice to the Minister. However we were advised that a wide-ranging reference group was outside the scope of the bill. So we had to accept that and we did.  
We also understand of course that the police themselves also recognise the need to engage nationally with the New Zealand firearms community. They need to work together like a community. I am reminded of the Maori saying: “Tatou tatou.” It means: “Together together.” And in that true sense of the word “community” together we serve and together we prosper. If we have the police working alongside the firearms community I am sure that we will have the opportunity and we will witness that this piece of legislation can work. 
 It is the expectation of members on this side of the House that this exploration will lead to the formal establishment of this advisory group and if it is not established we would expect the police to provide a robust rationale as to their decision. We think that is important because there needs to be involvement of the community together. As my colleague Kris Faafoi our spokesperson on police said Labour members will be monitoring the development of this issue closely—and we will because we believe it is for the betterment of the community that those sorts of things occur. If we have the police and the firearms community working together then that can only be good for our society.  
Let me conclude by just saying that this legislation is necessary and it is necessary because of the uncertainties created in the definition of military-style semi-automatic weapons as a result of the  
Lincoln v New Zealand Police 
 case in 2010. We as responsible legislators have brought this legislation to the House in order for us to ensure that the right things are done not only by gun owners but also by the police for the betterment of the constituents in the communities that we represent here as legislators. For it is our job to serve our community to represent the interests of those who elected us to this Parliament so that we in turn can express their views and their concerns about issues that greatly affect them—issues that we can do something about. I endorse this bill to the House and I hope that the rest of the House will do likewise.