Little AndrewTERRORISM SUPPRESSION (CONTROL ORDERS) BILLThird ReadingHon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister of Justice): I move That the Terrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill be now read a third time. I'm very pleased at the passage of this bill through the House the examination that it received at the committee stage and it is now in very good form the House having approved also a Supplementary Order Paper in my name that made some added improvements to the bill. Obviously the examination that the bill received in the select committee did not lead to a majority decision on suitable changes but we were able to get those changes through that part of the House. I'm thankful for members who participated in the debates who have given it close scrutiny and close examination and I think this bill is now in good shape to perform a very important function which is—knowing the changing situation in Syria and the other parts of the Middle East knowing that there was a very small number of New Zealanders who travelled to that zone for reasons ideological philosophical or religious reasons to do things that we find antisocial and antithetical here—that we need to have the means in place and give the Commissioner of Police the tools to deal with those people who come back and pose a risk to our communities.We know that the Terrorism Suppression Act from the late 2000s—2007-08—is a piece of legislation that had huge gaps in it. It was problematic; the police said that at the time the Solicitor-General said that at the time and this Government has taken up the task of totally reviewing that piece of legislation. In the course of that review it's become apparent that we need to have mechanisms such as these control orders to alleviate the risk that people who have participated in events abroad in conflict zones would pose to New Zealanders. I might add that it was in 2014 that a UN resolution required member States to have the means in place to deal with returning foreign terrorist fighters. That hadn't happened by the end of 2017 and it was for this Government to embark upon that task.The review of the Terrorism Suppression Act will continue and there will be a comprehensive range of proposals brought back to this House in due course—I expect sometime next year—but we needed to have the means in place to deal with this now. Once Cabinet had approved the policy on that we had a suggestion from the National Party that they would approve it in principle but that they wanted to see the detail; that's entirely reasonable. When the bill was drafted and approved a copy was sent to the National Party. I received a message in writing that the National Party would support the bill. There were no conditions attached.Subsequently the National Party issued a statement saying that they required some changes or they wouldn't support it. That got into an exchange that I think is most unfortunate. Members opposite in the course of the debates in the House characterised the bill as weak. That is wrong. This provides extraordinary powers that do not apply would not apply to any other citizen but we need that because of the risk posed and I just think it's unfortunate that on matters of national security some think that it's OK to get into rhetoric and puffing our their chest and saying all sorts of weird and wonderful things. That is not appropriate it is not good for New Zealand and I'm disappointed that that happened.In any event we now have the bill in this form. The committee of the whole House approved Supplementary Order Paper 415. It does a number of things—not unusual but bearing in mind these orders are orders of a court a High Court judge; a judge needs to weigh the information before him or her to impose the orders. They will want to know that any risk posed is a real risk and so that word has been used as a consequence of the Supplementary Order Paper. The bill will be reviewed after two years. That is hardly problematic because the entire piece of legislation that it amends is under review now anyway and so that is an appropriate thing to have. Then there is a provision also that allows those subject to any order to get access to legal aid to review it.This is a civil process a civil order for people who have not been convicted of a crime. They might have been assessed as posing a risk and as having done something abroad that is antithetical to our values and therefore they pose a risk but they haven't been convicted of anything and those who genuinely subscribe to the principles of the rule of law will know that if it is not a criminal process and there is not a criminal sanction and it is just a civil process then we have to encroach very carefully on rights and freedoms. Because of course the other thing is that it is possible for these processes to get it wrong. So it is right that we have appropriate safeguards. It is right that we seek to draw a correct balance. We have done that in this case.This is a piece of legislation that will afford safety and security to New Zealanders for that very very small number of people who might be subject to one of these orders and of course we will continue the review process and continue to support the wonderful work that our police do and indeed the agencies who support them to keep our communities safe. On that basis I commend the bill to the House.