Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Legislation Bill New Zealand First supports this bill aimed at strengthening the law to combat corruption, and to improve New Zealand’s ability to collaborate with international efforts to disrupt organised crime. The effort to keep NZ corruption free requires at least three things: 1. A culture in which the people themselves reject and suppress corrupt practices and embrace honest and fair dealings. 2. A robust legal system to outlaw corrupt practices, 3. Effective policing, and good leadership. The worrying element is in the quality of our leadership. Many of us have been deeply concerned about the revelations in Nicky Hager’s “Dirty Politics”. It shows that the likes of Cameron Slater conduct smear campaigns, tell the filthiest of lies, and conduct other guttersnipe activities against politicians, civil servants, and others who the current government does not like. The Prime Minister speaks to Slater regularly. He says that he does not do so in his Prime Ministerial capacity, but few would be so gullible as to believe that. Despite the potential risk to NZ’s reputation resulting from the PM’s dealings with Slater, and those of former ministers, especially Judith Collins, this Bill has some very useful provisions. Particularly welcome are the changes made to the human trafficking offence in the Crimes Act. The transnational element of the offence will be removed to ensure trafficking can be prosecuted regardless of whether the crime crosses a border. Money laundering is also a booming criminal activity needing the strongest possible deterrent. The Bill will clarify that intent to conceal is not a necessary element of the offence and will remove the requirement that the property laundered must be the proceeds of an offence punishable by at least 5 years’ imprisonment. There is also to be a new offence to criminalise the acceptance of a bribe by a foreign public official and the acceptance of a bribe in return for using one’s influence over an official; and the foreign bribery offence is also amended to clarify the circumstances in which a legal person is liable for foreign bribery The bill will increase penalties, as high as 20 years imprisonment or a $500,000 fine for some offences.
Posted on: Fri, 07 Nov 2014 23:55:33 +0000