Cross-Party Hope For Anti-Trafficking Legislation

Gill
Bonnett, Immigration Reporter

An MP
fighting for anti-trafficking legislation says it is hard
for prosecutors to take cases to court – but he is hopeful
his bill will turn the tide.

RNZ has revealed that
children are among those enslaved, sometimes after being adopted
overseas and without
their new parents being vetted.

National MP Greg
Fleming hopes to get the law passed, with possible
cross-party support for a wider bill.

He is waiting to
hear whether parliament’s business committee will allow the
scope of his first members’ bill on slavery offences and
penalties to be expanded.

He also has a second
members’ bill in the ballot – to introduce a requirement for
companies with turnovers of more than $100m to carry out due
diligence reports into slavery and other workforce
complaints in their supply chain and operations.

With
cross-party support, that could become the first bill to
make it to parliament without being picked from the the
members’ ballot – the biscuit tin – under a new
parliamentary avenue.

Fleming said while neither bill
included a modern slavery commissioner, he predicted that
will happen in a few years.

“Part of the challenge we
have been having in New Zealand for many years now is the
inability to effectively and efficiently prosecute known
cases of human trafficking,” he said.

“I think most
people have no idea of just how commonly occurring
trafficking is in a place like New Zealand and I think that
is part of the reason why we haven’t seen movement in the
legislation space.

“My role is to push for the
legislative change that so many people in the NGO space have
been pushing for years because – very sadly, lamentably –
there are a number of cases like this happening every year
in New Zealand.”

A third bill?

Draft
legislation that would encompass the issues in Fleming’s
bills – as well as introducing a modern slavery
commissioner, and more services for victims – was drawn up
last year by a group of trafficking specialists. There was
hope at the time that it could garner the 61 non-executive
MPs needed to allow it to be directly introduced to the
House, skipping the members’ ballot.

Labour MP Camilla
Belich, who has backed the bill, said that has not yet
eventuated.

“From Labour’s side we are very supportive
of the comprehensive bill that was drafted by the experts.
It’s very much in line with the decisions that we announced
prior to the last election in relation to modern slavery and
would really bring New Zealand into line with other
countries that do have legislation for modern
slavery.

“So we have put that offer out there and
remain open to joining forces with the National Party or
other political parties in parliament to see if we can get
that comprehensive bill introduced. That offer remains on
the table. My understanding is that there there isn’t the
appetite to support this particular bill at the moment,
which is very disappointing not only for us but for many of
the organisations who’ve worked really long and hard to try
and get this legislation in the statute books in New
Zealand.

“But also we have to think about the people
who are affected by this type of human trafficking and
essentially modern slavery that happens in our supply chain
and the fact that practice can continue without an adequate
statutory response in New Zealand is very, very serious –
and something that I’m sure, weighs heavily on the minds of
of
many.”

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