Two a penny

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The Maori Party is warning young Maori will fight back against police trying to take a DNA swab.

Parliament yesterday passed the Criminal Investigations (Bodily Samples) Amendment Bill, which will enable police to take samples from people charged with a range of serious offences, wider than the present category.Consent will not be needed, and samples will be able to be taken without judicial approval.From 2011, they will be allowed to take DNA samples from anyone they intend charging with an imprisonable offence.”They already distrust the police and (if) the police want to take a swab, they’re not going to know what is going on at all,” she told Radio New Zealand.But Maori Party MP Rahui Katene warned of the potential for trouble with young Maori men.”Britain had the world’s largest database; it held the DNA of 75 percent of young black men compared with 22 percent of white men, Ms Katene said.”So they are, of course, going to fight back.”They’re picking up particularly young Maori guys and taking them in, whether they have reason to suspect them of having committed a crime or not,” she said.She believed a similar situation could happen in New Zealand.”Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei agreed Maori were more likely to suffer under the legislation.”With this, they can take DNA on suspicion basically of having committed a crime, and keep it.Labour MP Moana Mackey said it was vital that extra funding was made available for DNA testing through crown research institute, ESR.Labour supported it but said there were concerns about how it would be implemented.The DNA powers were a National Party election promise and the bill was given its first reading in February.National Party MP Paul Quinn said the party was comfortable safeguards were in place to ensure the bill could be safely enacted.During the third reading debate Labour MPs said they were worried about the extent of the powers that were being given to the police and MP Charles Chauvel tried to amend the bill so a judicial warrant would be needed.At that time, Attorney-General Chris Finlayson issued a report saying the bill appeared to be inconsistent with the Bill of Rights Act’s provisions against unreasonable search and seizure.

‘GENETIC SURVEILLANCE STATE’

The new law will increase the pool of innocent suspects, a civil liberties group says. .

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LATEST:
The Government will make a second attempt to get controversial changes to the ACC scheme through its first reading in Parliament.

Prime Minister John Key said yesterday that the Government would move the House into urgency from today to push through changes to the “boy-racer” legislation and the victim levy bill.

National is negotiating with ACT and the Maori Party for the votes to pass its ACC changes after being forced to shelve the first reading of the proposed legislation last week through lack of support. Progress is being made, but it’s a little too early to tell whether it will be this week,” Key said.

“We’re in negotiations with our partners.

Motorcyclists bear the brunt of the levy increases, but all motorists, and most workers, will pay more from next year.

ACC Minister Nick Smith has unveiled a range of levy increases and changes to entitlements, and a move to shift the full funding of the scheme out to 2019.

The Government will need to get the legislation sent to a parliamentary select committee soon if it is to have any hope of making the changes law by February.

The Maori Party is pushing for tougher criteria proposed for disability payments to be dropped in return for its support, while ACT wants the Government to investigate part-privatisation. If it does not, the ACC’s even steeper levy increases will take effect.

ACT had said it would look at supporting the bill and had put its policy to introduce competition into work place accident insurance on the table.

Mr Key met with Act leader Rodney Hide last night seeking support for the ACC bill.

PROTEST AGAINST CHANGES

Anger over the Government’s plans continued yesterday, with protests in the main centres over proposed cuts to entitlements.It is National Party policy to investigate opening up the part of the scheme that covers work-related personal injuries to private competition, and ACT was likely to push for that.

Victims of sexual abuse are angry that they would need to prove they had suffered mental trauma as a result of sexual abuse before getting ACC-funded treatment.

Victims of sexual abuse are angry that they would need to prove they had suffered mental trauma as a result of sexual abuse before getting ACC-funded treatment.

The ACC proposals include a threshold of a 6 per cent hearing loss before a person is entitled for assistance for hearing aids.

The New Zealand logical Society yesterday accused the Government of turning its back on thousands of people whose hearing has been damaged at work. .

Society president Lesley Hindmarsh said thousands of people with occupational hearing loss, who were previously entitled to ACC help for their hearing aids, may no longer be eligible

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The Government’s legislation setting up Auckland’s new super city council was passed by Parliament today
on a vote of 64 to 58 after a long debate under urgency.

Ministers had hoped to get it through last night but a 9am to midnight sitting wasn’t enough, with Labour, the Greens and the Maori Party opposing the bill.

Local Government Minister Rodney Hide launched the debate on the bill’s third reading, its final stage, this morning.

He acknowledged there had been strong debate about the structure and powers of the council.

The new council would deliver decisive leadership, robust infrastructure and the facilities and services of a world class city, while local boards would ensure communities could deal with local issues, he said.

Super city mayoral candidate and current mayor of Manukau Len Brown said it was a mistake to not have included a provision preventing the sale of council assets.

“We listened to what people had to say and responded to their ideas and concerns,” Mr Hide said.

“Generations of Aucklanders have invested in our public ports, airport and water company. They provide an asset base upon which we can build the infrastructure needed to turn Auckland into an economic and cultural hub for the South Pacific. They are owned by the community.”We must make sure the new council protects and develops our assets for all Aucklanders. They must not be sold,” he said.

He said the establishment of local community boards should be a priority once the new council was up and running.”

Mr Brown welcomed the dumping of proposals for councillors-at-large and the retention of the original northern Rodney boundary, however, he said splitting up Franklin district was a mistake, calling it a “slap in the face” for the district’s residents.

“As an advocate of empowering local democracy I was in favour of these roles being outlined in the legislation, however as mayor I will be work to make sure that local communities have their voices heard.

“As an advocate of empowering local democracy I was in favour of these roles being outlined in the legislation, however as mayor I will be work to make sure that local communities have their voices heard.

“This is critical to New Zealand’s future and this will give us an opportunity for the first time ever to sing from the same song sheet the same tune, get on and build the economic infrastructure to make us a truly internationally competitive super city.”

Auckland mayor and fellow super city mayoralty aspirant John Banks said the legislation had been 95 years in the making and “the challenge now is to make it work”. .”

He said it had been a long convoluted process and said he was looking forward to trying to make it work.”

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The vote represented a success for President Nicolas Sarkozy, who championed the groundbreaking law, and embarrassed the opposition Socialists who antagonised many of their traditional supporters in the arts world by fighting the move.0pt”Times New Roman”}

REUTERS – France’s lower house of parliament approved on Tuesday a contested bill that will let authorities track illegal downloading over the Internet and disconnect repeat offenders. .

Sarkozy’s wife, model-turned-singer Carla Bruni, is believed to have pushed the legislation, which is aimed at protecting the revenues of record and film companies and recording artists.

The bill is expected to receive final approval in the upper house Senate on Wednesday but its introduction onto the statute books is likely to be delayed by at least a month, with opponents promising to challenge the law in France’s top court.

There was no such upset in Tuesday’s re-vote, when the bill was passed by 296 votes to 233. During that time they will have to continue paying their Internet provider.

Under the terms of the bill, Internet pirates will receive two warnings before having their connection cut after a third offence for a period of up to one year.

Consumer groups also fear intrusive monitoring of online activities and warn that innocent users may be unfairly punished if hackers use their accounts to download files.

Opponents have criticised this double punishment and say access to the Internet should be a fundamental right.

However, the music industry, which wants governments and Internet providers to crack down on illegal downloading of copyrighted work, has cheered France’s efforts.

This is an inefficient, outdated and unworkable law, said Socialist parliamentarian Patrick Bloche.

Record companies and consumer groups have long been at loggerheads over Internet piracy and the rights of users.

And some artists normally linked to the left, such as singer Juliette Greco, have also openly applauded the initiative. In January, Irish Internet provider Eircom agreed to disconnect users who download files illegally in a settlement with four major record companies.

Entertainment companies, which have seen their revenues hammered by rampant piracy, have had some success with their campaign for tougher measures.

France – Internet – law