ACT MP Deborah Coddington is drafting legislation to create a register of sex offenders following Jules Mikus' conviction for the abduction, rape and murder of Teresa Cormack.
Ms Coddington, a former journalist who compiled the Paedophile and Sex Offender Index in 1996, said her member's bill would compel offenders to notify
police of their addresses every time they moved.
It would also be a tool for officials to uphold the law and prevent criminal acts, she said.
"Then it would be very clearcut and maybe we wouldn't get to the stage where... people can sort of slip through," Ms Coddington told National Radio.
She said her bill was based on Christopher's Law which Ontario, Canada, implemented in 2000 to allow the creation of a sex offender registry, superseding privacy law.
Since Mikus, 44, was convicted on Tuesday of the offences against six-year-old Teresa 15 years ago, it has been revealed that he had a long history of sexual offending against young girls. He also fathered up to 10 children and was allowed access to many more.
Mikus' offending would "definitely" have been picked up earlier if her bill was in place, Ms Coddington said.
"The fact that he was given children to care for even though social workers knew he had convictions for sexual offences is unbelievably appalling," she said.
"In 1973 he was convicted of sexual intercourse with an under 12-year-old girl. How can you put children in the care of someone who has a conviction for that?
"I find that absolutely gob-smacking actually."
Ms Coddington said the chief social worker had acknowledged that social workers knew about his Mikus' convictions but they went ahead and placed children with him anyway.
The Paedophile and Sex Offender Index lists more than 600 New Zealanders convicted of sex crimes since 1991.
- NZPA
