Passport law will protect NZ, Government says

Changes to passports and border security passed by Parliament last night will protect New Zealand from fraudsters, Internal Affairs Minister George Hawkins says.


The new law halved the life of a New Zealand passport to five years, though current passports can be used until they expire.

It also requires travel document information be released for the Advance Passenger Processing (APP) border security system and allows passports to be refused or cancelled in cases where New Zealand's security was threatened. The APP system helps airlines identify people carrying unauthorised and stolen documents.

Also passed were tightened criteria and vetting procedures for citizenship.

Citizenship must now be registered at birth. This is intended to limit the practice of women coming to New Zealand to give birth so their children can later access education and other benefits of citizenship.

The legislation also increases from three years to five years the period of residence needed before citizenship can be granted.

"New Zealand has one of the best passports in the world, providing visa free arrangements with 53 countries. Unfortunately that means it is highly sought after by fraudsters," Mr Hawkins said in a statement today.

The Identity (Citizenship and Travel Documents) Bill, divided into the Passports Amendment Act and Citizenship Amendment Act, passed under urgency with a strong majority.

The Citizenship Amendment legislation passed 80-32, with National opposing it, and the passport changes were passed 95-17 with National's support.

The Green Party, the Maori Party and Progressive MP Matt Robson opposed both bills.

Mr Hawkins said the changes would improve New Zealand's security, but Green Party MP Keith Locke said the Government had not put forward any valid reasons for any of the changes.

"There's all this stuff about security concerns but I don't think we really think it takes five years to spot a terrorist in New Zealand," he said.

"Extending this requirement is causing a huge amount of heartache."

Mr Robson said the ministerial right to withdraw an individual's passport was an erosion of the rule of law, and extending the residence period required for citizenship was "a philosophy based on division".

He also disagreed with the removal of automatic citizenship rights.

"There are not hundreds of mums getting on 747s and descending on Auckland and clogging up the hospitals. That is a myth," he said.

"If there is one or two people who do it, do we need a sledgehammer to crack a nut?"

However there has been suggestions, including an article in the Korea Herald newspaper, that New Zealand is a target for "childbirth tours".

National supported parts of the bill but disagreed with others. MP Pansy Wong said it was wrong to increase the length of time for citizenship and suggested the Government was doing it to keep people in the country because skilled workers were needed.

- NZPA