A proposed law to deter registered child sex offenders from committing similar crimes overseas, and another on workplace sexual harassment are among five to be debated in Parliament.
A bill by Labour MP Greg O'Connor pulled from the Members' Ballot on Thursday aims to “provide the same protections for potential victims of New Zealand child sexual offenders when the offender travels overseas as when they travel in New Zealand”.
Under the current law, registrable child sex offenders travelling in the country must provide details of where they will be staying and the dates of their travel, the Ōhāriu MP said.
“However, if a child sex offender wishes to leave the country there is no requirement to detail where he or she will be residing while overseas.”
If passed, it will require offenders to provide police with the addresses of all places they will stay for more than 48 hours, as well as “provide timely and reasonable explanation of any changes”.
“This Bill aligns international travel reporting requirements with domestic travel and ensures that where the requirements are not met, the same penalties apply.”
O’Connor said the change will allow police and Customs New Zealand to “better protect children in the countries the offenders travel to, and will help support the identification of sex tourism”.
It would also require registrable child sex offenders to provide further details including their passport number, place of issue, and the date of expiry of each valid passport they hold.
National's Ian McKelvie is proposing to allow BYO alcohol for racegoers when a racing club holds a liquor licence.
"This bill would encourage more families and communities to carry on the tradition of a chilli bin and a hamper at the races," he said.
ACT MP Dr James McDowall's proposed law "requires that tertiary education institutions protect freedom of expression".
"Tertiary education institutions will not be allowed to rely on their duty to eliminate or minimise potential risk of mental harm to students, staff, or visitors under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 as a reason not to comply with their duty to ensure freedom of speech.
"Tertiary education institutions will be ineligible for funding, and may have funding suspended, revoked, or withdrawn, if they fail to comply with the requirement to protect freedom of expression."
In addition, a bill to extend the period to raise grievances in relation to workplace sexual harassment will also be up for debate in the Chamber.
Currently, an employee who wishes to raise a personal grievance involving allegations of sexual harassment must do so within 90 days.
Labour Party MP Deborah Russell said her proposed law would "extend the time available to raise a personal grievance that involves allegations of sexual harassment from 90 days to 12 months".
"Coming forward to report sexual harassment can be difficult, and it is common for victims of sexual harassment to wait a long time before coming forward, if at all," Russell said.
"For a person who has been the subject of sexual harassment, 90 days may not be enough as it can take people some time to consider what has occurred and feel safe to raise it with others."
The New Lynn MP said the deadline "imposes an arbitrary deadline on victims of workplace sexual harassment and makes it less likely they can formally raise concerns about the behaviour of colleagues".
The proposed Bill is expected to "improve the personal grievance process" for victims of sexual harassment in the workplace by "allowing them sufficient time to consider what has happened to them before deciding to come forward".
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