Parliament is to debate whether the Supplementary Order Paper to Crimes Amendement Bill (No 6) is to be referred to the Law and Order Select Committee.

Information Technology Minister Paul Swain says this is a procedural motion needed to get the SOP to the Select Committee so it can call for submissions and consider the Bill.

"The motion is needed because the SOP is outside the scope of Crime Amendments Bill (No 6)," he said.

"However the overarching purpose of this SOP is to make hacking illegal in New Zealand – I think that is vital for every New Zealander who owns a computer. We need to send a strong message that hacking is not cool, it is not clever, it is a serious crime.

"This is not the time for Parliament to debate the substance of the SOP. That will come later when the Bill is referred back to Parliament.

"I encourage members to support this SOP through the house to Select Committee stage where it can be considered and submissions on it can be heard," Paul Swain said.

Copies of the SOP will be available from Bennetts' bookstores.

For other releases by Paul Swain go to:
http://www.executive.govt.nz/minister/swain/index.html

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