Ministerial Advisory Group chair Steve Symon. Photo: RNZ / Nick Monro
Experts have advised the government to give just one minister the responsibility for fighting organised crime.
The Ministerial Advisory Group (MAG) on Transnational, Serious and Organised Crime (TSOC) has published a fresh report.
It's the latest in a series that explores the vulnerabilities of the country's overall response to organised crime and the options available to improve it.
The work would inform operational practices and government decisions on a refreshed Transnational Organised Crime Strategy 2020-2025 (TNOC Strategy).
The focus of August's report was accountability and highlighted the fact there was no single, direct ministerial-level accountability for responding to organised crime.
"That has resulted in a lack of consistency, an absence of prioritisation and a lack of cohesion across the remaining tiers," the report said.
Under a section titled 'We need to up our accountability game', the report identified six tiers of accountability in the response to organised crime.
They were political accountability, agency accountability, systems and performance monitoring, high-risk sector accountability, community responsibility and transnational accountability.
The group said it currently wasn't clear who was responsible for what, making the task of aligning government machinery to combat organised crime "inherently complex".
"Currently, at least thirteen different ministerial portfolios each hold some responsibility for delivering the TNOC Strategy's desired outcomes," the report said.
"Despite the existence of the National Security Strategy and the TNOC Strategy, which both emphasise co-ordination between agencies, we have seen ongoing challenges in fusing operational priorities to deliver a response that optimises the resources, legislative tools and information sharing powers we have available.
"Organised crime is sophisticated and adaptive. Our coordination efforts at all levels are fragmented and lack agility."
The report recommended giving just one minister the responsibility for driving the development and delivery of the response to organise crime.
"We've said look, could you tack this on to another agency? Could you attach this on to a ministry that's already there?" group chair Steve Symon said.
"We don't think that's enough. We think we need to be bold. We really need to take the fight to organised crime and the best way to do that is to have one person that we can hold to account."
The report also recommended creating a dedicated oversight function to support the responsible minister to deliver on the refreshed TNOC Strategy.
The MAG suggested organised crime could be incorporated into the police, customs or justice portfolios.
"In other countries that we have looked at, ministerial responsibility for organised crime sits within wider portfolios, such as Justice and Security.
"For the reasons we have explained, our view is that the threat is significant enough to justify distinct and focused ministerial responsibility.
"We are uniquely positioned to do so, as we do not face some of the complexities that inhibit such an approach in comparable jurisdictions (such as multiple borders or levels of government).
"There is no reason why New Zealand cannot, through this change, solidify a cohesive programme to effectively combat organised crime."
The group said this minister should prioritise the response to organised crime, strengthening legislation, centralising policy development and leading public awareness campaigns, among other responsibilities.
The MAG would deliver its final, full report on a new strategy to fight organised crime later this month.
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