Asian businesses waiting for action on crime

Frustration appears to be growing within New Zealand's Asian communities as the government makes slow progress on tackling crime that impacts their businesses.

On 11 July, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith announced the creation of an advisory group on retail crime to be headed by Dairy & Business Owners Group chair Sunny Kaushal.

The advisory group would be given an operating budget of $1.8 million a year for at least two years, he said.

"The new group will engage directly with victims, workers, business owners, retail experts and advocacy groups ... to provide the government specific proposals to address urgent challenges in retail crime," Goldsmith said at the time, noting that the group would have five or six members.

In a three-week period since the announcement, the government invited targeted expressions of interest in being appointed to the board, which was to be followed by a formal assessment process.

At the advisory group's launch in July, Kaushal initially suggested that members would be in a position, once constituted, to offer proposals on crime within a matter of weeks.

Almost two months later, the government has yet to name any members of the group.

Goldsmith told RNZ the appointments would happen soon.

"The government will be announcing the [advisory group] appointments shortly," Goldsmith said. "They'll then be working at pace to present the ministers with specific proposals."

Kaushal was also optimistic the board would be up and running shortly.

"The timeline for the advisory group is set for two years, with recommendations to be rolled out on an ongoing basis throughout this period," he said. "We are currently in the process of setting up our workspace and will be ready to start shortly. Our aim is to table the first proposal soon."

Ghouse Majeed, secretary of an Indian special interest group within the National Party, said people would lose confidence in the group if its progress was delayed much longer.

"Young offenders are taking advantage of loopholes in the current legal system," Majeed said. "If the delay continues, offenders will also start targeting homes, along with retail stores."

Jaspreet Kandhari, general secretary of the New Zealand Indian Business Association, said the delay in setting up the group was disappointing but understandable.

"It's frustrating an issue affecting the safety and lives of the business community cannot be fast-tracked," Kandhari said.

"[But] anyone familiar with the workings of the parliamentary system knows that introducing legal reforms is a lengthy process," he said.

"It involves several stages of deliberation before a bill can be approved, making it difficult to bypass established procedures.

"The general feeling [among the Indian businesses] is setting up the advisory group is a move designed to apply balm on the wounds and to prove sincerity in dealing with the issue."

Jithin Chittibomma, chairperson of the Sandringham Business Association, was hopeful the government would ultimately listen to the advice provided by the group.

"The government has set up this advisory group to obtain independent advice on empowering security guards, self-defence laws, facial recognition and other measures it has prioritised, many of which were also demands put forward by Indian businesses," Chittibomma said.

"I think the responsible thing to do would be to take an evidence-based approach before implementing laws," he said.

"I do applaud the government for taking a step in the right direction, but time will tell if it is serious about the advisory group and implementing the advice given."

The delay surrounding the formation of the advisory group on crime comes as organisations from the Asian community question the need for such a unit to exist in the first place.

Several Indian and Chinese business associations have already made representations to Parliament on issues related to crime, with many of them repeating the proposals that will likely be discussed by the advisory group.

As chair of the Dairy & Business Owners Group, Kaushal submitted a petition to Parliament in mid-2023, calling "for urgent action on the crime emergency".

The petition, which calls on the government to amend self-defence laws along Australian federal law lines to give retailers more power, is currently sitting in front of a parliamentary select committee.

Meanwhile, the Auckland Indian Retailers Association has submitted another petition calling for legislative changes "to deter and address young offenders' crime" nationwide.

The petition called for amendments in the Sentencing Act 2002, Crime Justice Act 1985 and Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 to allow for the arrest, detention in remand custody and punishment of young offenders under the age of 16.

The Crime Resistance Foundation is also in the process of submitting a petition to Parliament that called on the police to "maintain transparency by giving complete information about the offending and offenders on its website".

Other demands related to crime have also been raised in other forums by various Asian communities over the past year.

In a public meeting in February that was attended by Police Minister Mark Mitchell and Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee, Indian businesses called for a national police taskforce to be created that focused solely on violent retail crime and aggravated robberies.

In July, Chinese New Zealanders rallied in Auckland to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 16 years and introduce criminal liability for parents of serious young offenders.

In August, the Motor Trade Association released a 10-point action plan to tackle what it called "retail crime scourge".

The plan included extending police community beat patrols to "hot spots" and introducing motorised night-time patrols of service stations in high-risk areas.

Kandhari said the Indian business community would be watching the advisory group's response to crime closely.

"It will be interesting to watch the government's position towards implementation of the recommendations already offered by several business and community organizations," he said.

"More so, when the person who spearheaded the fight against crime in recent years [Sunny Kaushal] has shared some valuable and workable solutions."

Chittibomma disagreed.

"The government is looking for different advice, as it is not convinced that the recommendations put forward by the Indian businesses are the answers to the issues we are facing," he said.

"Whether the advisory group will be able to deliver or not is to be seen. Retail crime affects all of us, but it disproportionately affects Indian New Zealanders."

Victim Support told RNZ in March that 24 percent of the victims caught up in aggravated robberies who were referred to the organisation last year hailed from the Indian community.

What's more, nearly half of police proceedings for aggravated robberies between January 2019 and April 2024 have been commenced against offenders younger than 18 years old, according to recent police data released under the Official Information Act.

In the three quarterly action plans that have been unveiled since winning the 2023 election, the government included measures that sought to restore law and order, with a special focus on young offenders.

The plans, however, have received mixed reaction from the Indian community.

In its first action plan released in December, the government promised to stop taxpayer funding for Section 27 cultural reports and begin work to crack down on serious youth offending.

In April, it pledged to establish a youth serious offender category and make military academies a stand-alone sentencing option for the youth court.

In July, the government promised to launch a military-style academy pilot for serious and persistent young offenders.

Of these pledges, taxpayer funding for Section 27 cultural reports have been revoked, a new young serious offender category has been announced and military-style boot camps have commenced operation.

But Chittibomma said time was already ticking on the advisory group's impact on crime ahead of the next general election, slated for late 2026.

"It really comes down to the milestones and KPIs the government sets for this group and for itself, which will show us how serious it really is in solving the issue," he said.