In September the New Zealand Customs Service released a report from the Ministerial Advisory Group on Transnational, Serious and Organised Crime, Leading the fight against organized crime. A key message from the report is the need for a more cohesive approach.
According to the report:
“But due to a lack of cohesion, our current system response to organised crime is not supporting those involved in the response in the way that it should. Nor is it holding to account those who are not meeting expectations. It needs to, if we are serious about responding to the threat of organised crime.”
Section titles indicate much about the tone of this 14-page unclassified report:
- “We need to up our accountability game”
- “A lack of clear accountability”
- “We need to take control” and
- “Recommendations”
The Recommendations include:
- establishing a dedicated Ministerial portfolio for transnational serious organised crime with a dedicated oversight function to support the responsible Minister,
- implementing accountability mechanisms with clear prioritisation, regular reporting requirements and leadership incentives.
- developing and maintaining a Transnational, Serious, and Organised Crime Maturity Model to monitor performance aligned with the Resilience to Organised Crime in Communities initiative.
- developing mechanisms to hold high-risk private sector businesses to account and
- continuing to work with international partners to disrupt organised crime before it reaches our shores.
