Last year, the Sunday Star-Times revealed that workers on foreign fishing vessels operating in New Zealand waters were being treated like slaves: beaten, sexually-abused, forced to work in unsafe conditions, and (of course) underpaid by their foreign employers. The government responded by doing what it always does when it doesn't want to do anything: launched an inquiry. That inquiry reported back last week, and the report [PDF] was released today. It recommended a full reform of the industry to eliminate slave-fishing, including extending maritime rules and the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 to cover foreign charter vessels and allowing the Director-General of Fisheries to revoke a foreign charter vessel's registration (and therefore right to fish in NZ waters) for safety reasons, with a long-term goal of requiring all foreign charter vessels to be demise chartered and fully subject to New Zealand law.
The government's response? Do nothing. Oh, they'll do the window-dressing - increase observers and inspections - but when it comes to the substantive reforms which might actually solve the problem, it's a firm "we'll think about it" (which is politician-speak for "fuck off and die"). Faced with a fundamental moral challenge which threatens our international reputation, the government is sitting on its hands and refusing to act.
To point out the obvious, slavery is illegal under New Zealand law. In keeping with international law, we recognise it as a crime against humanity. So why is the government refusing to act? A moral government would be announcing immediate steps to eliminate slavery in New Zealand waters, coupled with credible investigations into the captains, owners and charterers of these vessels, with an eye to prosecuting them for employing slaves. National won't. And its hard to see this as anything other than protecting the interests of their rich mates, who are profiting from this revolting business.
