NZARH submission on the Modern Slavery Bill

Humanists have long been active in the abolitionist movement, and contemporary humanist organisations like the NZARH have taken a stance against modern slavery. Humanists International (HI), the umbrella body for Humanist organisations globally, has made repeated calls for greater protections of human rights and for more to be done to end slavery

• In 2009 at the UN Human Rights Council, HI strongly criticised continuation of chattel slavery in Mauritania and Sudan.
• In 2013, HI made a statement at the UN Human Rights Council that, with more than half a million people held in slavery in the West African state of Mauritania alone, the Council “must act” to end the plight of modern-day slaves.
• In 2014, HI, in an oral statement, noted that more than 29 million people remain in slavery, with the Global Slavery Index 2013 showing that India has 13.3 million slaves, China has 3 million, Pakistan 2.1 million, and Russia 516,000.
• The same year, the United Nations Human Rights Council recognised child, early, and forced marriage as a form of slavery.
• In 2022, HI spoke at the UN highlighting caste discrimination fuelling modern slavery practices in India.

The NZARH supports the Modern Slavery Bill with some recommendations

Our organisation is concerned with the human rights of all people in our global community. Slavery has a long history, and it is still manifested in modern forms. It is estimated that 27.6 million people around the world are trapped in forced labour, including in the supply chains of products New Zealanders buy every day, and in New Zealand-based operations and institutions (for example, high-control faith-based groups like the Christian Church Community Trust Group/Gloriavale and others).

This Bill will require large companies to be more transparent and report on slavery risks in their supply chains. We are concerned that this Bill is solely focused on the reporting of instances of slavery. However, companies are not required to take any action to address or prevent exploitation and slavery where it is found. While we support greater transparency, it is insufficient if companies can simply report without addressing slavery in their supply chains.

We believe the threshold of consolidated revenue of more than $100,000,000 is set too high, and that organisations like Gloriavale that operate significant farming and dairy enterprises in New Zealand with a New Zealand-based workforce, and have credible allegations and legal proceedings against them involving coerced, forced, and slave labour, should also be included in the reporting obligations this Bill sets out.

We would also like to see the inclusion of forced marriage and child marriage included within the interpretation of this Bill, to ensure it is in line with the United Nations Human Rights Council’s recognition of these practices as a form of modern slavery.

We are concerned about exemptions for Government agencies (s8(3) and s10(4)). We believe that the state should be held to the same, or a higher, standard as private entities, and should not be excluded from requirements under this legislation.

We urge the removal of exemptions for Government agencies, for the inclusion of New Zealand-based high-control organisations, and for the addition of a requirement for a regulator to ensure that companies take action to prevent and address modern slavery, not only report it. A regulator must be empowered and resourced to enforce compliance.

Though this law will go some way toward revealing where modern slavery is occurring in the New Zealand supply chain, there are no mechanisms or requirements to prevent these slavery practices. We suggest the appointment of an Anti-Slavery Commissioner to raise the profile of the issue, identify high-risk sectors, and engage with businesses on their reporting.