September 2022
Executive Summary
The Restaurant Association welcomes the development of Aotearoa New Zealand’s first National Security Strategy, and the opportunity to provide our perspective on such a strategy.
Our primary position is that, while a robust response mechanism is important, the focus of our National Security Strategy should be on prevention and a collective effort to identify and mitigate threats.
Given the number of patrons that frequent Hospitality businesses, it is all too common that many of our businesses and their staff have experienced instances of destructive or harassing behaviour within our venues. It is therefore not surprising that these venues can become vulnerable to escalated displays of violence.
The Hospitality industry is built on a reputation of unmatched manaaki for all those who enter our venues. We want to ensure that we can continue to provide the Hospitality that our sector is renowned for around the world, while ensuring we can play our part in ensuring New Zealand’s security.
As such, the Restaurant Association makes the following recommendations:
- Recommendation 1: that a draft National Security Strategy be published for further consultation, before a final strategy is adopted.
- Recommendation 2: that any changes or new requirements for the private sector—particularly for small businesses—must be as simple and cost-neutral as possible.
- Recommendation 3: that, following the adoption of a National Security Strategy, training and awareness modules be developed with a particular emphasis on utility for small businesses in mind.
- Recommendation 4: that the Government launches an ongoing public campaign promoting an all-of-community role in preventing a wide range of safety and security risks.
- Recommendation 5: that, throughout the development of a draft National Security Strategy, the report of the Inquest into the deaths arising from the Lindt Café siege is considered and any relevant findings and recommendations are addressed by the Strategy.
- Recommendation 6: that, should information sharing be required of Hospitality businesses under the new National Security Strategy, opt-in software integrations be explored as a first step to mitigate additional administrative requirements of small business owners and operators.
Introduction
The Restaurant Association of New Zealand (the Restaurant Association) welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback on the development of Aotearoa New Zealand’s first National Security Strategy (the Strategy).
New Zealand’s Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism Strategy (CTVES) and 1 Protecting Our Crowded Places from Attack Strategy (Crowded Places Strategy) 2 provides a robust starting point for a comprehensive National Security Strategy.
Given the many and varied strategies currently in place across the National Security space, the Restaurant Association believes it is important that the Strategy is an all-encompassing, single point of reference for our National Security priorities, objectives and responsibilities.
Noting the background paper on this consultation anticipates the Strategy will be finalised by mid-2023 , given the lack of any actual proposals on which to provide 3 feedback, the Restaurant Association recommends that a draft National Security Strategy be published for further consultation, before a final strategy is adopted.
- Recommendation 1: that a draft National Security Strategy be published for further consultation, before a final strategy is adopted.
Implementation
Now more than ever, Hospitality businesses across Aotearoa are walking a tightrope between recovery from the pandemic and ensuring the long-term sustainability of the industry.
By far, the primary issue confronting the hospitality sector is the severe worker and skills shortage impacting many New Zealand industries—to the extent that many business owners are filling worker and skills shortage challenges they face by working shifts themselves, on top of running the business.
1 DPMC.govt.nz: New Zealand’s Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism Strategy.
2 Police.govt.nz: Protecting Our Crowded Places from Attack
3 DPMC.govt.nz: Aotearoa New Zealand’s First National Security Strategy
The Hospitality sector is doing all it can to ensure a just, sustainable recovery from the impacts of COVID-19 with the already limited resources at its disposal. It is therefore essential that any changes or new requirements for the private sector—particularly for small businesses—must be as simple and cost-neutral as possible.
- Recommendation 2: that any changes or new requirements for the private sector—particularly for small businesses—must be as simple and cost-neutral as possible.
Across many of the current strategies in place, there is frequent mention of the responsibilities of the private sector to keep people safe in their establishments, but there seems to be little attempt at making it easy for business owners and operators to do so.
The current Crowded Places Strategy could be improved with a more user-friendly delivery of the tools needed for business owners and operators to keep people safe in crowded places.
The Restaurant Association recommends that, following the adoption of a National Security Strategy, training and awareness modules be developed with a particular emphasis on utility for small businesses in mind. The Restaurant Association would welcome the opportunity to assist with the development of these modules from a Hospitality perspective.
- Recommendation 3: that, following the adoption of a National Security Strategy, training and awareness modules be developed with a particular emphasis on utility for small businesses in mind.
Prevention as a priority
The Restaurant Association believes that proper preventative measures are fundamental to an effective National Security Strategy.
To ensure effective prevention, we support recommendation four of Royal Commission of Inquiry into the terrorist attack on Christchurch masjidain on 15 March 2019, which states that government should ‘develop and implement a public facing strategy that addresses extremism and preventing, detecting and responding to current and emerging threats of violent extremism and terrorism’.
It is important, however, that such a public facing strategy is not perceived to be targeted at one group in society. Further, the Restaurant Association recognises that there are multiple safety and security risks faced by small businesses.
Therefore, the Restaurant Association recommends that the Government launches an ongoing public campaign promoting an all-of-community role in preventing a wide range of safety and security risks.
- Recommendation 4: that the Government launches an ongoing public campaign promoting an all-of-community role in preventing a wide range of safety and security risks.
Sydney Lindt Cafe Siege
Given the number of patrons that frequent Hospitality businesses, it is all too common that many of our businesses and their staff have experienced instances of destructive or harassing behaviour within our venues. It is therefore not surprising that these venues can become vulnerable to escalated displays of violence.
One such example is the December 2014 siege at Sydney’s Lindt Cafe. The findings and recommendations of the Inquest into the deaths arising from the Lindt Café siege illustrate—among many other things which should also be considered 4 when developing New Zealand’s National Security Strategy—the way in which hospitality staff and venues can become vulnerable to violent extremism and terrorism.
The Restaurant Association recommends that, throughout the development of a draft National Security Strategy, the report of the Inquest into the deaths arising from the Lindt Café siege is considered and any relevant findings and recommendations are addressed by the Strategy.
- Recommendation 5: that, throughout the development of a draft National Security Strategy, the report of the Inquest into the deaths arising from the Lindt Café siege is considered and any relevant findings and recommendations are addressed by the Strategy.
4Inquest into the deaths arising from the Lindt Café siege
Information Sharing
The Restaurant Association has also provided feedback on the Ministry of Justice review of the Privacy Act 2020. The hospitality industry has become internationally connected through the use of bespoke reservations and CRM software, which is why we strongly support the government’s efforts to align our privacy frameworks with those of other jurisdictions, particularly those with which we have strong business and trade relationships.
However, although supportive of the principles behind changes to information sharing requirements, we are concerned that these changes have the potential to drastically increase the administrative burden on small and medium sized businesses in New Zealand.
In particular, there are numerous SaaS softwares used by hospitality businesses in New Zealand – predominantly for making table reservations where the details provided by patrons are stored (where permitted) by the third-party booking system, and not by the business in question. Some larger hospitality businesses may receive and store these details themselves in their own CRM, but where this is the case, these are usually businesses of a size that there are staff—either employed directly or contracted as part of an external agency—with the sole responsibility for communications functions.
Should information sharing be required of Hospitality businesses under the new Strategy, the Restaurant Association recommends that opt-in software integrations be explored as a first step to prevent additional administrative requirements of small business owners and operators.