The passing of New Zealand's spy legislation

GCSB 'free to protect national security': Key

The GCSB can get on with its job of protecting national security now the legislation allowing it to help the police, the Security Intelligence Service and the Defence Force has been passed by Parliament, Prime Minister John Key says.

TV3,

22 August, 2013

The bill giving it legal authority to spy on New Zealanders on behalf of the three agencies was passed by Parliament on Wednesday night after a final fierce debate.

"The legislation makes it clear the Government Communications Security Bureau can assist only those three named agencies, and only when they are able to show they have the lawful authority to undertake the surveillance themselves," Mr Key said after the bill became law on a 61-59 vote.

"The GCSB has unique capabilities and specialist skills - it makes no sense to duplicate those when they are so rarely used."

Mr Key said that over the last 10 years it helped the other agencies in 88 cases.

"That's an average of under nine people a year, so this isn't and never will be wholesale spying on New Zealanders."

Mr Key said the legislation made it clear, for the first time, that the GCSB had three functions - cyber security, foreign intelligence and assisting other agencies.

Labour, the Greens, NZ First and the Maori Party opposed the bill.

Green Party leader Russel Norman said the Government and its supporters had signed away significant freedoms.

"The legislation restricts our freedom of expression and our right to live without surveillance," he said.

"The powers of the GCSB are now expanded to allow this foreign intelligence agency to spy on New Zealanders."

The bill which is now in law gives the GCSB authority to do what it had been doing for more than a decade.

The previous legislation it operated under contained a clause allowing it to help the other agencies, but it was ambiguous and there was another clause forbidding it to spy on citizens and residents.

It hasn't helped the other agencies since August last year, but now it will be able to resume that assistance.

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