Deputy Prime Minister Jim Anderton will ask for a report to the Intelligence and Security Committee, after Opposition leader Jenny Shipley leaked confidential security information in Parliament yesterday.

"We need to know what damage has been done to New Zealand and what risks have been taken," Jim Anderton said.

"This is confidential information for a good reason. Mrs Shipley has been cavalier with what she must know is the best interest of New Zealand.

"Mrs Shipley revealed confidential information that had never been in the public arena before, only hours after receiving a briefing.

"I have never heard of any MP disclosing confidential security and intelligence information before. It is especially strange that Mrs Shipley decided to do this barely an hour after receiving a briefing.

"The Alliance has always called for better democratic accountability for our intelligence agencies. But we have never suggested that everything they find out should be announced in Parliament.

"Mrs Shipley's National Party colleagues ought to be questioning whether Mrs Shipley's willingness to use this material in a public debate is consistent with her position on the Intelligence and Security Committee."

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