Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Work smarter with a Pro licence Learn More
Parliament

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | Video | Questions Of the Day | Search

 

Kiwis should be sceptical Re: SIS terrorism claims


Kiwis should be sceptical about SIS terrorism claims

Green MP Keith Locke is sceptical of Security Intelligence Service (SIS) claims that there are active supporters of terrorism in New Zealand.

“We should take the SIS claims with a grain of salt, given their failure to come up with evidence in the Zaoui case,” Mr Locke, Green Security and Intelligence Spokesperson, said.

“It seems more likely the SIS is trying to justify its existence, because if there really were ‘several people’ in New Zealand linked to international terrorist activities, we would have seen some sign of it, or someone would have been charged.

“A greater danger is that the SIS is damaging race relations in New Zealand by unfairly casting aspersions on Muslim migrants.

Mr Locke said the SIS’s annual report illustrated that it had been looking in the wrong places for threats to New Zealand security.

“The report says nothing about the SIS’s major failure: to notice that Mossad was trying to fraudulently obtain New Zealand passports. It was left to an alert passport officer and the police to bring the Mossad agents to justice, despite one of the agents, Eli Cara, crossing the Tasman 24 times. Was the SIS too busy collaborating with Mossad to spy on poor Palestinian refugees here to notice that Mossad was the real threat to our security?

“With the SIS failing so abjectly in the only security situations coming to public attention, the Zaoui and Mossad cases, we have to treat SIS claims that New Zealanders are involved in ‘overseas programmes to develop weapons of mass destruction’ with some suspicion. Such claims may have more to do with the SIS trying to justify its growing budget than any real threat to our national security.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

“Given the SIS’s poor record, it is disturbing that the four-agency Combined Threat Assessment Group, announced yesterday, will be headquartered in the SIS. Cooperation between government agencies is useful, but this new arrangement will not necessarily improve the quality of intelligence.

“Unfortunately, all four agencies involved [the SIS, the Police, Defence and the Government Communications Security Bureau] rely mainly on information from the United States, Britain and Australia. Instead of real contestability, or rigorous evaluation of information, we could find that each agency merely confirms the information the other agencies have, because it all comes essentially from the same sources.”


© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines


Gordon Campbell: On The US Opposition To Mortgage Interest Deductibility For Landlords


Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don't think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of political capital by giving landlords a huge $2.9 billion tax break via interest deductibility, while still preaching the need for austerity to the disabled, and to everyone else...
More


 
 

Government: Concerns Conveyed To China Over Cyber Activity
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity... More

ALSO:


Government: GDP Decline Reinforces Government’s Fiscal Plan

Declining GDP for the December quarter reinforces the importance of restoring fiscal discipline to public spending and driving more economic growth, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says... More

ALSO:


Government: Humanitarian Support For Gaza & West Bank

Winston Peters has announced NZ is providing a further $5M to respond to the extreme humanitarian need in Gaza and the West Bank. “The impact of the Israel-Hamas conflict on civilians is absolutely appalling," he said... More


Government: New High Court Judge Appointed

Judith Collins has announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister Jason Scott McHerron as a High Court Judge. Justice McHerron graduated from the University of Otago with a BA in English Literature in 1994 and an LLB in 1996... More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.