SIS Amendment Bill should not be heard in secret

Wednesday, 6 April 2011, 10:10 am
Press Release: New Zealand Council of Trade Unions

SIS Amendment Bill dangerous and should not be heard in secret

The SIS Amendment Bill opens the possibility of the SIS creating an extensive army of informants immune from criminal and civil prosecution, NZCTU President Helen Kelly will be telling the Intelligence and Security Committee today.

The committee is chaired by the Prime Minister who along with ACT and Maori Party leaders has refused to allow submissions to be heard in open session with media present.

"Hearing submissions in secret has few precedents and stifles public awareness of the dangerous implications of the bill, and of the position of the parties on it," says Kelly.

"We certainly have nothing to hide in our submission, which is available to the public, and it is unbelievable that a hearing of submissions on a bill will turn up highly secret evidence. If a submitter wanted to give confidential evidence, he or she could ask for the Committee to go into closed session at that point only."

The CTU is recommending several significant amendments to the bill and calling for an independent assessment of the electronic surveillance empowered by it.

Its submission is available on its web site at

http://union.org.nz/policy/submission-security-intelligence-service-amendment-bill

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New Zealand Council of Trade Unions

Te Kauae Kaimahi

The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi brings together over 350,000 New Zealand union members in 40 affiliated unions. We are the united voice for working people and their families in New Zealand.

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