16 November, 2000

Associate Minister of Justice Paul Swain has welcomed the passage of his 'anti-hacking' bill to the Law and Order Select Committee.

This afternoon Parliament voted to send the Supplementary Order Paper to Crimes Amendement Bill (Number 6) to the Law and Order Select Committee for submissions and deliberation.

"The overarching purpose of this SOP is to make hacking illegal in New Zealand – I think that is vital for every New Zealander who owns a computer. We need to send a strong message that hacking is not cool, it is not clever, it is a serious crime," Paul Swain said.

"If it proceeds, this legislation would make accessing a computer system without authorisation a criminal offence punishable by a maximum of two years imprisonment.

"At the moment computer hacking is not an offence in New Zealand.

"The process now is for the Law and Order Select Committee to hear submissions on the SOP and make deliberations, this is a vital part of the process. This is the stage when the public get to have their say about the Bill.
" For that reason I have ensured that there is a lengthy process for consideration by, and submission to the select committee. I propose asking the select committee to report back by the 30th May, which should give ample time for this process.
"I have given an absolute assurance that law abiding citizens who are not involved in criminal activity have nothing to fear from this legislation. People will be looking for proof of that assurance when the select committee reports back," Paul Swain said.

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