Draft foreign fighters legislation released

Prime Minister John Key today released the final draft of legislation which addresses the rising threat posed by foreign terrorist fighters.

The final draft of the Countering Terrorist Fighters Legislation Bill contains proposals previously announced by Mr Key in a major national security speech earlier this month.

“Following a narrow and tightly focused review of our settings in relation to foreign terrorist fighters, Cabinet has signed off on proposals that will strengthen our ability to deal with the evolving threat we are seeing,” Mr Key says.

“As I said earlier this month, New Zealand’s risk and threat profile is changing and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has been successful in recruiting New Zealanders to its cause.

“I have been as open as I can be with New Zealanders about that threat, without overstating it.

“This draft legislation contains measures that can add to the safety and security of New Zealand in the short-term.

“A more comprehensive review of legislative settings will occur in a broader intelligence review that is required under law to begin by the middle of next year.

“I am working to seek broad political support for this legislation and my office is conducting those talks in good faith with a number of parties.

“We have also shared the draft legislation with a number of interested parties outside Parliament in order to give them additional time to consider it.

“It is my intention that the legislation will be introduced on Tuesday and be passed before the House rises for Christmas, so that we are in a stronger position to deal with the threats our agencies are seeing.

“There are safeguards built into the legislation and it will go before a select committee for a short period of consideration.

“The legislation is also subject to a sunset clause which reflects how long the full process of the more comprehensive review is expected to take,” Mr Key says.

The main proposals contained in the legislation and which have been previously flagged by the Prime Minister are:
• Extending the period the Minister of Internal Affairs can cancel a passport to up to three years from the existing law’s 12 months
• Giving the Minister of Internal Affairs the power to temporarily suspend passports for up to 10 working days in urgent cases
• Allowing the NZ Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS) to carry out video surveillance on private properties for the purpose of observing activities of security concern, modelled on the Police’s powers in the Search and Surveillance Act
• Allowing the NZSIS to conduct emergency surveillance for up to 48 hours prior to the issue of a warrant, with the approval of its Director and subject to the oversight of the Inspector General of Intelligence and Security.

Draft_Countering_Terrorist_Fighters_Legislation_Bill.pdf

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On The Skewed Media Coverage Of Gaza

Now that he’s back as Foreign Minister, maybe Winston Peters should start reading the MFAT website which is currently celebrating the 25th anniversary of how Kiwis alerted the rest of the world to the genocide in Rwanda. How times have changed ...

In 2023, the government is clutching its pearls because senior Labour MP Damien O’Connor has dared suggest that Gaza’s civilian population are also victims of what amounts to genocide... More

Scoop Post Election Podcast: River Of Freedom Review

After reviewing River of Freedom, a documentary about the Wellington parliamentary protest of 2022, the Scoop Political Podcast went into hibernation. Watched by potentially tens of thousands of voters in the weeks prior to Election 23, it was unlikely to have won any votes for Labour. With a new coalition Government now formed, it’s time to look at the impact it had... More