7. Question No. 7—PoliceCHRIS BISHOP (National—Hutt South) to the Minister of PoliceQuestion No. 7—Police7. CHRIS BISHOP (National—Hutt South) to the Minister of Police: Why did he say yesterday I have not received advice that there was a leak of top-secret information" when the Police Commissioner has today confirmed he has directed that an investigation be commenced into the alleged unauthorised disclosure of information to a media outlet and does he now accept there has been a leak of intelligence information to the media?SPEAKER: The Hon Stuart Nash with the caveat that I have been warned that this answer is longer than I would normally permit. Hon STUART NASH (Minister of Police): I stand by my answer to the question the member put to me yesterday. He claimed the information disclosed was top secret. He was wrong—the commissioner today has stated it was "Not top secret information". Today he claims it is intelligence information. The member's statement needs a fact check. Police have not stated that intelligence information has been leaked. The original media report did not claim there had been a leak; it stated the information had been obtained [Interruption]. Police today have stated "Information related—SPEAKER: Order! Order! The member will resume his seat. I think most members in this House will recognise that this is a very serious matter that may involve the security of individuals or the country. The rest of this part of the answer will be heard in silence.Hon STUART NASH: Police today have stated "Information related to [the] ongoing investigative and prevention steps" has been allegedly disclosed. Police and myself do take these allegations seriously that's why on Monday morning I asked police to look into the media report. As I said in the House yesterday I expect the commissioner to investigate potential breaches of operational protocol and that is exactly what he is doing. Chris Bishop: When was he advised that Stuff had obtained part of a confidential watch list of more than 100 people being watched by police? Hon STUART NASH: I read a media report on Sunday but it is not a confidential watch list of more than 100 people. The fact that police compile lists of suspects and persons of interest is not a secret. As I told this House before Easter there are a small number of individuals who are emboldened by what occurred on 15 March and have made threats and preached racist and anti-immigrant rhetoric online and in other forums. Some of this online chatter and threats are open-source information and not gathered through covert means. They are often reported to police by responsible members of the public. As that member is aware deleting something from Facebook or Snapchat does not mean the information goes away.Chris Bishop: Is he saying that the reason he did not confirm to the House yesterday that there had been a leak of clearly confidential information was because the article on Stuff described the information erroneously as top secret?Hon STUART NASH: Do not believe everything you read in the press. In fact I think the Prime Minister should have been a 10 out of 10.Chris Bishop: Why did he not tell the House yesterday exactly what happened to the confidential information in light of the commissioner's words this morning: "The disclosure of this information is of significant concern to police and we are taking this matter very seriously"?Hon STUART NASH: As I said yesterday I expect the commissioner to investigate potential breaches of operational protocol—Hon Amy Adams: Yesterday the Minister denied it.Hon STUART NASH: —and that is exactly what they are doing. Yesterday Ms Adams I denied that there had been a leak of top secret information and I stand by that statement.Chris Bishop: Why when he was told on Sunday—as he has now confirmed to the House—did he not answer the question yesterday and tell the public and the House that there had been an unauthorised disclosure of confidential information about people being monitored by police?Hon STUART NASH: I urge that member to be very careful with his words because allegations and false and outrageous claims can undermine the great work our New Zealand Police service is doing in keeping us safe and preventing crime.Chris Bishop: I'll just ask the question again Mr Speaker: why when he has confirmed to the House he was told on Sunday about an unauthorised disclosure of information did he not tell the House yesterday when given repeated opportunities that information confidential to the police had made its way to a media outlet?Hon STUART NASH: If I had been asked that question maybe that member would have received that answer."