O'Rourke Denis: Government Communications Security Bureau and Related Legislation Amendment Bill — Referral to Government Administration Committee In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeO'Rourke Denis: Government Communications Security Bureau and Related Legislation Amendment Bill — Referral to Government Administration Committee In Committee[Sitting date: 06 August 2013. Volume:692;Page:12357. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]DENIS O’ROURKE (NZ First):Every Government must ensure the safety and security of its people—that is basic. But a democratic Government must also ensure that the principles of democracy the right to privacy and freedom of speech are also protected. Achieving those two objectives is at the core of the Government Communications Security Bureau and Related Legislation Amendment Bill.New Zealand First comes to the consideration of the legislation with a constructive view. We know that we are facing serious and challenging issues. Entrenched dogmatic party political positions will not help to frame suitable and necessary legislation in such a complex area but New Zealand First’s position on matters of national security is clear and unequivocal. The Government must ensure the safety of its citizens. We live in a world of threats: those that are known and some that are still unknown. We cannot naively put our heads in the sand. To ignore the threats posed by extremists and other anti-democratic groups would be nothing less than irresponsible. We cannot be complacent that the terrorism will never be home-grown and global terrorists do not respect international borders.On the other hand New Zealand’s civil liberties must not be undermined by this legislation. People we think are rightly concerned about where the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) legislation is leading us particularly in the light of the leaks and the unauthorised disclosures that have been going on recently. New Zealand First is therefore seeking to put in place an effective watchdog that does not bite the very people it seeks to protect. So we have introduced Supplementary Order Paper 323 in the name of Winston Peters which will create an independent panel to oversee theGCSB’s information-gathering activities. The advisory panel proposed by the Government to assist the Inspector-General in Supplementary Order Paper 306 is not enough we think. The panel we propose would be informed when an interception warrant or an access authorisation is issued under section 15A. The panel would berequired to review the interception warrant or access authorisation within 15 working days.The panel would be made up of former members of the judiciary the New Zealand Police and the New Zealand Defence Force because they must be independent of the police the judiciary and the armed forces. The members of the panel would bring to their role an understanding and appreciation of the context of national security. They would be people with an appropriate background good judgment and independence in the relevant areas of the operation of the security services. Our Supplementary Order Paper provides a measure of safeguard—a second string to the bow—to avoid unfounded voyages of exploration on New Zealanders’ privacy. Our proposal would ensure that the public could have confidence and trust in the GCSB despite its having wide-ranging powers. Our proposal strikes a reasonable balance to resolve a complex issue. It is a fair and practical solution to reconciling security with democratic rights and civil liberties. It would ensure that the GCSB operates within the law and the panel we propose would be well-equipped to see that it does.We believe in having strong clear law that empowers the GCSB appropriately but also provides for robust oversight and review procedures. In a perfect threat-free world agencies such as the GCSB would not be needed but we do not live in such a world. We need agencies and structures to guard against threats to our security and national interests but it is fundamental that the GCSB must operate in a fully professional manner to safeguard our rights and freedoms. As things stand we cannot support this legislation. We will not be a rubber stamp. We have put forward a Supplementary Order Paper that provides a constructive way forward to assist the Government to develop an appropriate legislative framework for the GCSB but we must oppose the bill at this point.