Harawira Hone: New Zealand Security Intelligence Service Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Harawira Hone: New Zealand Security Intelligence Service Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:669;Page:16021] 
HONE HARAWIRA (Maori Party—Te Tai Tokerau) 
: 
 Kia ora Mr Deputy Speaker. Kia ora tatou katoa e te Whare. First of all let me say that the Maori Party is not fundamentally opposed to the Government taking steps to ensure the security of our country nor are we opposed to the use of technology to enhance that security. Furthermore the Maori Party supports the principles of transparency accountability integrity respect and confidentiality. But in terms of this bill’s proposal to widen the powers of the SIS I have to express grave doubts about the way in which a secret organisation goes about snooping on ordinary law-abiding citizens in this country. I express particular concern on behalf of the many Maori in this country who are actively campaigning for recognition of tino rangatiratanga as well as those citizens who care about the integrity of this nation for the very reason that they have been the improper targets of the SIS in the past and will undoubtedly attract further attention from the pie in the briefcase brigade in the future. 
For those with a short memory I will recall just a few of the following incidents for the edification of the members of this House: the SIS publicly releasing a list of so-called radicals and subversives during the 1981 Springbok Tour to try to hamstring the anti-tour movement—what a complete waste of time that was—SIS agents caught in an illegal search of the house of Christchurch anti-globalisation activist Aziz Choudry; the SIS issuing a security risk certificate against Ahmed Zaoui and having the poor bugger held in jail without trial until it was forced to withdraw the certificate when it could not substantiate its claims; SIS involvement in gathering the information that led to the botched terrorism raids on the nation of Tuhoe and the laying of terrorism charges against Tuhoe citizens which have since been thrown out; and just last month for some unknown reason Professor Jane Kelsey a vocal critic of the SIS’s role in New Zealand politics all of a sudden is stopped at the airport when trying to get into Australia to promote a book challenging the credibility of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. 
Given the public embarrassment that the SIS has subjected this nation to over the last 20 years with some of its Keystone Cops 
routines and its harassment of law-abiding citizens I would have thought Parliament would be wanting greater scrutiny over the SIS rather than simply rubberstamping its cellphone snoopery. But here we are considering giving these guys even greater powers? When I think of who is actually watching the watchers I am mindful that although there is a committee set up to oversee the SIS the operations are not themselves subject to public scrutiny. 
The Maori Party is happy to support this bill at first reading if it will be brought before a committee for public debate and scrutiny because we want people who have concerns about the SIS’s past and current activities to tell the committee so that the Government can hear exactly what it is its precious SIS gets up to. But we are not keen to support it if those submissions are all going to be held behind closed doors. Thank you very much.