8. KEITH LOCKE (Green) Link to this
to the Prime Minister
Why is he not supporting public hearings for submissions on the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service Amendment Bill?
Rt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister) Link to this
Up until yesterday the advice I had received was that such hearings were properly done in private. However, last night I received advice that led me to ask the director of the SIS to reassess the issue and provide me with new advice on what the situation should be. I will discuss that advice with the Intelligence and Security Committee in due course.
When the Prime Minister is considering that advice, will he take into account that in February 1999 Prime Minister Shipley chaired 2 days of public submissions on a New Zealand Security Intelligence Service Amendment Bill that even included a public submission by the former head of the British spy agency MI5, Stella Rimmington?
Yes, and I will also take into account that Helen Clark in 2001 chaired the GCSB committee in private.
Will the Prime Minister also take into account that most committees in this Parliament have open hearings, but if there is sensitive information, it can be heard in private or secret, as has happened with the Intelligence and Security Committee in the past?
Yes, but I am also aware of the advice I have received in the past, which is that open hearings on this matter, in relation to this part of the SIS, could lead to truncated and sterile debate, which would not necessarily lead to a robust process that we would all want to see.
I seek leave to table a couple of documents. I take your ruling, Mr Speaker, that news media reports are generally not tabled, but in this case it is not so much the content of the reports that matter—
Mr SPEAKERIt is an article by Guyon Espiner from the Evening Post of 9 February 1999, reporting on a hearing of the Intelligence and Security Committee.
Leave is sought to table that document. It is over a decade old. Is there any objection? There is objection.
I seek leave to table an article dated 11 February 1999 from the New Zealand Herald, showing that the Green Party submission by Rod Donald and Keith Locke was presented in public session to the Intelligence and Security Committee.