MEDIA RELEASE

27 NOVEMBER 2014

Bill’s Indecent Haste Makes a Mockery of Our Democrary

The Māori Party urges people to make a submission on the Countering Terrorism Fighters Legislation Bill today and ask for an extension to the timeframe for this important bill. Public submissions on the bill close today and the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Select Committee will be reporting back to the House next Tuesday with a plan to get the bill passed before Christmas.

“We are appalled by the indecent haste that this important piece of legislation is tracking through the law-making process,” says Māori Party Co-leader Marama Fox.

The Māori Party along with most other parties voted for the first reading of the bill so the public had the opportunity to express their views on whether this bill is the best way to deal with the evolving threat posed by foreign terrorist fighters. The Māori Party also supported a motion by the Labour Party, which was defeated, to extend the timeframe for this bill to be passed.

“This bill is supposed to be about supporting international efforts for a just and free society. But the process and some of the provisions within the bill have the exact opposite effect on New Zealand citizens,” says Mrs Fox.

Mrs Fox says Māori have serious concerns about the increased powers of the SIS to search and surveil properties without a warrant for 48 hours.

“We do not want a repeat of Operation 8 in the Bay of Plenty where innocent people were subject to SIS searches in their private homes. Nor are we comfortable with the Government having the power to render people stateless by denying them passports for three years,” says Mrs Fox.

The Māori Party believes those two proposed new powers of the State are unnecessary and won’t stop the threat posed by foreign terrorist fighters and perceived local threats.

“If this bill is passed in its current form the provisions around no search warrants and cancelling people’s passports will prejudice Māori and ethnic minority groups who fear they will be targeted. Given the National Party is committed to closing submissions today, I urge everyone who has an opinion on this important bill to make your views known today and demand that the time period for consideration of this bill is extended.”

ENDS

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