S.I.S. bill to follow Sir Guy’s report

Press, 26 August 1977, Page 4

S.I.S. bill to follow Sir Guy’s report

PA Wellington New security intelligence legislation will be introduced in Parliament in about two weeks, according to the Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) yesterday.

The legislation, he said, would be based on recommendations contained in a report by the former chief Ombudsman. Sir Guy Powles. into the Security Intelligence Service. Mr Muldoon said after the weekly caucus meeting that the bill had been a difficult one to bring together as it covered a "sensitive field.” It was. however, now in "reasonable shape” and only a few details still had to be worked out. Sir Guy’s report on the S.I.S. was initiated by the Labour Government. He said in his report that the 1969 S.I.S. Act should be amended to include a procedure under which the service could tap telephones and intercept mail legally. He recommended that the Minister in charge of the service (al pi esent Mt Muldoon) should be empowered to issue warrants to intercept communications, subject to strict legislative criteria. Mr Muldoon said yesterday that the interception on communications would be the main subject of the legislation. However, other recom-! mendations in Sir Guy’s re-

port would require only administrative action. These would be implemented at about the same time the bill became law. Mr Muldoon said the question of interception wasi "quite delicate and had to bel done carefully” to ensure that there were proper safeguards. The occasions on which the interception of communications provision would be used would be “very! limited.” he said. Sir Guy, who had had a long association with civil liberties groups, had recom-, mended that the interception provision be included in the] legislation, and the Govern-1 ment had accepted his recommendation. Asked if the S.I.S. had in the past intercepted communications illegally, Mr Muldoon said: “You don’t expect me to answer that question. surely.” The Leader of the Opposition (Mr Rowling) would be consulted on some aspects of the legislation, which

would be passed this year, he said. Mr Muldoon told a ques-' tionet that he had not conMdered whether the bill would he sent to a select couinnttec*. He said he could see a good reason for not sending it to a select committee, because a considerable number of people from fringe groups would make submissions which, on past performance, would have very little real benefit. The report had been pro-; duced "by a man whose ere-: dentials in this field are impeccable.” Mr Muldoon said he believed that having produced a bill which would follow Sir Guy’s recommendations.! the scrutiny of Parliament would be adequate. "There is no way I am go-1 ing to provide a sounding board for fringe groups who' have far too much publicity anyway.” he said. The bill would be introduced and left in the House to allow bodies! like the Law Society to make representations to the Minister. No member of the Armed Forces had been involved in, any telephone tapping in Par-

liament House, the Minister’ of Defence (Mr McCready)! told Parliament yesterday. He was replying to the' Under-Secretary to the Minister of Internal Affairs (Mr Comber), who asked about a suggestion that telephones had been tapped soon after the present Government took office, when Maori land marchers were camped in Parliament Grounds. Mr Comber referred to an article in a Wellington suburban newspaper which, he said, suggested a Labour member charged that telephones had been tapped at the time. He wanted to know if there was any trtuh in the allegation, whether Mr McCready knew the name of the Labour member, and whether the member had made any allegations to the Minister. '. Mr McCready said he I could give an assurance that no member of the Armed Forces had tapped telephones then or at any other time. He did not know the identity of the Labour member referred to in the article, and no Labour member had ,made any allegations to him about telephone tapping.