News blackouts to counter terrorism?
PA Wellington The Government may need to force news blackouts when acts of terrorism occur in New Zealand, said the Acting Prime Minister, Mr Palmer.
Government departments had recently been asked to provide information on what powers they needed to cope with acts of terrorism and he expected the question of news blackouts would be considered, he said.
“I have heard it said that they may be suggested,” Mr Palmer said. He had been asked to elaborate on a television report on Thursday evening in which the Auckland police said they were considering the need for future news blackouts in the light of their experiences on the inquiry into the bombing of the Greenpeace ship Rain-
bow Warrior. The police suggested the inquiry had been hampered by news disclosures. Mr Palmer said he agreed that the news media reports on terrorism investigations “were sometimes not helpful”. “Certainly we want to make sure that when a terrorist event occurs, the Government has got ample power to deal with it. There may be situations where it is necessary to place a blackout on news events arising from a terrorist attack.”
The Government’s request for departments to provide an indication of such powers that might be needed had not arisen direct from the Rainbow Warrior inquiry. Mr Palmer said the Government was preparing to repeal the Public Safety Conservation Act, which ar-
guably contained powers of news censorship. Regulations empowering the censorship of news were drawn up under the act at the time of the 1951 waterfront strike. He said the Government had been looking at what changes might be needed when the act was repealed.
“We think there are some gaps that need to be repaired at the time we repeal the Public Safety Conservation Act,” he said.
If the Government did go ahead with the power to institute news blackouts, a new form of legislation would need to be passed by Parliament to enforce blackouts.
Mr Palmer gave no indication that news blackouts, if they were instituted, would cover matters other than terrorism.
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Press, 3 August 1985, Page 3
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347News blackouts to counter terrorism? Press, 3 August 1985, Page 3
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