Photo: Sanka Vidanagama / NurPhoto via AFP
The government wants to tighten our terror laws, but critics fear it will mean a corresponding trampling of advocacy groups and free speech.
The government is eyeing an overhaul of the country's terrorism legislation, which is necessary, it says, to keep New Zealanders safe in a rapidly evolving world and keep pace with modern threats.
However, critics are warning that the move could come at a steep price, specifically a loss of civil liberties.
The proposed changes, still in the closed-door consultation phase with a handpicked selection of groups and experts, would give police and intelligence agencies broader powers to intervene earlier, redefine what constitutes a "terrorist act" and expand preventative detention powers, all in the name of public safety.
Today, The Detail spoke with Newsroom national affairs editor Sam Sachdeva and University of Waikato terrorism and firearms expert Alexander Gillespie about the potential changes to the Terrorism Suppression Act and how the government will balance risk without resorting to overreach.
"What this is really about is are our current terror laws fit for purpose, and where do we draw the line between dealing with the very real threat that is posed by terrorist groups and terrorists, while still preserving the fundamental political freedoms and rights and liberties that all New Zealanders hold dear," Sachdeva told The Detail.
He said critics, worried that those freedoms and rights are now at risk, are fired up.
"Look, they are. We have seen the Council for Civil Liberties, [and] the Free Speech Union has now come out as well, expressing some concern about this.
"So, it's early stages, but it seems like it's something that could quite easily animate or light a fire under a lot of these rights groups who are concerned."
The terror law, enacted in 2002 following the 11 September terror attacks, allows governments to formally designate people or groups as terrorist entities, freezing their assets and making it illegal to financially support, recruit for, or participate in a designated terrorist entity.
Minor changes were made after the 15 March terror attack in 2019 and the New Lynn Countdown Supermarket attack in 2021.
Sachdeva said among the new potential changes are making membership of a terrorist entity a criminal offence, creating new offences to capture public expressions of support for a terrorist act or designated entities - including showing insignia - and modernising definitions for terms like "material support" to capture new online forms of support.
Extending the renewal period for terrorist designations to five years, from three at present, is also being considered.
The government said there will be safeguards and judicial oversight. The proposed changes are expected to go before Parliament later this year.
Gillespie, speaking to The Detail from Vienna, where he is working on gun reforms, said the threat of a terror attack has long lingered in New Zealand, and while the likelihood of another attack will never be zero, the risk can be lowered.
"Part of reducing that risk is making sure the law is as good as it can be. That the balance between civil liberties and risk is correct. And that we have proportionate penalties for those who are willing to advocate the use of violence against civilians to change policy.
"I support looking at it... I think it's foreseeable that the tensions in our society are going to be around for the foreseeable future. And to make sure they are fit for purpose, because when I look back at recent times, our laws weren't fit for purpose, and now we need to be thinking, 'what more can we do?'."
While the debate on security versus liberty and protection versus principle will undoubtedly continue, one thing is certain -in the fight against terror, New Zealand is searching for a line, but it will not be easy to draw.
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