WELLINGTON – New Zealand’s new counterterrorism law passed its third reading in Parliament today, giving enforcement agencies greater power to protect the country from terror activities, reported the Xinhua news agency.
It is expected that the bill, following royal assent, will take effect on October 4.
The bill amends the Terrorism Suppression Act 2002 and Search and Surveillance Act 2012 to criminalise planning or preparation for a terrorist act, and applies warrantless powers of entry, search and surveillance to such offences.
The new law extends terrorism financing offences to also criminalise providing wider forms of support, such as goods and services, to terrorist individuals or groups.
Justice Minister Kris Faafoi welcomed the bill, saying it “strengthens our laws to fight the ever-evolving nature of terrorism, and closes long-standing gaps in our counterterrorism legislation to better protect New Zealanders.
“The new law’s major change is to add the criminal offence of planning or preparation for a terrorist act.
“The Justice Select Committee also fully endorsed a recommended change to the definition of a terrorist act to include the intention to intimidate, rather than to induce terror, as is defined in the current law.
“These changes bring our definition of a terrorist act in line with counterterrorism laws in other countries such as Australia and the United Kingdom, and mean we have the tools we need so we can act early to prevent, respond to, and disrupt terrorist activity.
“The nature of terrorism has changed. Across the world, there are more lone actors than larger organised groups, as we saw with the March 15 attack on mosques in Christchurch two years ago, and the attack on shoppers in a West Auckland supermarket earlier this month.”
The counterterrorism bill was introduced in April. It had its first reading and referral to the justice panel on May 5. – Bernama, September 30, 2021
