Just two weeks after it was introduced, the Government's new anti-terrorism legislation has passed its final reading, Radio New Zealand reports.
It was pushed through under urgency last night and passed by 94 votes to 27 with the Greens, New Zealand First and the Maori Party voting against it.
The legislation aims to intercept local supporters of the Islamic State group and would allow the SIS to carry out surveillance without a warrant for 24 hours.
It also allows the government to cancel of passports for longer, from one year to three years, where the person poses a risk to security.
During the earlier part of the debate, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters, berated the Government for what he considered its slack immigration policies.
He loudly chastised a National Party MP for heckling him during his speech. “He's got no idea who he's brought in from the Middle East, and they bring them in in their thousands ... look ignorance is not bliss.”
Did Winston Peters seriously just godwin the Govt on anti-terror law? "we are being asked to cry havoc and let slip the dogs of Nazism."
— Andrea Vance (@avancenz) December 9, 2014
National's David Bennett took umbrage with Peters’ comments calling his speech “disgusting”.
“New Zealand is a country made up of people from different religions, different races and different cultures and people have come to this country at different times and they are all New Zealanders.
“How dare that party say that it holds up New Zealand security when all it wants is the 1950s.”
