Five Million Voices

Should New Zealand create new criminal offences for foreign interference and strengthen espionage-related laws?

This bill amends the Crimes Act to create new offences targeting foreign interference and to strengthen existing espionage and unauthorised disclosure provisions. It also inserts a definition of who owes allegiance to the Sovereign in right of New Zealand for the purposes of certain offences.

⚡ Taken under urgency

Parliament advanced this bill under urgency (third reading) — moving it through faster than usual, with less time than normal for public submissions.

MPs’ arguments for and against the bill

Why support it
  • Supporters argued that intelligence agencies report foreign State-sponsored attempts to deceptively influence policy makers and undermine New Zealand's democratic and foreign policy independence, which existing law does not adequately address.
  • Supporters said the bill includes safeguards, such as requiring the Attorney-General's consent to prosecute and requiring that a person know or ought to know they are acting for a foreign power, so that legitimate diplomatic or transparent advocacy is not criminalised.
  • Supporters argued that public submissions showed communities being harassed and monitored to deter them from expressing views foreign States consider subversive, and that the law should signal such conduct is unacceptable.
Why oppose it
  • Critics argued the boundaries of the offences at their fringes are unclear, so that seemingly innocuous acts—such as passing on who attended an event—could fall within the legislation.
  • Critics said the broad prohibited conduct combined with a low mental element, including recklessness, risks criminalising ordinary behaviours assumed to be permitted in a free and open society.
  • Critics raised concern that the definition of who 'owes allegiance to the Sovereign' remained unclear, including how it would apply to people overseas with a whakapapa or heritage connection to New Zealand.

These are claims MPs made in Parliament’s debate — not verified facts.

Full bill summary & link to official bill page

This bill amends the Crimes Act 1961 to create new criminal offences targeting "foreign interference" — covert, deceptive, corrupt or coercive activity carried out for a foreign power to improperly influence New Zealand's institutions, elections or communities. It also modernises existing espionage and unauthorised-disclosure offences and inserts a definition of who owes allegiance to the New Zealand Sovereign for the purposes of certain offences. The Government states that normal diplomacy, transparent lobbying and open engagement with officials and the public are unaffected.

It is a Government bill led by the Justice Minister, part of a wider effort to make national-security law "fit for purpose" against modern threats. Supporters argue existing law predates today's espionage and influence operations, and that agencies need clear powers to hold offenders accountable. Critics, including the Council for Civil Liberties, warn the definitions of "foreign power" and acting "on behalf of" one are too broad, could criminalise legitimate protest or advocacy, carry heavy penalties, expand warrantless search powers, and may chill diaspora communities and free expression.

See the Parliament.nz ↗ site for the full bill.

Oppose (No) Support (Yes)

Crimes (Countering Foreign Interference) Amendment Bill · Third Reading, 18 Nov 2025
Parliament voted 102–21 — it passed.