Details of foreign students studying in NZ leaked

Personal details of foreign students studying in New Zealand have been leaked. Photo / Thinkstock

Personal details of foreign students studying in New Zealand have been leaked in a new Wikileaks dump.

Financial information and invoices relating to Auckland-based Saudi diplomats are also among the leaked Saudi Cables.

Wikileaks started releasing the documents on Friday.

The dump circulated documents from the Saudi Consulate General in Auckland and New Zealand's embassy in Riyadh.

Some of the documents appeared to show passport numbers and other details of Saudis studying in New Zealand.

The release has started at an unusually sensitive time for the New Zealand-Saudi relationship.

The leaks mostly contain minutiae but WikiLeaks said it had released only a minority of more than half a million leaked cables.

One 2013 cable from the New Zealand Embassy in Riyadh discussed the urgency of addressing climate change and the need for New Zealand and Saudi Arabia to discuss why renewable energy use had become a major issue for the countries of the Pacific Islands.

Another cable from 2013 outlined a planned meeting between senior Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials and Dr Khalid Al-Gandan, a Saudi foreign ministry under-secretary, on "regional security issues".

A Crown Institute of Studies document assessing a student's performance was among the leaks.

A leaked invoice included prices for fingerprint access control for a web conferencing package at the Auckland consular office.

Another leaked document included the rental cost of the Saudi consulate's 241 sq m office in Queen St, Auckland.

The letter from Princes Wharf-based Equinox Group showed rent for the Saudis was raised about 10 per cent in 2013, to $86,644.80 plus GST.

The leaks also appear to include details of satellite internet connections at Saudi embassies and consulates worldwide, ways of accessing the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters at these locations, and the internet access rates and number of people using internet facilities at these locations.

Given the likelihood of future leaks, geopolitical analyst Dr Paul Buchanan said he expected some interest locally in whether allegations of potentially "unsavoury dealings" with the Saudis would surface.

New Zealand's relationship with Saudi Arabia has been under scrutiny since the Government here was forced to defend spending $11.5 million on an agribusiness hub on Saudi Arabian businessman Hamood Al Ali Khalaf's farm.

Foreign Minister Murray McCully warned Cabinet not investing in the project would worsen a "serious bilateral relationship issue".

Mr Al Khalaf used to export live sheep from New Zealand to Saudi Arabia before the practice was banned a decade ago.

Green party co-leader James Shaw accused the Government of advising the Saudi businessman to sue it over sheep exports.

"The Saudi Foreign Ministry in May 2015 admitted to a breach of its computer networks," Wikileaks said.

A group called the Yemeni Cyber Army took responsibility for the breach.

A Crown Institute of Studies director did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Saudi government has advised its people to ignore the leaks. The Sunni kingdom, a Western ally, is engaged in a proxy war across the Middle East with its arch-enemy Iran.

The two countries are struggling for influence in countries including Iraq, where New Zealand has deployed soldiers to train locals in the fight against the so-called Islamic State near Taji.

"The Saudi government sponsors a number of students studying English language and other subjects in New Zealand," Crown director Alan Chisholm said.

"It is standard practice for Crown and other education institutions to provide periodic reports on student academic progress, so that the Saudi government is assured that their students are making the best use of their study time in New Zealand."