Passport ban in Government's anti-terror law

By AUDREY YOUNG

The Government is preparing to give itself the power to decline and even revoke New Zealand passports and citizenship for security reasons as part of the international "war on terror".

The powers proposed in draft legislation have caused an immediate outcry that they threaten civil liberties.

Barely off the drawing board, the bill has been condemned as "McCarthyism" by Green MP Keith Locke and drawn warnings from Government MP Matt Robson of the Progressive Coalition that it carries the potential for "dangerous abuse".

Mr Robson says the bill would unfairly target newcomers to New Zealand and its powers could also extend to New Zealand-born citizens.

"It is a very extreme step to deny the right to travel, which is a guaranteed right under international law," he said.

The bill, which would amend the Citizenship Act 1977 and the Passports Act 1992, also:

* Specifies that children born in New Zealand to parents who do not have permanent residency or citizenship will not automatically gain citizenship.

* Increases from three to five years the time immigrants must spend in New Zealand before being eligible to apply for citizenship.

* Removes any advantage to foreign spouses of New Zealand citizens in gaining citizenship.

* Discounts the time spent in New Zealand on temporary permits, including student visas, as time accrued in naturalisation applications.

The bill is expected to be considered by a Cabinet committee this week.

At present the Internal Affairs Minister, who is responsible for passports and citizenship issues, can "deprive" a person of citizenship if it was obtained by fraudulent means or if a person who is also the citizen of another country acts in a manner deemed contrary to the interests of New Zealand.

The present minister, George Hawkins, would not respond to a request to discuss the bill. Nor would Prime Minister Helen Clark.

But it has won tentative support from Act leader Richard Prebble.

He said that although Act was pro-immigration, there could be good reasons for extending the minimum period of residence from three years to five years before allowing migrants to seek citizenship.

It would give security authorities more time to vet applicants, and it would mean New Zealand was less likely to become a "staging post" for people whose real intention was to settle in Australia.

Concerns expressed two weeks ago by Security Intelligence Service director Richard Woods suggest the bill is likely to be approved by the Cabinet. He said then that applications from 26,000 people seeking citizenship in 2002-2003 had been vetted and three had been declined for security reasons.

The three were a married couple given residency in 1998 and a man granted residency in 2000.

Mr Locke said New Zealanders who had been blase about detained Algerian refugee Ahmed Zaoui should "wake up to the fact that their human rights are now in the firing line".

"This is a dangerous move back to the McCarthy period when American Governments denied travel documents to people like Charlie Chaplin and Paul Robeson, claiming they were security threats.

"Our present system isn't broke so we don't need to fix it."

These concerns were dismissed last night as those of "cringing, screaming lefties" by National MP Wayne Mapp.

His party is certain to support tougher measures and thus assure the passage of the bill.

Mr Robson said the new measures could be open to abuse.

They could be used simply to prevent foreign Governments being embarrassed - for example, stopping New Zealand citizens who belonged to the Falun Gong movement from travelling to China on a New Zealand passport.

"There are all manner of ways in controlling what people do that someone in the SIS thinks is an embarrassment or a threat.

"I think we are moving into a very dangerous territory of administrative actions that have always been rejected in New Zealand."

Mr Robson said that if there was enough evidence that someone was doing wrong, he or she should be charged.

What was being proposed was "a limbo land for so many people and a dangerous area for abuse".

Passports and the law

* The Government wants new powers to decline and revoke passports on security grounds.

* The effect would be to limit travel freedoms for some New Zealanders.

* Opponents say the changes are open to abuse.