New Zealand not immune to Russia’s spies: Peters
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has confirmed there is Russian intelligence activity happening on New Zealand soil.
The revelation comes after both he and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern assured the public there was nobody in the country that fit the profile of the types of spies that other countries had expelled in the wake of the recent Salisbury nerve agent attack in Britain.
Peters maintains that is still the case but during Parliament’s question time yesterday, he did say that the country’s Security Intelligence Service (SIS) was aware of Russian intelligence activity here. ‘‘Where it is seen appropriate, action is taken.’’
Following his comments in the House, Peters said if there were people at New Zealand’s Russian embassy that fit the profile of those working in other parts of the world who had been expelled, then the Government would have acted long ago.
As many as 26 nations have reportedly expelled Russian envoys over the last week.
British Prime Minister Theresa May ousted 23 diplomats in response to the nerve agent attack on former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury this month – her actions triggering a global response.
Ardern and Peters have both confirmed the SIS and
New Zealand’s Five Eyes security partners were consulted about the decision not to expel anyone from the embassy.
‘‘People in the Five Eyes have consulted with us on our decision, understand our decision, and did so before the decision was made,’’ Peters said.
The minister in charge of security and intelligence, Andrew Little, said that Peters’ statement about the Russian intelligence activity in New Zealand was ‘‘almost certainly correct’’.
‘‘I’m not going to go into the details about that. What I’m totally confident of as minister in charge of our security and intelligence agencies is that they are totally abreast of the threats to New Zealand, and they are acting appropriately.’’
Little said Peters had received the same advice as him and it’s not to say ‘‘we are free from those threats’’.
When asked to define the Russian intelligence activity, Little said he wouldn’t do that as he didn’t want to ‘‘potentially disclose the way our agencies operate’’.
‘‘What I can say is the fact we as a country are not acting like other countries does not mean we are actively addressing the same threats.’’