SIS counter-espionage sum remains a secret

The Security Intelligence Service has received an undisclosed sum of money for counter-espionage in the Government’s latest Budget.

And the secretive agency quietly wants you to know this, though it refuses to say how much.

The funding was publicly revealed the evening the 2022

Budget was announced by the Government, on Thursday, May 19.

But unlike the large spend-ups trumpeted by the Government earlier in the day, this announcement took place away from the halls of power: at the Rosewood Funeral Home in Masterton.

At a meeting of the Wairarapa branch of the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs, held at the funeral home, Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) director general

Andrew Hampton gave a speech about the Russia-Ukraine war in which he briefly detailed the $72 million Budget spend on the GCSB and its partner agency the Security Intelligence Service (SIS).

He said the funding would be spent on improved cybersecurity capabilities, the counterterrorism effort, and ‘‘work on dealing with increased geostrategic competition in our region’’.

The SIS also ‘‘received for their work on countering foreign interference in New Zealand’’, he said, according to a copy of the speech later published online by the GCSB.

The reference to foreign interference spending was not mentioned elsewhere publicly, including in the Budget documentation.

Though it is not unusual for the intelligence agencies’ funding to be vaguely detailed in Government budgets.

Intelligence Agencies Minister

Andrew Little said disclosing too much ‘‘could be helpful to those who would do us harm’’.

‘‘In this particular instance, however, the agencies considered it prudent to let the public know that the NZSIS was provided with additional funding in Budget 2022 to improve their capacity to address foreign interference threats,’’ he said, in a statement.

‘‘It is not in the public interest for me to give a precise dollar figure for this new investment.’’

The purpose of much of the $72m spending was detailed in the Budget: $22.5m to the SIS and $12.6m to the GCSB for counterterrorism, and $18.9m for the cyber agency’s cybersecurity work.

The SIS also received $3.4m for unspecified capabilities and activities, the GCSB $14.3m for the same.

An SIS and GCSB spokesperson confirmed the funding provided for foreign interference work was contained within the $72m spend.

The otherwise undisclosed foreign interference spend was mentioned in Hampton’s speech as the agencies were committed to being ‘‘as transparent as possible without compromising national security’’, the spokesperson said.

‘‘For good reason, the agencies have traditionally withheld how their funding is split between different areas of operational focus. Revealing such information can inadvertently alert adversaries to potential strengths or weaknesses to exploit.’’

‘‘It is not in the public interest for me to give a precise dollar figure for this new investment.’’

Andrew Little Intelligence Agencies Minister