Salient. Official Newspaper of Victoria University of Wellington Students Association. Vol 40 No. 26. October 3 1977

Three Common Myths About the Bill

Three Common Myths About the Bill

1. The Bill will be alright if it is amended.

People tend to say this sort of thing when they are overawed by something—they tend to do anything but face the facts. 'Amending' the Bill is facile talk because the parts of the Bill that will get through regardless are the smoke screen provisions that will render any attempts to view the rest of the SIS activities as impossible. It is highly probable that the Government is planning one or two small amendments to give a veneer of compromise on the issue anyway.

2. The Bill must be right if it is from the Powles Report.

The Government have used the name of Sir Guy Powles to log roll this Bill through quite dishonestly. The main recommendation in the report i.e., that SIS work concentrate on espionage rather than subversion, was ignored and as a result our SIS will be trying to track down potential 'subverters' in the universities and unions instead of concentrating on espionage currently being conducted by overseas countries.

3. The Bill won't be used against me.

The net of the Bill is so wide that it could be used against anyone. The definition of terrorism as in the Bill is: "advocating, threatening, or using violence to coerce, deter or intimidate—
a) the lawful authority of the state in New Zealand; or
b) the community throughout New Zealand or in any area in New Zealand for the purpose of furthering any political end".

That definition could apply to anyone or anything under given conditions. Take the semi-hypothetical case of Muldoon abolishing parliament and setting up a brutal dictatorship. To attempt to do the right thing and work for the overthrow of his regime, one would be immediately under the scrutiny of the SIS. This would mean that they could intercept any communication of yours and possibly blackmail or torture you for information. And yet you could not reveal any of these things to anyone.

We print the entire Bill for you to read carefully.

We urge you to do so to gain a deep knowledge of exactly what it is and how it might work. When I first read it, it horrified me. We should be horrified, and then turn this into positive action to tell the Government where to stick their fascist legislation.

Throw Out the Bill!

Protect Democracy in New Zealand!