Speech to Dunstan High School

Dunstan High School – Assembly speech

Friday 10 October 2025

Speech by Director-General Andrew Hampton

Thank you for your kind introduction. It’s a real pleasure to be with you today in Alexandra. 

Firstly, I want to set the record straight on why my colleagues and I are in town today. 

I can confirm we are not here running a super-secret spy operation in Alexandra. 

You will not see any shady looking characters wandering around town in long trench coats, swapping brown envelopes, driving flash cars or talking into a microphone in their jacket collars. 

I’m sorry if that comes as a disappointment to you. 

The reason we’re here is partly because I’ve been asked to speak at a conference tomorrow over in Queenstown but I was also keen to come down to meet a couple of your fellow students who I hear made an excellent contribution to a nationwide project to launch a really useful online platform called Headspace Invaders. 

Headspace Invaders is designed to help young people from ages 12-16 build confidence and critical thinking skills when navigating online content. 

There were a group of students from Dunstan High School who gave vital feedback and encouragement. Their advice helped turn an adult’s bright idea into something that much better relates to young people. 

As I will explain later, a platform like Headspace Invaders is currently important to our work at the NZSIS. It has the potential to make a real impact in deterring people from some of the threats we face. 

I was keen to come to Alexandra to meet those students and frankly to see if I could get some more advice from them about a recent report the NZSIS published in August. This trip has been made even better by having the opportunity to speak with you today. 

Role and functions

Today I am keen to talk about what we do at the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service.

Parliament has given us the job to protect New Zealand as a “free, open and democratic society”. That’s a pretty special mission to have on behalf of the people of New Zealand, and it’s one that my team and I take incredibly seriously. 

As a security intelligence agency, our job is to collect and assess information about threats to New Zealand and New Zealanders so that decision-makers can take action based on that intelligence.

Yes, that means we spy, but we do so based on priorities set for us by the Government. There are also some independent people whose job is to mark my homework and make sure everything we do is done properly. 

There are two intelligence agencies in New Zealand. My agency, the NZSIS, is primarily concerned with threats and intelligence that come directly from people. Our particular focus is violent extremism, terrorism, foreign interference and espionage. Our work is therefore mainly domestic, although we are increasingly cooperating with Pacific states to help them to respond to national security threats in their region. 

The other agency, the Government Communications Security Bureau, operates in the cyber and electronic communications world and focuses mainly outside of the country and on cyber-attacks. 

At the NZSIS, we do some of the things you see spies do in the movies. We run intelligence sources, we undertake surveillance and we intercept communications. But we are not a law enforcement agency, so no one has a gun and we can’t arrest or detain people. That’s why we work very closely with our colleagues at the New Zealand Police. 

Increasingly our work involves using technology and data sets to discover threats that we don’t know about. We have important relationships with our international intelligence and security partners, especially with a group called the Five Eyes, which is made up of New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. 

We also engage a lot with communities and organisations across the country to raise awareness about national security issues and to work to help them to protect themselves from threats. 

It is important to remember that national security is not something that can just be left to agencies like the NZSIS – it requires an all-of-society effort where each of us can play a role.

Strong, supportive and inclusive communities are therefore vital to our national security. 

Unfortunately, there are a range of international factors and societal trends that pose national security threats to New Zealand. Strong and resilient communities here in Alexandra and elsewhere will be our best defence. 

Why is our national security so important?

National security is about protecting New Zealand from threats that would do us harm. 

A safe and secure society allows us to live our lives in the way we want to and is the foundation for New Zealand's overall prosperity and wellbeing. 

The NZSIS is one of a number of government agencies that work to protect New Zealand’s national security. 

What do I mean when I use the term “national security”? 

I am talking about:

• our people and way of life 
• our independence
• our democracy 
• our freedom of speech
• our economic security
• our critical national infrastructure – such as the big dams and roads in your region
• our connections to the world – both physical and digital; and 
• our peaceful and free Pacific region. 

Much of what I just outlined are things that we might take for granted in our daily lives, but they are really important. 

Think carefully about how affected we would all be if those things were harmed. 

What do we mean by national security threats?

Foreign interference and espionage 

Foreign interference is essentially when a foreign state, through corruptive, coercive or deceptive means tries to influence our people, institutions or government systems.

Unfortunately, it’s our migrant and ethnic communities that are among those most at risk of foreign interference. There are foreign states that specifically target people with connections back to their own countries if they think they are speaking or acting out of turn. When you live in New Zealand, a foreign state is not allowed to tell you what to do. It’s simply unacceptable. 

Normal lobbying efforts by foreign ambassadors and diplomats are not considered foreign interference because it’s up front and open. Foreign interference is generally conducted by an agent of a foreign state or someone who knowingly, or even unknowingly, acts on their behalf. 

Espionage happens here too and is more like what you might see in the movies. It’s about stealing secrets and information that might harm New Zealand’s interests if it fell into the wrong hands. This includes not only the government’s secrets but information about scientific and technological innovations as well as people’s personal details. 

We work hard to help government departments, universities and businesses to protect their most critical information and assets from this kind of activity. 

Violent extremism and terrorism 

The other type of threat we focus on is violent extremism and terrorism. 

Violent extremism is the justification or use of violence to achieve radical political, social or religious change. Terrorism occurs when someone acts on their belief in violence.  This is what we attempt to identify and stop. 

We detect and investigate threats posed by violent extremism in New Zealand and overseas. 

We work with other agencies, particularly the NZ Police, to stop these threats escalating into acts of terrorism.

We are particularly concerned about all the horrible violent extremist content that’s online and how easy it is to find and access. 

We see cases of people who are angry and have a grievance, and who then see some of this content and become radicalised. A few people go so far down the rabbit hole that they start considering conducting an act of violence in support of their grievance or cause. These people cause us a great deal of concern. 

We all need to look out for each other when we see or know of people who are viewing some of this awful material. 

Our best defence is to talk about it. Let someone know. Even ask questions of someone who might be boasting about the kinds of nasty content they’re watching online. 

We must never accept that this violent online content is normal. It’s not. It’s awful and potentially really harmful to all of us. That’s why the work of your fellow Dunstan High School students was so important. 

Headspace Invaders provides a springboard for us to have these important conversations and helps us all to determine between what’s real, what’s fake, what’s acceptable and what’s not. 

Future careers 

I would like to end my talk with you today by encouraging you to think about coming to work for us one day. 

The NZSIS and the GCSB are very rewarding and challenging places to work. 

Like you, I grew up in a small town. I’m from a farm south of Ashburton. 

Coming from a supportive and inclusive community that’s quite similar to Alexandra, has contributed to the person I have become. 

Something else that has been key to how my career has progressed is finding areas of study and after that of employment, that I am truly passionate about and where I feel I am contributing to something that is bigger than me and is of value to others. 

When you find something you are passionate about, I know you will each excel in your chosen field. 

For me, from an early age my passions were history and politics. I wanted to understand what were those big events and forces that shaped our country and the wider world that I was growing up in. That led me to pursuing a career in the public service where I have been lucky to have worked for a range of agencies. 

I was motivated by a sense of working in the public’s interest rather than just for myself or for some corporate entity. That sense continues to motivate me today. I, therefore, encourage all of you to consider the Public Service when you are looking at career options after you finish your studies. I know you’ll find it rewarding. 

Working in the field of national security has been even more rewarding.

I feel a sense of pride to have been involved in decisions that have contributed to our collective safety and security. 

Fancy a career in intelligence? 

The backgrounds of our people and the kind of skills they bring with them is extremely diverse. 

We don’t all look like James Bond, and nor would we want to. 

The NZSIS is an operational agency, and we have people that work with us who bring a broad range of skills and experience to the job. 

We also have some very unique functions, everything from science and tech, data and analytics, languages and community engagement. 

Like any government agency we also have traditional corporate functions such as HR, finance, facilities, policy and strategy. 

And yes, we still need people who can follow others without being seen, who can secretly enter buildings and who can persuade others to tell them their secrets. No matter what career you choose after college, whether it be academic or vocational work, such as a trade, there could be a role that might suit you within the NZSIS or the wider public service. 

Fundamentally we are looking for people who are curious, who are creative thinkers, have a high level of integrity, and are driven to protect Aotearoa New Zealand as a free, open and democratic society. 

In the past, the NZSIS and GCSB have offered graduate programmes. These are great ways to serve New Zealanders, contribute to important mahi, learn from intelligence and security professionals, and pursue a rewarding career in the public service. 

To be honest, many people don’t come to us straight from school or university. They have often done something else first. I recommend go out, try some things, build up some work and life experience but keep us in mind for the future. 

Check out our recruitment website. It’s called Beyond Ordinary to see some of the jobs our people do. 

All our people are security vetted to a high degree. So, in saying this, if you think you may want to work in intelligence and security, perhaps you should consider how you represent yourself on social media and obviously stay out of trouble. 

The future of our country, its security, and the way of life for New Zealanders lies with people like you. 

I see that your school motto is Seek Wisdom as Gold. I couldn’t think of a better motto for someone interested in a career in intelligence. 

Ngā mihi nui.