- Posted March 27, 2023
Kia ora koutou. Ko Phil McKee toku ingoa. Ko te Tumu Whakarae Rangitahi mō Te Pā Whakamarumaru ahau.
I’m the acting Director-General of the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service.
Thank you for the opportunity to address you today.
I would like to take a short moment to acknowledge Rebecca Kitteridge’s outstanding service to our organisation.
Rebecca has performed a transformational role in the history of NZSIS during the most turbulent national security environment in decades. She brought an exemplary set of personal values to this role and has been an outstanding role model to our people.
We are all looking forward to Andrew joining us on 17 April and the skills, experience and knowledge that he will bring.
The Threat Environment
I will start with an overview of the threat environment.
This year has been another challenging year dealing with the impacts of COVID-19 and a tight labour market all whilst being faced with a diverse, complex and rapidly changing violent extremist threat and an increase in foreign interference threats.
NZSIS is charged with detecting, investigating, reporting and mitigating the threats of violent extremism, foreign interference and espionage.
When we look at the threat environment and try to understand the factors affecting that environment, one key overarching theme emerges. That is that many of the threats we are facing stem in some way from increased strategic competition.
This marks a clear shift in the dynamics of our national security.
Domestic terrorism still gives us cause for concern but the transnational terror threat is not where it has been in the last decade. However, there is the potential for this to change again rapidly.
We have seen competition between states intensify over the past year and this will have security implications for New Zealand for some time. Foreign states will be looking for a strategic or intelligence advantage in this rivalry.
What that means for us and our home region is more frequent attempts to disrupt and interfere in our democracy, our economy, our information environment and our social fabric.
Violent extremism
Turning to violent extremism, I mentioned the threat of domestic terrorism remains firmly on our radar.
The 51 Shuhada from the terrorist attacks on 15 March 2019, as well as those who were injured or traumatised, their families and their communities, are always in our thoughts.
In November last year the National Terrorism Threat Level was revised to LOW, but that doesn’t mean there’s no threat.
We consider there is a realistic possibility that there are individuals in our country who have the intent, as well as the ability to develop the capability, to conduct an attack. The lowering of the threat level only reflects that we are not currently seeing the same concerning cases of individuals on a mobilisation path to violence. This could change rapidly.
Our investigative effort remains evenly split between Identity-Motivated, Faith-Motivated and Politically-Motivated Violent Extremists.
A more recent trend is when someone is engaging in violent extremist behaviour in New Zealand, it tends to mostly take the form of expressing support for various violent ideologies.
Our job is to try to determine whether they are serious about following through on their beliefs by committing a violent act.
That’s a painstaking task especially with the vast amount of hate being expressed online.
We see both inflammatory and threatening violent abuse in online spaces every day. Typically, it is targeting a wide variety of people from already marginalised communities.
Even though it is difficult to understand the true intent behind these threats, the vast majority are unlikely to result in real-world violence.
It remains disturbing however, especially when we see threats come from young people, which unfortunately remains fairly common.
When signs of violent extremist behaviour begin to emerge in real world behaviours, that is when the public is in a better position to help us.
Our guide Kia mataara ki ngā tohu - Know the signs, which we published in October, is an important resource for raising awareness with the public. It shows the kinds of behaviours and activities we find most concerning and how to let us know when they are seen.
We are pleased with the response we have had since the launch of the guide.
Foreign interference and espionage
Turning to foreign interference and espionage, this is a threat that gives us increasing cause for concern and another area where we feel there is a need to raise more awareness.
We only see a small number of states conducting interference against New Zealand but some of those are persistent and have the potential to cause significant harm.
To be clear: we regard foreign interference as actions by a state that have the intention to influence, disrupt or subvert our national interests by covert, corruptive, deceptive or threatening means.
Normal diplomatic activities or upfront lobbying don’t fall within the foreign interference definition.
Some of the most insidious examples concern harassment of ethnic communities in New Zealand who speak out against the actions of a foreign government.
There are examples where information is collected on them and used to threaten whānau members in their home country.
We have also seen attempts at foreign interference against university academics, local government officials and the media.
Foreign interference should not be tolerated. It is deliberately calculated and has the intent of undermining our democracy and the values we hold dear.
The problem is serious but there are steps we can take to make ourselves harder targets for this sort of activity. One of the most effective ways we can counter foreign interference is by shining a light on it.
If more people are aware of foreign interference, including the tactics used and the goals a foreign government is trying to achieve, then it will struggle to maintain a foothold in Aotearoa.
Threat environment report
To achieve this we need to be doing more to raise public understanding of foreign interference and espionage and the damage that can result from it.
In a recent survey conducted for the Long Term Insights Briefing on national security, New Zealanders said they want to hear more from the intelligence agencies about the threats we face so they can be better prepared.
We know too, how the Royal Commission of Inquiry hoped to see a more mature discussion develop about national security matters in our society.
As one way to contribute to that discussion, we are aiming to publish a NZSIS security threat environment report in the coming weeks.
This is a document produced by our analysts to show what we, as a security Intelligence agency, consider are some of the factors influencing our threat environment.
It will be the first time we have published a consolidated threat assessment like this and I think this information will be useful to a wide range of groups in our society including communities, businesses, universities, the wider government and indeed the media.
Intelligence impact
I would like to spend a short time on some other areas where we make an impact.
NZSIS is an incredible place to work where our people do incredible things each and every day.
Our intelligence, and our close critical relationship with New Zealand Police and GCSB, has led to the disruption of potential attacks as well as inspiring interventions to remove someone from a violent extremist pathway.
On the counter interference and espionage side, we have been able to identify individuals undertaking intelligence activity and cultivating strategic relationships on behalf of foreign states. Our insights have been shared in a way that has limited their impact and ability to cause harm.
Protective Security Requirements
Our Protective Security Requirements team continues to provide excellent advice, which helps government and other institutions get in front of the threat and make themselves less vulnerable.
A highlight in the past year, we are proud of, is the publication of guidance to help organisations conduct their own due diligence assessments on their business, research or investment decisions.
Concluding remarks
In conclusion, our security environment is throwing up challenges that could not have been foreseen even just a few years ago and the environment keeps changing.
In spite of this fast moving environment, NZSIS has been able to quickly adapt, pivot when required, and respond.
This is testament to the unrelenting commitment of our highly trained and professional people but it also reflects their supreme level of dedication to our mission of keeping New Zealand and New Zealanders safe and secure.
Increasingly this is becoming a mission we are leaning in to share with the rest of New Zealand. We are also working with a broader set of partners to achieve better security outcomes.
We want to earn and maintain the trust and confidence of New Zealanders to do what it takes under the law to keep them safe.
Ngā mihi nui