Greens want block on passing spy information to US

The Waihopai Valley Satellite Station near Blenheim. File picture / Mark Mitchell

The Green Party has said New Zealand should stop sending information obtained by its spy base to the United States following revelations it could be misused.

US President George W Bush has admitted he allowed domestic eavesdropping without court approval following the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks.

The revelation in the New York Times caused outrage in the US, with both Democrats and Republicans calling for congressional investigations into the decision.

The Greens' security and intelligence spokesman Keith Locke said New Zealand should suspend the transfer of data intercepted by the Waihopai spy base to the US National Security Agency (NSA).

Waihopai is part of the NSA-run Echelon communications intelligence network.

"Morally we can't continue to send the NSA communications intercepted at Waihopai when we know that their contents will be used illegally by the Bush administration," Mr Locke said.

He said the NSA was spying on its own citizens and some of the information would be coming from dishes at Waihopai, near Blenheim.

"We also have to ask if New Zealand citizens are being spied upon," he said.

New Zealand's equivalent of the NSA is the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB).

"So far, New Zealand's Government has relied on American goodwill not to use the data gathered at Waihopai to spy on Kiwis. This is no longer valid," Mr Locke said.

"George Bush now thinks he is above the law and can use the NSA in an arbitrary way. Clearly New Zealanders are no longer safe from NSA spying."

After initially refusing to comment on the New York Times report on the covert program, Bush said on Saturday that after the September 11 attacks, he had authorised the National Security Agency "to intercept the international communications of people with known links to al Qaeda and related terrorist organisations".

He said he had reauthorised the eavesdropping program 30 times since September 11 and intends to continue it "for as long as our nation faces a continuing threat from al Qaeda and related groups."

Bush has been fighting to save the USA Patriot Act, anti-terrorism legislation passed after September 11, some of which is set to expire.

The law includes controversial powers giving law enforcement agencies secret access to library and medical records and other personal information during terrorism investigations.

- NZPA, REUTERS