This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS WELLINGTON 000504 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EB/ESC/TFS, EAP/ANP AND S/CT 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTFN EFIN PTER PREL NZ
SUBJECT: NEW ZEALAND TIGHTENS TERRORISM FINANCE LAW 
 
REF: WELLINGTON 160 
 
¶1. New Zealand's Parliament has passed legislation 
strengthening the country's terrorism finance law.  The 
legislation extends until 2007 the country's UN Security 
Council-related designations of terrorist organizations.  It 
also makes illegal the intentional financing of non- 
designated organizations that engage in terrorism.  Those 
provisions were aimed at keeping New Zealand law in 
compliance with UN Security Council resolutions and at 
following Financial Action Task Force recommendations. 
 
¶2. The legislation, known as the Terrorism Suppression 
Amendment Bill (No. 2), passed June 17 by a 97-10 vote.  The 
Green and Maori Parties opposed it, viewing the bill as 
unnecessary and as a threat to New Zealanders' civil 
liberties. 
 
¶3. The Terrorism Suppression Act 2002, which allows the 
government to designate terrorists and terrorist 
organizations and to freeze their assets, had required that 
New Zealand's UN-related designations expire in October 
unless renewed individually by the High Court.  The 
amendment extends the expiration date by two years.  The 
amendment also creates a new legal sanction against those 
who knowingly collect or provide funds to benefit non- 
designated terrorist organizations.  The act already had 
made illegal the financing of terrorist acts and of 
designated terrorist entities. 
 
¶4. The government is considering additional anti-terrorist 
and anti-money-laundering measures, partly because its 
largely deregulated financial system has created potential 
loopholes that must be closed to meet international 
standards.  The government also has acknowledged a need to 
look at its procedures for designating terrorists (reftel) 
and has ordered a review of the 2002 law, which the Foreign 
Affairs, Defense and Trade Committee must complete by 
December 1. 
 
SWINDELLS