National security risk or not?

How can Prime Minister Helen Clark ever again expect to be believed when she claims New Zealand faces a security risk? ACT Justice spokesman Stephen Franks asked today.

"National security issues are traditionally dealt with on a bi-partisan basis in Parliament," Mr Franks said.

"Either Ahmed Zaoui was a security risk or he was not. If he were, the Prime Minister would have had the votes in Parliament this week to plug the gap in our law that the Supreme Court claimed to have found. Instead, Parliament has been debating the Civil Union Bill under urgency.

"If Mr Zaoui was not a risk why has Helen Clark flushed away $2 million and two years of credibility? Why should any court believe her in future?

"Our Prime Minister has humiliated New Zealand's security intelligence services. The woeful case conducted for the Attorney-General by Crown Law can only be attributable to hopeless instructions.

"The saga has reinforced the message to militants the world over that we are a soft touch, first shown when we volunteered to take the Tampa refugee queue jumpers," Mr Franks said.

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