12 June 2006

GCSB Director to become head of SIS

Prime Minister Helen Clark announced today that Dr Warren Tucker is to be appointed as the new Director of Security, heading the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service.

Helen Clark said Dr Tucker, who is currently the Director of the Government Communications Security Bureau, is an experienced public service manager with a wide knowledge of New Zealand’s intelligence and security issues.

“Dr Tucker has a distinguished record as a public servant, with a particular focus in the security and defence areas.

“He has the skills and experience necessary to lead and manage the NZSIS, which is a key agency in New Zealand’s intelligence and security infrastructure,” Helen Clark said.

Dr Tucker will start in his new role on 1 November 2006. The present Director of Security, Richard Woods, will be retiring on 31 October 2006.

Dr Tucker has been the GCSB’s Director since 1999. Prior to that, Dr Tucker worked as Intelligence Co-ordinator in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and held a number of senior management roles at GCSB.

In the 1980s, Dr Tucker was based in Washington as First Secretary in the New Zealand Embassy. He has also served as an army officer in the Royal New Zealand Corps of Signals, and is currently the honorary Colonel Commandant of the Corps.

He has a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) and PhD in Electrical Engineering.

Media Statement From Dr Warren Tucker

“I welcome the challenge of serving as Director of Security for the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service.

“As a career intelligence officer who has spent nearly 25 years working in New Zealand’s intelligence and security agencies, including over six years as Director of GCSB, I have been privileged to have had the opportunity to be part of a number of important operational and capability initiatives. My time at GCSB has been a source of immense personal and professional satisfaction. I look forward to making the transition to the NZSIS in November.

“New Zealand is well served by its intelligence and security services. In this unsettled world, our national and sovereign interests depend on being well-informed, and remaining alert to changing circumstance and fresh dangers.

“I am proud of my staff at GCSB and of my colleagues at NZSIS. As a community, we have worked hard to establish our agencies as internationally-regarded organisations, with a reputation for delivering results well beyond our small size.

“I will make no further public comment on this appointment until I take up my role in November.”

ENDS

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