Rt Hon Winston Peters
Minister of Foreign Affairs
22 June 2006
Nats misleading on counter-terrorism lists
Only four groups on a list of terrorist entities who would face serious criminal sanctions in Australia are not
designated as terrorist organisations in New Zealand, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said today.
"National security is far too important to play politics with, and the National Party has simply been seeking cheap
headlines by making confusing comparisons of different lists," Mr Peters said.
“Mr McCully's claim that Australia has designated 88 more terrorist groups than New Zealand has is misleading. The fact
of the matter is that Australia designates terrorists through two lists, while we do it through a single list.
"Australia maintains one list for the purposes of implementing asset freezes on terrorists. It has another, shorter
list, of 19 entities to apply stronger criminal sanctions – for example, for participation in a terrorist group.
"New Zealand uses a single list of designated terrorist entities and individuals to apply the full range of
anti-terrorism sanctions, including criminalisation of participation in and recruitment for a terrorist group, as well
as asset freezes.
"Fifteen on the Australian list of 19 are designated in New Zealand, despite Mr McCully's assertions. The remaining four
are Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hamas' military wing, Hizballah's military wing, and the PKK (Workers' Party of
Kurdistan).
“New Zealand and Australia have different processes, but we work towards the same goal and we coordinate our
counter-terrorist work very closely."
Mr Peters said New Zealand had not yet designated terrorist entities beyond those specified by the UN because that was
not a step to be taken lightly.
"Officials have been preparing advice on designation of non-UN-listed groups. Once the advice is complete, the
government will give it careful consideration.
“We take our international counter-terrorism obligations very seriously. We are respected internationally both for our
contributions to the campaign against terrorism, and our work to help strengthen the counter-terrorist capacity of our
Pacific neighbours.
"Ironically, Rayed Mohammed Abdullah Ali is not on either of the Australian lists of designated terrorists and terrorist
organizations," Mr Peters said.
ENDS