- Posted June 06, 2008
- Media Releases
Background
In 1975 William Ball Sutch, a former Secretary of Industries and Commerce, was tried and acquitted of charges under the Official Secrets Act 1951. Ever since, there has been considerable interest in and speculation about the information held by the NZSIS relating to Dr Sutch.
Until now the NZSIS has declined numerous requests made under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA), refusing for security and privacy reasons to release any of the information held about Dr Sutch. One of those denied access to the Sutch file exercised the right under the OIA to complain to the Office of the Ombudsmen. That Office recently completed a lengthy investigation and review of the matter, including a thorough examination of all the Sutch records, and the NZSIS has accepted a recommendation made by the Chief Ombudsman to release selected papers.
The NZSIS recognises the public interest in the Sutch case. Of the information proposed by the Office of the Ombudsmen for release, a significant amount has been able to be declassified. Some information must be withheld, however. This is because security issues remain (in particular, the NZSIS has been declined permission to release some key liaison service reporting) and there are some privacy sensitivities.
The most significant NZSIS document to be released is a Target Assessment dated 30 May 1974. Click here [PDF, 1.7 MB] to see this document. The faintness of a number of the other documents makes it difficult to present them in a readable form on-line, and the Service will provide copies of these documents on request.
Clarificatory Statement
The Chief Ombudsman has requested that a clarificatory statement accompany the release of the Sutch papers. This is designed to ensure that what is made public does not give a misleading impression of the totality of Service holdings on Dr Sutch and follows a precedent set by the Office of the Ombudsmen during an earlier release of information about another person. The statement describes some classified liaison service material, which cannot be disclosed because of its sensitivity, linking Dr Sutch with the Soviets.
Click here to see this statement.
Related Document – Sir Guy Powles’ Top Secret Report
In the aftermath of the Sutch trial, the then Chief Ombudsman, Sir Guy Powles, conducted an investigation into the NZSIS at the request of the Prime Minister of the day. Sir Guy’s unclassified report, presented to Parliament in July 1976, contained an Annex detailing his enquiries into allegations against the NZSIS relating to the Sutch case, some of which he described as being of “a very serious character”. He recorded that his enquiries had satisfied him that there was “not a shred of truth in any of these allegations”. In his covering letter to Mr Speaker, Sir Guy referred to his report to the Prime Minister as containing comments and material some of which was classified as “Top Secret”.
The Chief Ombudsman and the Director of Security are agreed that the time has now come for Sir Guy’s Top Secret report on the Sutch case to be declassified and made public. This release is consonant with an important principle of the NZSIS’s archives policy, that the Service will deal disinterestedly with information, regardless of whether it reflects unfavourably on the Service or shows the Service in a good light. In fact, the Service was sharply criticised by Sir Guy in the Top Secret Annex. It was partly as a result of this criticism, and recommendations made by Sir Guy, that Parliament passed legislation in November 1977 making legal provision for the interception or seizure of communications.
Click here to see an introduction by the Office of the Ombudsmen and a copy of Sir Guy Powles' Report