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Story: Intelligence services

Protests against the NZSIS Amendment Bill 1977: picketing Parliament

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Protests against the NZSIS Amendment Bill 1977: picketing Parliament

The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service Amendment Bill 1977 aimed to expand the SIS's powers to intercept private communications. The bill attracted large-scale protests during its passage through Parliament, including this protest ‘embassy’ in Parliament grounds. As well as picketing Parliament, protesters targeted the SIS headquarters in Taranaki Street, Wellington.

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Alexander Turnbull Library, Dominion Post Collection (PA-Group-00685)

Reference: EP/1977/4072

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Peter Clayworth, Intelligence services – The Cold War, 1945 to 1984, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/34075/protests-against-the-nzsis-amendment-bill-1977-picketing-parliament (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Peter Clayworth, published 29 May 2012.