Judith Collins keeps her cool as China spy revelations heat up – Audrey Young [Video]

OPINION

This is a transcript of Audrey Young’s politics newsletter. To sign up for this newsletter or Thursday’s subscriber-only Premium Politics Briefing, click on your profile at nzherald.co.nz and select ‘Newsletters’. For a step-by-step guide, click here.

Welcome to the Politics Briefing. The New Zealand Government today revealed that China was involved in a cyber hack of the Parliamentary Service and the Parliamentary Counsel Office (law drafters) in August 2021. The statement was co-ordinated with Five Eyes partners the United Kingdom, United States and Australia. Judith Collins, the Minister in Charge of the GCSB, issued the statement this morning and remained as cool as a cucumber as she talked to reporters about it.

State-sponsored hackers are not new in New Zealand. But as Prime Minister Christopher Luxonexplained, this is the first time a China-backed hacker has been identified breaking into the parliamentary system. The institution of Parliament sits at the heart of New Zealand’s democracy …