A truncated select committee process is not a good look for legislation which relates to police powers. Instead of the usual six weeks for submissions on the Policing Amendment Bill, there will, by our reckoning, be three weeks and six days, with two of those days public holidays. The joint report revealed officers had poor grasp of privacy law, even though that law has been around since 1993. Accordingly, they had to meet a higher standard than members of the public taking photos in a public place. Privacy Commissioner Michael Webster has described the safeguards in the Bill as setting a low bar.

Source: Otago Daily Times March 29, 2026 17:03 UTC