How many scandals before NZ acts on Foreign Interference?

MEDIA RELEASE | 30 June 2026 | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The resignation of an ACT Party candidate following revelations about links to a Chinese political organisation is not an isolated incident. It is the latest warning that New Zealand remains dangerously exposed to foreign political interference.

Jian Yang. Raymond Huo. Now another political figure. Different circumstances, different parties, but the same uncomfortable reality: New Zealand continues to discover potential foreign influence after the fact instead of preventing it through transparency.

PILLAR Executive Director Nathan Seiuli says the country is trapped in a cycle of outrage followed by inaction.

"Every few years another story breaks. Politicians distance themselves. The media moves on. Nothing changes." said Seiuli. "Foreign governments don't stop trying to influence democracies simply because we'd rather not talk about it. They exploit the gaps we leave open."

PILLAR says the solution is already on the table.

Earlier this year the organisation unveiled its Foreign Interference Transparency (FIT) Bill, legislation requiring those carrying out political influence activities on behalf of foreign principals to publicly disclose those relationships.

Not because every relationship is improper. Not because every foreign connection is suspicious. But because the public deserves transparency before questions become scandals.

"The issue isn't whether influence exists. Every serious democracy accepts that it does. The issue is whether New Zealand has the courage to expose it."

Australia has a Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme. The United States has the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The United Kingdom has introduced its own Foreign Influence Registration Scheme. New Zealand still has nothing.

"We are one of the Five Eyes partners, yet we remain one of the weakest when it comes to transparency around foreign political influence. That's not leadership. It's complacency."

The FIT Bill is deliberately country-neutral, politically neutral and ethnicity-neutral. It does not target Chinese New Zealanders, nor does it prohibit engagement with foreign governments. It simply requires transparency when foreign principals seek to influence New Zealand's political and governmental processes.

PILLAR is calling on MPs from every political party to stop waiting for the next scandal and start fixing the system.

"This isn't an ACT problem. It wasn't a National problem. It wasn't a Labour problem. It's a New Zealand problem." Said Seiuli.

"The question isn't whether there will be another foreign interference controversy. The question is whether Parliament will finally act before it happens."

ENDS

Media Contact | Nathan Seiuli | +64 21 485 449