I have recently written a paper assessing, over the last four years, changes that New Zealand has made since this topic of China's political interference has come into our public conversation.
What we have seen that has been effective is the public conversation, a series of of inquiries into our Parliament having these conversations, and that led to passing new legislation looking at the weak spots within our society.
I'd really highlight the legislation, because in some sectors there is a real tendency to say that we can fix it and that we don't want legislation because we don't want to offend China.
I will highlight that typically the universities don't want to have some kind of foreign FARA legislation, like the U.S. has, but we need these kinds of things. We need both legislation and the conversation about that sunlight being the best disinfectant, as they say, and we also need public awareness. If the public knows what is going on, they can also make good choices in their interactions.
The problem we have had is that our Minister for National Security has barely talked about the issues at all. That is our Prime Minister. You have to take the lead from the very top.
We also saw what happened to Australia, about how they started the debate first of all, and the bluntness with which it was raised perhaps was difficult.
What I would say is that you have the public conversation in Parliament, which is really important, because you have Hansard to protect people. Parliamentary privilege protects people in saying things that could be difficult outside Parliament. Then there's the media understanding the seriousness of the issue and legislation that will properly deal with the weak spots that China is exploiting.