EDITORIAL: The granting of New Zealand citizenship to American billionaire Peter Thiel raises questions about whether the processes for cases such as his are transparent enough. A small number of applications for New Zealand citizenship which do not meet normal criteria, and would otherwise be turned down, are approved by the Minister of Internal Affairs under discretionary powers in Section 9(1)(c) of the Citizenship Act. READ MORE:* Internal Affairs ordered to release more details on Peter Thiel* Thiel a 'great ambassador' for NZ - despite keeping citizenship secret* Peter Thiel is a New Zealand citizen. Those who worry about privacy concerns should consider that, by law, the gift of New Zealand citizenship is intended to be a public matter. Even though citizenship ceremonies are required to be public, access to the register into which new citizens’ names are entered is very limited.

Source: Stuff July 03, 2017 16:52 UTC