New Zealand appoints spy agency acting head

The New Zealand government has appointed a new head for its controversy-prone spy agency.

Deputy Solicitor-General Una Jagose had been appointed acting director of the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) from Feb. 28, Minister Responsible for the GCSB Christopher Finlayson said in a statement on Tuesday.

Jagose will take over from Ian Fletcher at the end of this month, who will leave after a three-year tenure overshadowed by accusations of illegal spying and politicization of the intelligence services.

"Una Jagose has a reputation for hard work and delivering results," Finlayson said in a statement.

Fletcher, who is leaving for "family reasons," had led the implementation of a review of the GCSB's activities after it was found to have illegally spied on more than 80 New Zealand residents and citizens before 2012.

A statutory review of the intelligence agencies is due to start this year and is expected to herald changes to the GCSB and the domestic spy agency, the Security Intelligence Service.

The brother of an old school friend of Prime Minister John Key, Fletcher had held senior public service roles in Britain, Australia and New Zealand before he was controversially picked by Key to lead the GCSB.

Fletcher was in charge when the government passed a controversial law in August 2013 to extend the spying powers of the GCSB, so it could spy on New Zealand citizens and residents.

In the run-up to the general election in September last year, U. S. National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Edward Snowden claimed the NSA had unfettered access to all New Zealand electronic communications, aided by the GCSB. Endi