Peace activist and author Nicky Hager says the release of top secret government papers from the 1980s gives ordinary New Zealanders a rare insight into how intelligence agencies work.
The government is to investigate how the papers, revealing details of the country's intelligence programme when David Lange was prime minister, were leaked to the Sunday Star Times.
The private intelligence reports from 20 years ago were released to the newspaper by Archive New Zealand. They show that New Zealand spied on a number of countries including Japan, France, Pacific Island nations and the United Nations.
The papers also allude to a threat by the US government to spy on New Zealand if it did not change its anti-nuclear policy.
Hager, who has written on New Zealand espionage, says the papers provide a unique look at something most people know little about.
Hager says it is rare to see such detailed information come to light on communications intelligence.
Duty Minister Jim Anderton says while a formal inquiry has not been launched, officials will look into how the documents escaped security.
Anderton expects the report to be finished in the near future.
