There’s no need for me to dwell on this disgrace. There’s plenty of coverage.*
“Of course I apologize to Mr Dotcom. I apologize to New Zealanders …”
— Prime Minister John Key (MP3 file here)
Sometimes being the Minister in charge of the ‘intelligence’ services is a real let-down.
I doubt that Mr Key is enjoying his work day at the moment. What a waste of Brand-Key this is.
– P
*Here’s the list from Bryce Edwards’ NZ Politics Daily round up today.
Spying on Dotcom
Adam Bennett (Herald): Key on the back foot as Opposition leaders twist knife
Adam Bennett (Herald): Civil liberties are at stake: Dotcom lawyer
Kirsty Johnston and Ian Steward (Stuff): Dotcom’s lawyers question police statements
The Press: Editorial – Dotcom mistakes
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Cops knew Dotcom’s status before raid
Graeme Edgeler (Public Address): Kim Dotcom: Questions and Answers
Edward Gay (APNZ): Top secret review ordered for Dotcom documents
Waikato Times: Editorial – NZ: 51st state of the US
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Dotcom spying worry for business
Brian Rudman (Herald): Keystone Cops too busy bowing to FBI demands
John Armstrong (Herald): A farce upon farce reaching to the highest level
Ian Steward and Kirsty Johnston (Stuff): Expert to make Dotcom spy data decision
The Southland Times: Editorial – Crusading against Kim
Edward Gay (APNZ): Dotcom judge ‘concerned’ about spying
Toby Manhire (Listener): Kim Dotcom, a NZ resident: GCSB didn’t know, but US did?
The Jackal: Spooks – a law unto themselves
No Right Turn: Does the GCSB tell their Minister anything?
No Right Turn: Did the police lie under oath in the Dotcom case?
Danyl Mclauchlin (Dim-Post): No surprises please
The Standard: Will Key read the GCSB report?
Adam Bennett (Herald): Dotcom saga sucks in leaders, police, spies
Newswire: English and Key face attack over Dotcom
Jane Clifton (Stuff): Drop, cover and hold, John
Andrea Vance (Stuff): More detail in court on Dotcom spy debacle
Scott Yorke (Imperator Fish):No Sympathy
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): A theory with the GCSB case
Tova O’Brien (TV3): Too soon for blame over Dotcom spying, says Key
Gordon Campbell (Scoop): On Dotcom, spies and plausible deniability
Dom Post: Editorial: Spying is a betrayal of trust
No Right Turn: It was the police’s fault
No Right Turn: How often do our spies do police work?
Claire Trevett, Adam Bennett and Andrew Koubaridis (Herald): Police blamed for Dotcom spying scandal
TV3: Campbell Live – Who kept GCSB’s Dotcom spying secret from Key?
And, you can be sure we haven’t heard the last of it.
As stated elsewhere I would be more impressed if Key apologised for giving this chump residence in the first place.
With his rap sheet (listed on Kiwiblog) there is no way anywhere else in the world would have accepted him in the first instance.
Well except HK on payment of $ which if you do some research is notable for spying on its own citizens. But they do it more competently.
Forgetting the incompetence of NZ authorities in actually getting caught spying on a guy merely to prove where he is (ask his neighbours as he seemed prominent enough when home) I ask why hasn’t the political left investigated the abuses by the SFO and IRD of their powers in the past decade as they do request for this man?
And in the midst of the fawning no journalist has asked how much NZ company tax Megaupload paid in the first instance (I suspect none as NZ has a 4 year exemption for new immigrants if they structure their affairs in a certain way). In HK we do not tax on non-HK source income so I suspect he blocked HK IP’s from accessing Megauploads site not for IP reasons but to avoid HK taxes as well.
Nothing wrong with this but I wish every New Zealander would get in behind people like this in my industry who wished to jurisdiction-shop to get better tax results! That’s all.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Cathy. I bow to your greater professional knowledge of immigration and taxation rorts. (Don’t be bashful about linking to your post ‘elsewhere‘.)
I hadn’t read David Farrar’s post (link) in which, it seems to me, he alternates between darkly smearing Kim Dotcom with what you call a ‘rap-sheet’ and white-washing the (best-case:) incompetence of minions in the NZ state security apparatus all the while dispensing his typical apologia for the National government.*
Funny that David describes Mr Dotcom as a ‘fantasist’ (seemingly unaware of the irony of citing IAN WISHART in support!) then in the next breath soft-pedals ‘NZ law enforcement agencies’ and their ‘culture’ as ‘shall we say too overly enthusiastic, and not cautious enough’ … I loved David’s self-awareness too: (“We all want to be James Bond to some degree”). I agree with this:
Immigration is a fraught area containing inconsistencies, corruption, deceit and counterintuitive decisions. It seems pretty clear NZ residency is a commodity for sale. But we’re not alone in that, are we?
I remember chatting to a cabbie in Singapore and it transpired he’d just returned from a visit to his daughter in Canada, having just attained his ‘PR’ (permanent residence) there. Of course, my next question was: ‘So why aren’t you in Canada? How come you’re here in Singapore driving a cab?’ In response, he talked about having set up his Canadian residency as a bolt hole … but he could make more money in SNG … and it didn’t suit him yada yada.
Where I live in Howick we have a sizable Chinese ex-pat community (‘Chowick’ was our suburb’s nickname when I moved here in the mid 1990s). I remember former National MP Grahame Thorne talking to me in Meadowlands about ‘the slopes around here’ and my genuinely not understanding what/who he was talking about until the penny dropped. #unimpressed
In my experience that community, like any, has its share of good and bad eggs. People are people. I love the entrepreneurial flair of some I meet like my friend Paul Young who organises concerts in Auckland for HK teenybopper pop stars. I’ve learned from observing his approach and talking with him about my own businesses. There’s a bustling world that most Kiwis don’t even see.
re Your question “why hasn’t the political left investigated the abuses by the SFO and IRD of their powers in the past decade as they do request for this man?” What? Do you realistically expect that? (Are you thinking of Mark Hotchin, BTW? Or Chch Dave Henderson?)
God knows there have been plenty of immigration scandals throughout the last decade with Bill Liu only the latest.
– P
* Update: to be clear: I don’t blame John Key for this balls-up. It’s the police that called in GCSB, as you say, for trivial matters. And Bill English’s lack of a heads-up for Mr Key was not a factor. The damage was done by then. Good work on Dotcom’s lawyers’ part. Kudos.
Wait for it…..
When there’s smoke there is fire with Key stating he knew about GCSB later than he actually did.
Come on Peter start another non sequitur posting.
I guess you’re talking about this?:
Key forced to admit misinformation
http://www.3news.co.nz/Key-forced-to-admit-misinformation/tabid/370/articleID/271357/Default.aspx