Waihopai spy station, Marlborough. Part of the GCSB which despite legislation prohibiting it from spying on New Zealand citizens or permanent residents has been doing exactly that on behalf of the Police and the Security Intelligence Service.
Left wing activist and former Green politician Sue Bradford posted an article at Pundit which I’ve just seen. She shares several valuable insights. I recommend you read it.
A bad week for left activist paranoia
by Sue Bradford writing at pundit.co.nz
Army to gain new powers over protesters; GCSB spies on New Zealanders; new single government data hub planned… Is Aotearoa en route to Orwell’s 1984?
I’ve made a lifelong habit of trying to stay out of the discourse on spying and security issues.
Since my earliest involvement in radical left activity in the late 1960s, I’ve been put off by those amongst us who seem to spend more energy on police and security issues than focusing on our collective kaupapa and actions.
Not that there isn’t a place for expert analysis. I’ve always been grateful to people like Barry Wilson, Nicky Hager, Murray Horton and Keith Locke – and others – for undertaking the research, keeping a close eye on what the bastards are up to and doing something about it on a regular basis.
However, I think it’s a specialty. For the majority of us to spend our precious activist time in a paranoid whirl can be personally, organisationally and politically destructive.
Although, I hasten to add, there are times when paranoia is totally justified. You only have to look at the public record in relation to the state’s actions around the Urewera raids and arrests, or the Rob Gilchrist infiltration saga, to get a glimpse of the secret and not-so-secret surveillance state in action.
Any radical left activist organisation which doesn’t take into account the potential – and actuality – of state surveillance in various forms isn’t doing its job properly. But on the whole, I think we just need to be aware of the possibilities, stay calm, and take appropriate action when needed.
However, developments over the past week are starting to shatter any sense of composure on my part. …
Read on at pundit.co.nz
Here’s John Minto, like Bradford a left wing political activist — and therefore likely a target of state surveillance — writing in the NZ Herald.
It’s a good article (read it here: Don’t give the GCSB more powers – shut it down) which canvasses the frankly-hard-to-believe (but NOT impossible-to-believe) explanation that the GCSB somehow misunderstood the practical effect of the legislation forbidding the bureau and its staff from spying on New Zealanders and permanent residents.
And this passage seems particularly salient to the international secret agency aspect:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10878136