Charge Cameron Slater or let me hack systems

Written By: - Date published: 9:01 am, July 20th, 2015 - 107 comments
Categories: blogs, crime, Media, police - Tags: ,

Early last week I made a statement to and complained to the police about Cameron Slater paying Ben Rachinger to try to hack into my computers on the behalf of his mysterious “funder”.

I’d read the various bits of information that Rachinger has scattered across various parts of the net since early this year. It reads just like Cameron Slater 1, and many parts of what he displayed and gave to the police should have been easily independently verifiable – especially the unaccounted “donations” to Ben Rachinger.

I am absolutely certain that Cameron Slater did knowingly pay someone who to gain unauthorized access to my computers. Cam’s farcical PR written denials just read like his usual lying.

That means he and his “funder” were soliciting for someone to commit an offence under Section 249 “Accessing computer system for dishonest purpose and/or Section 252 “Accessing computer system without authorisation of the much amended Crimes Act 1961. While Section 249 is probably the most applicable because of the benefits and advantages that Cameron Slater hoped to gain from his agent’s work, Section 252 leaves very little room to argue.

252 Accessing computer system without authorisation

(1) Every one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years who intentionally accesses, directly or indirectly, any computer system without authorisation, knowing that he or she is not authorised to access that computer system, or being reckless as to whether or not he or she is authorised to access that computer system.

(2) To avoid doubt, subsection (1) does not apply if a person who is authorised to access a computer system accesses that computer system for a purpose other than the one for which that person was given access.

Note that these are the offences that whoever accessed the Cameron Slater’s systems last year will also face if they charged before a court.

For most of the data that Rachinger reports that Cameron Slater was after, and apparently thought that Rachinger had acheived,  would have been unauthorised. That is because on my systems they would require “super-admin” status on the website, something that only two people have, or a direct login to the machines which only I have.

That makes Cameron Slater and his funder chargeable under at least Section 311 “Attempt to commit or procure commission of offence (2). There are a very limited number of people who could have given Cameron Slater the information that he was reported as requesting.

311 Attempt to commit or procure commission of offence

(2) Every one who incites, counsels, or attempts to procure any person to commit any offence, when that offence is not in fact committed, is liable to the same punishment as if he or she had attempted to commit that offence, unless in respect of any such case a punishment is otherwise expressly provided by this Act or by some other enactment.

Now these aren’t the only parts of the Crimes Act that are applicable. They just seem to be the most applicable.

//—–

Cameron Slater is a serial offender at accessing other people’s systems for dishonest purposes and without authorisation. At present there are currently 3 known cases open on Cameron Slater’s computer related offending. They date back to 2011, have a still open complaint that dates back to early 2012, and yet shows no signs of either any charges being laid.

  1. In 2011, Cameron Slater, Jason Ede of John Keys parliamentary office and an unnamed IT tech at National party head office accessed files without authorisation on the NZ Labour party website. Far from being the innocent accident that he and National portrayed it as being at the time, subsequent revelations in Dirty Politics (pages 28-36) and the rawshark email dumps showed that they’d actively opened files and paid someone to open database files.What is quite clear from those sources is that this group were deliberately attempting to gain political advantage using this material (which makes it a dishonest purpose under Section 249) and that it involved clearly reckless, unauthorised,and repeated access to the Labour party computer system. This was part of a formal complaint by the Labour party to the police in December 2014 after the election.There appears to have been no outcome from this to date, more than 6 months afterwards.2The Labour party deserves some flak for not laying a complaint with the police in 2011. They generously chose instead to believe the public lies that Cameron Slater and the National party hierarchy were using in 2011.
  2. In 2012 Cameron Slater was given a hard disk and documents that are the property of Matthew Blomfield which he copied.The Crimes Act makes no differentiation between unauthorised access of information for a dishonest purpose on a hard disk or a networked computer. The source of these materials is currently the subject of a protracted legal appeals in a defamation case by Matthew Blomfield.What doesn’t appear to be under dispute is that Cameron Slater accessed this information and that he proceeded to use this material (at the very least) for the benefit of his website in constructing 87 posts partially or wholly based on the material from these sources until the a district court order in October 2012.A May 2012 complaint about the source of this material and the access to it was apparently ignored by police, and revived abruptly in October 2014 after the search warrant on Nicky Hager after Cameron Slater complained about him. The police appeared to have suddenly rediscovered that part of the law because they appeared to have used the same logic that they ignored on the initial complaint to obtain search warrants against Nicky Hager. There has been no apparent progress in this complain either. 3
  3. Cameron Slater’s hiring of Ben Rachinger to access my computers. This appears to have been the subject of complaints about it since at least February this year. No substantive action appears to have been taken that I am aware of has taken place.I finally got around to organising time to go into a police to make statement myself before they even contacted me, and it was my computer systems. WTF?

The obvious contrast of the effective lassitude of these police investigation of these computer related crimes is the abrupt search of Nicky Hager. That happened in October 2014, a few short months after Dirty Politics was released.

Only the police can answer why that particular complaint was acted on with such rapidity where other very similar complaints appears to have been ignored or have no apparent progress over long periods of time. However that abrupt action by the police is currently in front of a judicial review and awaiting a decision on the way that they applied for, conducted, and subsequently acted on those search warrants.

//—-

Now I think that for trying to procure an unauthorised access to my computers for what I consider to be a dishonest purpose, a repeat offender like Cameron Slater and his equally criminal funder should stand before a judge and preferably be imprisoned. If hackers are a irritating blight on the net  for most computer professionals, then their funders are even more so.

Sure I’m not exactly happy with Ben Rachinger either. But that is more for being a bullshit artist telling idiots like Cameron Slater and his unknown “funder”  what they wanted to hear.  But I’m really not worried about Ben Rachinger for another reason. As far as I can detect (see below) and after some extensive checks, Rachinger has never attempted to get into my systems at anything apart from the public level or beyond the background noise of the thousands of attempted hacks that my systems see every day.

Sure, I think that Ben Rachinger effectively scammed those suckers. They could always try complaining about fraud or a civil suit if they want restitution for their expenditure. But I suspect that the courts will take a dim view of them looking for payback on a criminal act.

//—-

The reason why I am sure that Rachinger didn’t manage to actually access my systems? Well that comes from my profession, skills and and experience. So here is a potted history 4

I am a 56 year old computer programmer who has been involved in programming and using computers since I first touched a HP21C programmable calculator in 1976. I have made a living off them since 1985/6 and effectively dropped out of doing management by 1991. I still spend about a quarter of my time learning new systems. That is just my profession, the one I get paid for. Most of the systems I have ever worked on have been networked targets for hackers. You develop a talent for not letting them access your systems.

I’ve also spent nearly 25 years being a volunteer political activist, much of that wielding a computer. That includes running this site.

So my systems have automated traps, notifications, scans, and logging on all levels on my systems for everything from logins to the traffic. The events that my systems flag as being more dangerous are routed directly to my cellphone. These include author logins from strange IP numbers especially for the social networking attacks by someone like Ben Rachinger.  Access to these monitoring systems is something that can only be obtained with my physical presence, my keys, and are limited to specific devices.

In other words it is damn unlikely that anyone apart from me can conceal their being able to access my systems.

While it is possible that someone could bypass all of that, but it’d cost a damn sight more and require skill levels way way above those that Ban Rachinger, Cameron Slater, or his mysterious “funder” appear to have.

//—-

But to to the point of the post, finally. As many people are probably aware, I think that Cameron Slater is a technological illiterate.

I am not. I’m pretty competent.

But the laws that bind me from hacking into systems are exactly the same as those that bind Cameron. Unlike that computer criminal, I actually obey those laws – both the ones that came in in 2003 and the ones that existed before but were made more explicit in 2003.

So if the police have no intentions of enforcing those laws protecting computer systems for irresponsible people like Cameron Slater who has been so clearly violating them, then shouldn’t they tell us?

Back before these types of laws and changes to university regulations came into being, responsible hackers used to routinely test the security on systems. It was something that I did throughout my first degree at Waikato starting in 1978.

Let me be free to access the systems I want to have a look into. I have the tools, the background in security and networks. I’d love to openly and freely hack into systems without legal retribution –  just like Cam does. I am sure that there are thousands of competent people like me in NZ here who’d enjoy doing that as well. There are several who are authors on this site.

Outside of the political sphere, there are way more non-political tech-heads who’d enjoy being given Cam’s apparent license against prosecution by the police. They would also like to remove themselves from the artificial and clearly unenforced legal restrictions that we currently voluntarily observe.

If the police don’t want to prosecute such crimes done by the irresponsible amongst us, then  why constrain the responsible?

So I ask Mike Bush and his staff to just give us a clear signal and many of us will.

A clear signal like not laying charges against Cam for clear violations of the Crimes Act would be sufficient.

After all, why should we leave the fun to well connected technological idiots like Cameron Slater and the fools that fund him?

dirty10


 

  1. After reading Cameron Slater for the last seven years he has a distinctive ‘voice’. It is so distinctive, that it is easy enough to pick out when someone else has been writing using his name or when he writes under other names on other sites. Or for that matter when he is lying, bullshitting, or blustering.
  2. I checked that nothing had actually resulted from this yesterday. Apparently Labour are hoping for a result soon. 
  3. Again I checked yesterday and there had been no result to date.
  4. As usual I can expect the ignorant, useless, and general fuckwits to attack my background with stupid slogans. Of course they are usually the people who appear to know very little about computer systems. Since I don’t expect such morons to read to the end, I will announce that I will permanently ban people raising that as an issue here unless they can point to something more specific than repeating Barnacle Bill’s “greatest sysop” line. Think of it as evolution in action.

107 comments on “Charge Cameron Slater or let me hack systems ”

  1. Charles 1

    The privileged do not announce the existence of privilege or how it works. That’s not the game. How would they claim moral superiority over their immoral actions if they did that? How would they blame their victims for events outside the victim’s control if they admitted that connections are what matters, that connections tilt the field in their favour; and that efforts, intelligence, reason, “earning it”, or the law, have little effect in outcomes or ascertaining the truth?

    The scary thing is that’s it’s not a Right/Left issue. It’s a power/no power/imbalance human issue. It’s fixable to certain degrees, with regards to the issues in the above article, but not easily eliminated from human interactions unless politics itself was to disappear forever.

  2. One Anonymous Bloke 2

    They’ll ignore it. You’l launch a private prosecution. The AG will take over the case, and screw it up, and Slater will escape justice a la John Banks.

    So long as the National Party has a say in who the AG is, their enablers are above the law.

  3. Detrie 3

    Nice article. Clearly if these laws are not going to be enforced, the job opportunities for us old geeks are interesting. To ensure we get preferential treatment, should my CV state we’re a paid up member of the national party or just a friend of the PM? I have no ponytail, so hope that won’t count against me.

    • lprent 3.1

      I am a friend of an ex-PM including when she was the PM. However she would have tossed me to the wolves if I’d done anything illegal. Unlike the current PM who seems to think that he should apologize when Slater gets caught lying.

      But I suspect your hirsute inadequacies are fine. I never had the hair for a ponytail myself.

      And who’d want hair in the places that Cameron keeps it?

  4. Anne 4

    The police are well aware they are not – I repeat NOT – to seriously investigate the com-plaints against Cameron Slater and his invisible merry men. In fact the ‘merry men’ might be the ones the police’s bosses want to protect. They will continue to procrastinate with excuses that these cases are very complicated and will not be completed for some time to come.

    A copy of your post has just been added to your police file. I heard the clonk. 😈

    • RedLogix 4.1

      Yes … no-one gives a rat’s patui about Slater. It would be the risk of all the threads unraveling during any discovery process which must be hosed down.

    • Chooky 4.2

      +100 Anne…however it is worth laying complaints with the police and registering the issue…these complaints add up ….and it is not a good look for New Zealand corruption wise if they are NOT investigated

  5. Pat 5

    what does Slater have on the powers that be that furnishes such a level of protection??

    • dukeofurl 5.1

      He formerly ran a security business ( before it went bankrupt) so he would have been ‘tight’ with constables and sergeants who would have risen up the ranks now.

    • tc 5.2

      Heaps, Cammy’s been around the upper echelons of National all his life with his daddy getting his fingers burnt by Boag … [Deleted. Potentially defamatory, TC, I can’t find anything that backs the allegation. Can you point me in the right direction? TRP]

      The last thing Shonky needs is Slater off the leash, that’s why he apologised to him and noone else.

      Cameron alone could sink NACT without trace if Hagers book was followed through on by our so called law enforcment authorities as he’d take others down with him.

      • dukeofurl 5.2.1

        That information about the Slater ‘pere’ and Boag bust up, and what was or wasnt found in the National Party Presidents office seems to have been ‘lost from googles memory’

    • Markm 5.3

      I guess the same as Nicky Hagar and the nameless Labour party luminaries involved in stealing his information.
      A bit rich to complain about attempted hacks on your computer when you condoned the successful hacks on skaters.

      [lprent: I have never condoned the hack on Cameron Slater’s system. If “Rawshark” can even be identified and charged, then he/she should be. But if Rawshark is prosecuted or even pursued by the police, then Cameron Slater damn well should be too for his two direct computer access offenses, and for trying to procure a hack of my systems.

      However I have previously said (or words to that effect) that the information from that hack is useful, illuminating, of high public interest, and Rawshark did a great service by bringing it to the surface from the disgusting sesspool of National’s dirty politics full of intimidation, planned blackmail, and the highly inappropriate linkages of parliamentary services work time to running attack blogs. Perhaps that is what confuses your simple mind.

      I don’t know of any known linkages between rawshark and Labour. My guess is that you are just repeating Cameron Slater’s well known unsubstantiated lying on the subject. FFS the idiot can’t even keep his story straight and generally refers to people who are even less technically illiterate than he is.

      Don’t raise it here again unless you can point to a credible source as it is defamatory. And please learn to think while you are on this site again. I really don’t appreciate your sub-moronic skills in trolling. ]

      • mpledger 5.3.1

        Nooone here has supported Rawshark in his hacking. However, we respect Hagar’s lawful right as a journalist to write about the corrupt workings of our government.

      • Sacha 5.3.2

        You have evidence that Labour party people were involved in hacking Slater? Do share.

      • Simon Johnston 5.3.3

        False equivalence – what a surprise. Hager didn’t solicit what he was given, for one. And the Labour Party have nothing to do with any of this. What’s more, if you had bothered to read the article, you’d know that those of us who do pay attention are well aware of Rawshark’s crimes, and understand that he ought to be in prison too. The same time that Cameron Slater should face. Because that is the law.
        But sure, I know – reading is hard. Avoiding reality is necessary, I suppose, when you need to make stuff up to defend your hero’s criminal behavior.

  6. rod 6

    The police are not known as, the boys in blue, for nothing, Anne.

  7. ianmac 7

    I would have thought that police would subscribe to justice being seen to be done.
    Good hunting Lyn.

  8. infused 8

    The police don’t give a fuck about anything apart from protecting their own.

  9. Marty 9

    I can feel your frustration. But it should be abundantly clear that the police is the last place you are going to get redress. The school tie / funny handshake network always looks after its own. One thing I do find odd. If you’re going to lay a complaint about Slater, then how can you possibly not include Rachinger? He took the money. And even though you haven’t seen any signs, are you going to take his word for the fact he simply scammed Slater out of some cash?

    The whole thing smells of Rachinger changing sides along the way. In fact, both he and Slater sing off the same song sheet there. I know you have a hard on for Slater, but as you say, he can’t even type a sentence without a typo, let alone hack your system. He needed help. And there is no way that Rachinger would have been billing him repeatedly for nothing at all. Slater isn’t that stupid.

    Slater is no threat. Rachinger remains one. Are you trying not to poke the bear that can, after all, still do damage?

    • Anne 9.1

      Why is Rachinger a threat? Sure, he’s young and he did some silly things (including getting involved with Slater in the first place), but in the end he went along with the deal in order to be able to accumulate evidence. That was quite a brave thing to do. We all know Slater is such a consummate liar he even manages to convince himself he’s telling the truth. A well known symptom of a sociopath.

    • lprent 9.2

      One thing I do find odd. If you’re going to lay a complaint about Slater, then how can you possibly not include Rachinger? He took the money. And even though you haven’t seen any signs…

      Why would I lay a complaint against Rachinger? He doesn’t appear to have actually done anything to me or my systems. By the sounds of the bullshit he was feeding Slater, he doesn’t appear to have even have bothered. That means he didn’t do a s249 or a s252 offense against my site or me.

      I don’t think that Rachinger is actually likely to be a threat against any competently run computer system. He’d probably be useful to hire if people needed to know if their people could be sweet-talked into providing information that they shouldn’t. That appears to be his specialty – that of a salesperson.

      However Slater may pay someone more capable or competent next time. That makes him and his funders the persistent threat. Did you actually read or notice the wording of section 311?

      Every one who incites, counsels, or attempts to procure any person to commit any offence, when that offence is not in fact committed, is liable to the same punishment as if he or she had attempted to commit that offence, unless in respect of any such case a punishment is otherwise expressly provided by this Act or by some other enactment.

      Merely by paying someone to do a s249 or s252 offence, he is deemed to have done that act himself regardless if it was actually performed or not. So did his “funder”. The things he requested that Rachinger would do would have required access to my logins because there is no other way to get robust data that would stand up in even in media at any other level.

      That would have been completely unauthorized and an offense under s252

      It is also quite clear that Slater was after it to get benefit and advantage for himself, his website, and presumably his funder and the National party. That is a offense under s249

      Cameron Slater should be locked away from society for our protection. He has a clear pattern of repeatably doing this kind of offense and others. About the only thing that he seems to respond to (if you look at his history on names suppression contempt of court convictions) is being told that he will be heading to prison if he persists. Since he just transfers to some other illegal activity, it is pretty clear that he desperately needs prison time to understand what that means.

  10. Chooky 10

    +100 Good Post

    re “So if the police have no intentions of enforcing those laws protecting computer systems for irresponsible people like Cameron Slater who has been so clearly violating them, then shouldn’t they tell us?”

    ….this question needs to be asked/hammered in Parliament:

    …who is protecting us from Cameron Slater and his law breaking?

    …who is protecting Cameron Slater?

    …where does the law stand on this?…is the law an ass?…is the law being broken with impunity?…if so this is corruption…who is answerable for this corruption?

    • Anne 10.1

      On a related note is the revelation someone’s been investigating Rodney Hide. In his case it sounds like corporate-backed activity but Hide is upset and, having been through a similar process years ago, I understand his distress. It’s a frightening ordeal especially when you don’t know exactly why it’s happening and who is responsible. He will probably ultimately discover someone has been made a malicious claim about him.

      Whatever… its disturbing that non-authorised persons can spy on and, in some cases, terrorise others with apparent impunity from investigation and prosecution.

  11. Brigid 11

    Having made your complaint, what are the next steps we should expect from the police?
    If they appear to be dragging the chain, perhaps we should all make a complaint, given that Ben Rachinger claims he was paid to hack your servers which hold our private data.

    If the cops think it’s just a he said/he said argument, tracing the source of the payment Rachinger received shouldn’t be. The following argument about what the payment was for would be interesting.

    • Kevin 11.1

      If the cops think there’s a reasonable chance they’d find something to support the complaint they will execute a search warrant, like they did with Hager:

      https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1314343-police-search-warrant-in-nicky-hager-raid.html

      • Puckish Rogue 11.1.1

        Well Lprent says hes absolutely certain so surely that must be good enough for the cops

        • lprent 11.1.1.1

          Yep.

          Of course that Rachinger voluntarily went to the cops when he realized how illegal the actions that Cameron Slater and his funder were asking for will probably be weighing with them as well. It certainly does with me. Doesn’t mean that I don’t think he is a bit of a little shithead of course…

          But as I pointed out further up, the police have a very good case against Cameron Slater and his funders under s311 for trying to procure these offenses to be done.

          I’d happily take over the file if the police are unwilling to prosecute and run the case against him. I’m sure that raising money for it will have a lot of backers. Just the thought of Cameron in prison for several years will have them flooding bank accounts.

          Of course it’d be preferable if the police would just do their damn job, quit pissing around, and lay charges on all on all of these clearcut cases.

          • Puckish Rogue 11.1.1.1.1

            In your opinion of course but I guess you could lay a complaint with the IPCA if you’re not happy

            • lprent 11.1.1.1.1.1

              Why would I bother? The police just ignore them anyway.

              Nope – straight to the courts without wasting further time.

              • Puckish Rogue

                Let us know how that works out for you

                • Paul Campbell

                  going to court in a private prosecution would probably work really well …. lprent would get supoena power over Slater and his backers ….. and unlike the police he likely wouldn’t feel obliged to protect the politically connected

                  • lprent

                    I never feel any reason to protect the politically connected. When I am irritated, they tend to hear my opinions one way or another.

                    But since outside of the political blogs I don’t get irritated by much, this usually isn’t an issue for most people except in design meetings.

                    But there is a welcome glut of time and tedium in running a blog that helps me with getting irritated and expressing myself in english. I have to say that I seem to write english a lot better when I am irritated.

                    When I am calm I write code. 🙂

                    However a private prosecution would be work. Therefore I’d be a lot more motivated, deliberate, persistent, looking for leverage and quite ruthless. In other words in my best development / bug hunting behaviour.

                    The police and the crown prosecutors would probably be a much better option for Cameron Slater.

                    • Paul Campbell

                      yes my point exactly …. and I do understand a private prosecution would be a giant pain

            • Anno1701 11.1.1.1.1.2

              “lay a complaint with the IPCA’

              you mean the Impotent Police Complaints Authority ?

              BBBahahahahhhhahahwahahahhwhahhhahahahahahahahhhhhahaha

              snort

              hhhhawhwahababahahahwhawhahabbbbahahahahaha

              etc etc….

          • Anne 11.1.1.1.2

            Of course it’d be preferable if the police would just do their damn job, quit pissing around, and lay charges on all on all of these clearcut cases.

            Ahhh no. These cases are very complicated. The police said so. What they didn’t say was why they were complicated. When you have the “PM’s Office” leaning over you from afar and when you have a police hierarchy who might owe their positions to that “Office”, I guess things can get a little complicated.

      • lprent 11.1.2

        The time that they should have done that was back in Feburary when I believe it was reported to them AND when Cameron Slater probably still had that stuff hoarded on his computers. I bet that he doesn’t now. But it is unlikely to be needed to make a successful case.

        The raid on Hager as far as I can tell appears to have been a miserable failure. It was executed months after the materials they were ostensibly been after had already been excised – and on an encrypted file system that means really scrambled. Personally I suspect that some police and other agencies just saw an opportunity to pick up other information.

      • keyman 11.1.3

        they only executed a warrant on Hager to find out what Hager had on police
        we have powerful corrupt elite who don’t like opposition or threats to there interests

        • Kevin 11.1.3.1

          The police would have applied to a judge to get the search warrant and they would have had to have had sufficient reason for the judge to ok the search warrant.

          In other words, stop with the conspiracy theory crap already.

          • lprent 11.1.3.1.1

            Have you looked at the details of the judicial review on the details about how the police sought that search warrant? I think that there is a link to it up in this post somewhere.

            It was just last week and we are still waiting for a decision on it.

            There were a bunch of lawyers arguing before a judge in Wellington that the information for the search warrant was incorrect (ie that the police had misinformed the person issuing it), that it was poorly executed, went well past the bounds that it should have during its execution, and

            The crown lawyers seem to have even conceded several of the arguments during the review.

            Perhaps you should wait for the result of the judicial review before concluding that the police acted lawfully.

            In other words stop being a ignorant fool talking out of your arsehole.

            But I suspect that is unlikely as you you appear to keep your brain in your ballsack and your thoughts appear to escape through the nearest loudmouthed exit.

            • Kevin 11.1.3.1.1.1

              Hey, I’m not the one throwing around accusations of police corruption and being under the control of the government. What I see is a combination of cop arrogance and incompetence. And nowhere did I say the police acted lawfully – all I’m saying is that without proof otherwise you can’t throw up accusations they acted unlawfully.

              “Perhaps you should wait for the result of the judicial review before concluding that the police acted lawfully.”

              Perhaps we should both wait before concluding either way.

              I’m actually surprised that your lawyer(s) even let you do this thread (you did get legal advice, didn’t you?). I can see at least a few statements you’ve made that go beyond opinion and are potentially defamatory if you’re not able to back them up with solid facts instead of speculation. And you can bet you’re ass Cameron Slater will be reading this thread.

              • One Anonymous Bloke

                😆

                *opens popcorn*

              • lprent

                You need to read what I write a bit more carefully. I certainly don’t say the things that you are trying to insert into them. That is your rather rather slow brain trying to see a broad pattern in a complex mix.

                Sure I do use the political implications as a goad. But that is merely because they offer a very easy alternate explanation that the police (and hopefully the government) desperately don’t want to get established in the public mind.

                But the police are conservatives at heart. They appear to run any kind of computer related crime way way down on their priority lists. It is outside their comfort zones. That is something that they need to get over. Computer crimes really aren’t that hard to detect or handle.

                The police also have a order problem. They are noticeably faster off the mark prosecuting activists who wish to peaceably change the current order than they are to those wanting to use the current order against other people. Usually they get damn stupid about it. See the Hager raid for a pretty good example. But their raids around NZ in 2007 were even better. A couple of paranoid fuckwits in the wrong place in the police and a ridiculous fantasy ensues.

                These factors sometimes causes some quite ridiculous variations in how they treat the same offences. When combined with their computer crime habits, it gets glaringly obvious. I’m highlighting that.

                I’m highlighting it rather strongly because the alternate explanation that you are wound up about is so glaringly obvious that even you can see it. And feel uncomfortable about it.

                There are no apparent reasons why Cameron Slater shouldn’t be charged on one or all of the charges I’m proposing for the reasons that are outlined in the post.

                There is sufficient case for a court to make a decisions on. But as the months go by the police are winding up with giga files of information that don’t add anything new to the underlying questions.

                Courts are now the best place to do that investigation and the determination of the legal questions in. I don’t think that waiting a further 6 months in investigating each of these three charges will add anything.

    • lprent 11.2

      …what are the next steps we should expect from the police?

      More of a statement than a complaint. The original complaint was very early in the year and not by me.

      It appears to have been dragging on for nearly 6 months now.

      • Brigid 11.2.1

        Right
        When do we start raising money for you to bring a civil case.
        I think, I really do think, we all do far too much talking and not enough acting.
        Nows the time to bloody act.

  12. adam 12

    I think this is just another case of laws – good people don’t need them, bad people will break them anyway.

    Because quite frankly Lprent, I don’t believe you would do anything nefarious just for the fun of it. I think that is what fundamentally divides you, from the likes of Slater and co.

    Personally I’m liking this, anything the police, and the national party can do to discredit the system, works for me. And the longer they look corrupt, the more people will question their right to rule – again works for me.

    • lprent 12.1

      I don’t believe you would do anything nefarious just for the fun of it…

      During my first university degree (BSc started 1978), I used to find the security holes in the minicomputers and tell the sysops where they were. By the time of my second degree (MBA started 1985) at a different university, looking for them was an offense that you could be expelled for. During the 80s, various laws went into the Crimes Act about computer access as well.

      Of course in my paid professional life I spend a whole lot of time trying to crack into the systems we are building and selling. Everything from cracking into the hardware to read data to taking advantage of the quirks of algorithms. That is part of a programmers life. Especially when you are reviewing the systems someone else in the company has been building. For many of the secure devices like point of sales systems, that is a mandatory part of the testing processes anyway.

      I may not wave a soldering iron and scope like the electrical engineers. But I am an expert in giving myself rights and privileges that I don’t have across multiple operating systems, sneaking in monitors, and crashing programs artistically to my advantage. It is part of the job.

  13. G C 13

    Charge him I say. People in New Zealand received criminal records for much less. Make an example of him – send him to a Serco run prison. #WhaleOilFightClub

    • AsleepWhileWalking 13.1

      Brutal… #WhaleOilFightClub

      Perhaps the Police are taking their time, getting the case just right in preparation to charge him? Or just overwhelmed by workload at present? He is clearly at high risk of repeat offending (and then breaching the privacy of good law abiding citizens in disagreement with his political views).

      • lprent 13.1.1

        I suspect that the police don’t have anyone particularly skilled in the area of computers on the charging side. They should probably just present it to whoever the the crown lawyers are this year and let them make a decision on the charging.

        For me it seems pretty obvious that he should have already been charged for all of the three complaints.

  14. Keeping an eye out 14

    a few thoughts to consider.

    1. Rachinger is under going drug treatment and has been spotted at a facility in Dominion Road Auckland. Given his apparent mental health issues i would suspect that any complaint / statements made by him are taken with a grain of salt by the Police, so that includes his claims RE hacking your site. Fanciful accusations seem to be how Rachinger operates as he tries to be a somebody rather than a nobody like he really is. From where I sit Rachinger stuffed himself with the twitter claim of “I am Rawshark” and he was subsequently fired from his riole at Freed – a loose canon that nobody needs. His payback is telling tall stories that make him look like he is some hacker guru.

    2. Blomfield has been told (i have seen the Police file) that the HD in question has never been stolen, and in the Police file, Blomfield is noted as saying that he understands that position and acknowledges the Police are never going to take it further. And that has been the position on the said HD from the start. Blomfield never owned or paid for it. He has in fact when looking at it, been telling the Courts lies for quite some period of time with regard to his claims the Police are investigating when they are not, and have not been for quite some time. The IPCA has also investigated and found NO case to answer.

    So looking at what you have rasied, perhaps the issues lay with the fact that neither Rachinger nor Blomfield are credible, believeable, honest, decent or trustworthy.

    [lprent:

    1. There was ample documentary evidence and traceable transactions. That is all that is required.

    2. Not what I understand from Blomfield after talking to him last night (see the footnotes). That is a claim made by Slater frequently, and not backed by anything.

    But look at the sections of the crimes act again. They are for accessing computer systems (which include media). As far as I am aware Slater in his court documents has conceded that the information on the hard disk and documents was Blomfield’s private information that he copied and then accessed. Slater would have to prove that he was authorized to access that information – something that he is avoiding to do by divulging the source of them and how they came into posession of it.

    3. And that still leaves the Labour party hack…

    Basically I think that you are quite confused, ignorant, and don’t understand much about law. Perhaps you should avoid listening to Cameron Slater. It is not good while in your fragile and credulous state. ]

    • Kevin 14.1

      So Rachinger and Blomfield are highly unreliable witnesses in other words and anything they’ve said should be taken with a big grain of salt.

      • Lord Donkey 14.1.1

        Well above does not make particularly great reading for either of them wouldn’t you say Kevin?

        [lprent: If you twerps are going to set up a self-referential trolling, then use your brains about it. Write something intelligent. Especially you. ]

        • Kevin 14.1.1.1

          Not trolling. I know nothing about Rachinger and Blomfield and was trying to clarify what “Keeping an eye out” was saying.

    • Bob 14.2

      3. From my understanding, the data accessed on the Labour website was publicly published information, how Cameron Slater found out about the information is a different story, but it is the Labour parties job to not leave personal data sitting on the internet sidewalk for interested passers by to read it. Reading publicly published information isn’t illegal, otherwise you would be taking a risk every time you open a website or search on Google!

      • One Anonymous Bloke 14.2.1

        Your understanding is limited.

        • McFlock 14.2.1.1

          In so many ways…

        • Anne 14.2.1.2

          Very limited. Cameron Slater and friends helped themselves to details of Labour Party membership lists without permission. This is an unlawful act. As far as I’m aware it included names and addresses including email addresses. He planned to publish at least some of the data but it never eventuated. Presumably he was warned about the legal consequences.

          That such a list ended up in that criminal’s hands was bad enough. What made it worse was the fact Labour chose to take no action. Their later excuse that it was an election year and they didn’t want to rock the boat doesn’t wash with me. Members and supporters were left in a vulnerable position and who knows what Slater and co. did with that list and how much potential trouble might have been caused. They have laid a complaint with police now but that’s of little comfort because the evidence will have long been destroyed.

          • lprent 14.2.1.2.1

            They have laid a complaint with police now but that’s of little comfort because the evidence will have long been destroyed.

            Against Slater they have pretty good evidence. He was stupid enough to login from his static home IP. That gave them a pretty unique ID on his old Mac, which they then linked to the other accesses.

            The logs showed every file that he downloaded. That in itself is certainly sufficient for a s249 conviction.

            However the rawshark captures also showed what he intended to do with those files. That is sufficient to show a dishonest purpose and gain him a s252 conviction.

            About the only defence that Slater would have is to try to attack the validity of those bits of the evidence. From what I heard Labour were meticulous in collecting their evidence. And I rather suspect that Cameron’s little stash of blackmail material that rawshark extracted will pass a judge without much of a problem.

            I will be interested in what the police come back with.

            • Anne 14.2.1.2.1.1

              Thanks for that lprent. It certainly is comforting to know that Labour appears to have made up for it’s initial lack of action.

    • Jeez, Keeping, try to sound less like a Dirty Politics henchman, it’ll help the smears go down so much easier.

      • odot 14.3.1

        But…..but……smearing is all the henchmen know. When things aren’t looking good for “your side”, smear! Attack the persons integrity, their family, their colleagues, and eventually they will cave in..

  15. dukeofurl 15

    “…has been spotted at a facility in Dominion Road …”

    How convenient. Sounds a round a bout way of saying they are keeping close tabs on him and use ‘a spotting’ to cover the fact his movements are monitored.

    “…he was subsequently fired from his riole at Freed –” Now look who is being fanciful, as its just big dream in Slater’s imagination

    News Editor
    Chief Reporter
    Production Editor
    Filing Editor
    Political Editor (Wellington based)
    Senior Reporters
    Junior Reporters
    Data Journalists
    Sports Reporters
    Drone Operators
    Video Editors
    Camera Operators
    Office Administrators
    Receptionist
    Personal Assistants
    Graphic Designers
    IT Support

    Antonio LENTINO
    1232 Sh1 Rd2, Wellsford, 0972 , New Zealand

    having a former deputy editor from the Herald stable who was fired for dealing in P doesnt a internet news operation make.

  16. Chris 16

    Don’t refer to him as Cam. Sounds endearing, as if despite disagreeing with every political view the sub-human buffoon holds there’s still a degree of professional respect for him. I’m sorry, but no. The guy deserves nothing but disdain. Cam? No, no way. You might as well have a bike race with him and get your photo taken with your arms around each other.

  17. Kevin 17

    Has Cameron ever been prosecuted and found guilty of computer related offences? If not then shouldn’t you be using the word “accused”?

    [lprent: Opps – just noticed that this was addressed to me

    Yes. He was “convicted” on about 10 counts of contempt of court for breaking name suppression orders using a computer. The various judges were quite vehement that they was a computer related crimes. Something about having a blog on a newtworked computer did not mean that he was exempt from their authority.

    Needless to say Cameron was full of piss and wind about how he was standing up for the freedom to speak, right up until he was in front of a judge with the option to bang him into prison.

    Then as usual he turned out to be a craven purse dog saying how we wouldn’t do it again. One eyewitness I talked to was apparently surprised that he didn’t have puddle beneath him.

    Then his published comments outside the court afterwards probably wouldn’t have endeared him to any judge.

    Besides, in these three open complaints, he hasn’t made it to “accused”. I think he is currently more a “suspect” ]

    • Yes, he has. He’s was convicted of using a computer to breach a court suppression order.

      • Kevin 17.1.1

        So naming someone on your blog that has name suppression is a computer-related offence in the sense of what we’re talking about here??? Okay.

        • te reo putake 17.1.1.1

          Yep. It’s using a computer in the commissioning of a crime. That’s the question you asked and now you have your answer. The Standard; educating the right since ages ago.

          • Lord Donkey 17.1.1.1.1

            I believe TRP that Kevin is meaning the naming recently on this site of the 50 year old blogger that has name suppression and LPrent allowed a guessing game where the accused name appeared.

            • lprent 17.1.1.1.1.1

              One of the many problems with name suppression are

              1. That they don’t tell me whose name is being suppressed if I am not in court. So I have no idea whose name I am meant to suppress.

              2. Name suppression orders do not prevent people from speculation on who it is.

              This means that I will limit when I know who it is and tell the other moderators. Something which both violates the order and rather obviates the purpose of the order in the first place.

              Normally we will stop people who are trying to state that they know who it is with a name (which clearly violates a known suppression order and rules here about verification), or who clearly start hinting with clues (which violates rules here about verification). Both are behaviors we can suppress.

              I’d point out that you are a known problem for your habits to do with the second under a number of handles.

              But if you don’t like this then rather than being a lazy and useless critic, go and reform the suppression order laws so it works in social media world.

            • Kevin 17.1.1.1.1.2

              I meant that I’m surprised that anyone would consider that a computer related crime in the current context.

              • One Anonymous Bloke

                Well the current context is that charges haven’t yet been laid in this case, whereas in the other they were, and the verdict was ‘guilty’.

                The failed attempt to commission the crime isn’t a computer-related offence per se. It’s not like the perp has the technical nous to do the hack himself.

        • Chris 17.1.1.2

          Do you see even a smidgeon of hypocrisy or a double standard in the cops deciding to charge Hager but leave Slater alone? Isn’t this more the issue?

          • Kevin 17.1.1.2.1

            One difference is that Hager, using the stolen info he got (which he claims dropped on his lap) , wrote a book that got a LOT of media attention.

            • McFlock 17.1.1.2.1.1

              So does slater’s bullshit.

            • Chris 17.1.1.2.1.2

              So is writing a book that got a lot of media attention the test for whether the cops prosecute? FFS.

              • One Anonymous Bloke

                What Act would Hager be prosecuted under, Chris?

                Please enlighten us all with your special legal knowledge.

                • Chris

                  Yes, okay, should’ve said looking to charge Hager, which the cops are certainly wanting to do. Something they’ve got no intention of doing to Slater.

              • dukeofurl

                Apparently so.
                Slater wasn’t prosecuted for using Blomfields stolen hard drive

                Slater wasn’t prosecuted for accessing (and skiting about it) Labour party database

                • [removed]

                  Thats because Blomfields HD was not stolen. You can’t be prosecuted for a crime you did not do – unless of course the cops are trying to fit you up – and i hold plenty of evidence of that on several cases. One that includes the murder of a school boy. Cops have stated that, and Blomfield in Police memos confirms that he knows there are no charges being laid. Blomfield never owned the HD, as in never paid for it. If he did where is the receipt? The HD was the property of someone else. And that someone clearly believes Blomfield is a danger to the business community at large – so the stories are newsworthy (the Editor decides that) to warn the unsuspecting public. Its a defamation case FFS – so lets see how Blomfield provides truthful, reliable evidence with witnesses who will back his account of where the money went etc. Until then its just a vessel to attack Slater.


                  LPrent – you have stated above that you spoke with Blomfield just yesterday and that you / he believes that the cops are investigating – that so, which cop, what rank, what station – then we will know if its true. Until then i will rely on the OIA / PAR information i have obtained.

                  [lprent: Banned permanently.

                  I thought that you were subject to orders that don’t allow you to write this kind of material on this case.

                  But as importantly for this site, parts of this comment are likely to be defamatory. Other parts relate to yourself while writing under a pseudonym and your real identity not known to others on the reading the site which is something you may not do.

                  Other parts relate to an ongoing court case and as far as I am aware are not public information in that case, and you have not sourced to such public information.

                  I give a lot of room. However this comment stepped right over the legal edge at several levels. ]

              • Kevin

                Nope. Just mentioning it as a point of difference.

    • McFlock 17.2

      Thanks for your concern.

    • dukeofurl 17.3

      Dont forget Slaters background in thuggery ( before he was running a blog)

      he was involved in the notorious ‘throwing down the stairs’ event when a ticket holder was ejected from an election meeting held By Jenny Shipley in Auckland.

      Brownlee was convicted ( a private prosecution) but Slater was one of ‘Brownlees brownshirts’ on this occasion.

      “In the District Court at Auckland Native Forest Action campaigner Neil Able has been awarded $8500 in damages against National MP Gerry Brownlee for being manhandled out of a National Party meeting.”
      http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0203/S00109.htm

      Brownlee had the nerve to stiff taxpayers for his fines:

      “Mr Brownlee said he was acting in his capacity as a junior whip when he took on the task of removing Mr Abel.

      “In hindsight, I would have thought ‘oh well, I’ve got this big bill, I may as well see what is possible’. But quite clearly it wasn’t appropriate.”

      He had sent a request for reimbursement to National leader Bill English in 2001, one month after the rule was introduced.

      He sent a subsequent set of invoices in May 2002 after the court case, including one for $13,375 for damages and costs to Mr Abel.

      http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10636760&pnum=0

  18. NZJester 18

    Every day that ticks by the likely hood that Cameron could destroy evidence is getting higher. Recovering it by forensics would also be getting harder and harder.
    Labour needs to ask the minister responsible why the police have chosen to selectively apply the relevant laws in these cases!

    • McFlock 18.1

      well, if someone held his hand he might be able to destroy evidence competently.

      But I doubt it.

      He probably thinks “empty recycle bin” would do the job…

      • NZJester 18.1.1

        Give it enough time and it might as eventually parts of the deleted data might be overwritten a number of times by other data making retrieval harder and harder.

  19. whateva next? 19

    I would at the very least like to know what exactly Ede and Slater intended to do with Labour membership details? Cannot think of a single legitimate excuse, have they ever been asked?
    and agree with all in the post thankyou Iprent

    • lprent 19.1

      It is in page 33 of Dirty Politics.

    • Anne 19.2

      Well, as I said earlier on this post Slater was planning to publish some of the data they had captured. In other words, he was going to “out” people for being members of the Labour Party as if being a Labour member was tantamount to being a closet communist or some such dastardly thing. He would have been warned of the legal consequences of such a move so nothing was revealed.

      But one thing of which you can be certain… copies of the data would have been distributed to various Nat luminaries (Judith Collins for starters) and sympathetic media types and one copy would have ended up in John Key’s top drawer. It is likely to still be there.

      Edit: oh and Jason Ede would certainly have a copy.

      Now I will re-read p33 of Dirty Politics. 🙂

      • whateva next? 19.2.1

        I will have to dig out my copy! I still ask why “being a member of the Labour Party” is something to be “outed” as though it is a crime, or something to be ashamed of, I am very proud of it akshully Mr.Key if you are reading this.

        • lprent 19.2.1.1

          Cameron Slater, particularly then, had a habit of pursuing people he doesn’t like into their private lives. To their work, bosses, and workmates. The idea as far as I could see was usually to simply harass by lying copiously while having a few facts to add on as cherries.

          That is why I have absolutely no compunction in returning his previous attentions, but do it in a more fact based way. I figure that he has earned some of my sustained attention over very long periods of time whenever I see an opportunity. I consider it to a duty to help in providing for a community deterrence against his emulators in his patented types of foolishness.

          It is the dirty politics dividend…

          • Anne 19.2.1.1.1

            Cameron Slater, particularly then, had a habit of pursuing people he doesn’t like into their private lives.

            Remember this:

            http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2012/01/not-involved/

            Slater claimed it was from his tip line but it was more likely Slater stalking Shearer then trying to suggest something untoward about Shearer’s meeting with union boss Gary Parsloe.

          • whateva next? 19.2.1.1.2

            Yes, schoolyard bullying in my book, and thankyou for standing upto this ridiculous behaviour, grueling as it must be.

  20. Akldnut 20

    I wonder if having my Linkedin profile looked at by someone at the Sunday News 26th Feb 2015 had anything to do with it?

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    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    5 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    6 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    6 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    12 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    14 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    15 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
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