Greenwald on the GCSB

Written By: - Date published: 12:06 pm, September 13th, 2014 - 155 comments
Categories: john key, national - Tags: , ,

Key resignation

Glenn Greenwald is in the country and has created a splash by alleging on TV3 that the GCSB is heavily involved in spying on our neighbours as well as engaging in mass surveillance of ordinary New Zealanders.  Greenwald is the reporter who was trusted with the Edward Snowden data, taken from the NSA in America.  No specifics have been released yet.  No doubt some details will be released during Monday night’s Kim Dotcom meeting.

The Herald reported last year …

Prime Minister John Key says he and the head of GCSB would resign if the spy agency were found to have conducted mass surveillance.

He made the comment to reporters at Parliament in the light of assurances that the changes to the GCSB Act 2003 would not mean mass surveillance of New Zealanders.

Asked if he and GCSB chief Ian Fletcher would resign if there were mass surveillance, he said yes.

“But the facts of life are it won’t happen.”

It will be interesting to compare this statement with the Greenwald revelations.

Stuff has reported on the interview.

“The government made a variety of statements in connection with the new spying law that it wanted and was enacted last year to try and assuage the fears of New Zealanders about what the government was doing, including  things like we don’t engage in mass surveillance and we don’t target New Zealanders indiscriminately unless they’re involved in terrorism or cyber crimes and the like.

“And one of the things we wanted to do was investigate the truth of those statements and do the reporting that would let the New Zealand citizens know whether or not their government deceived them about what their spy agencies are doing and I can tell you – although I can’t tell you what the reporting is yet – I can tell you there are serious questions about whether the current government was at all truthful with its citizens in connection with that bill.”

Greenwald commented on the use of metadata by the Government.

Greenwald said he knew for certain that the New Zealand government engaged in “extraordinary amounts of analysis of metadata”. ” Meaning whose talking to who, for how long, where they are when they speak, on a massive indiscriminate scale not just internationally but of New Zealanders as well.”

New Zealand spent an “extraordinary amount of resource” for a country its size on electronic surveillance and “every single thing that the NSA does…involves NZ directly. They are full fledged allies of this effort.”

Of further concern is the potential effect the revelations may have on relationship with foreign nations.

“New Zealand spies on a variety of countries on behalf of the US.  That’s the reporting we are still working on,….but I can tell you for certain….the NSA is incapable of accessing certain countries because of hostile relations they have with those countries and they use a variety of allies including New Zealand to spy on those countries for them.”

Asked if that might include China, Greenwald responded: “The GCSB spies on both hostile countries and allies for the US and the United Kingdom as well. Countries that probably New Zealanders would expect…..and [others] New Zealanders would say ‘why are we spying on countries like this in a western democracy’?’.

The TV3 video is not up yet but I will add it when it appears.  Meanwhile Twitter is having a lot of fun.

https://twitter.com/stephanierodgrs/status/510567583901171712

https://twitter.com/Megapope/status/510565391832055808

https://twitter.com/keith_ng/status/510571057246265344

 

155 comments on “Greenwald on the GCSB ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. karol 1
    13 September 2014 at 12:13 pm

    I wonder how much Team Key knew or guessed that Greenwald may be dumping something explosive on Monday?

    The reason Key will only debate for a half hour against Cunliffe?

    • Anne 1.1
      13 September 2014 at 12:35 pm

      And the reason for the black ops campaign… to so discredit the opposition parties and Cunliffe in particular that the sheeple will go into denial even if it’s revealed John Key is a secret NSA/CIA agent sent back to NZ to lay the ground work for a complete US takeover of the country. Oops… its already happening – TPPA.

      • cogito 1.1.1
        13 September 2014 at 12:46 pm

        As per the well known quote: ‘There are none so blind as those who will not see. The most deluded people are those who choose to ignore what they already know’.

        Describes the majority of Kiwis unfortunately…

      • Rosie 1.1.2
        13 September 2014 at 12:49 pm

        Lol Anne, I was joking yesterday about NZ becoming another state of the USA perhaps being the thing that Key is referring to when he comes out with that most curious statement “We are on the cusp of something very special”

        • Rich 1.1.2.1
          13 September 2014 at 1:21 pm

          That would imply citizenship. I don’t think Key would think that suitably ‘cusp of something special’ for most of us. No, I would be thinking plantation rather than senate or congress.

          • Rosie 1.1.2.1.1
            13 September 2014 at 1:42 pm

            Hence the joking Rich.

            Jokes aside, Key has repeated this phrase twice (at least to my ears). When you consider the Nat govts eagerness in regard to TPPA, the passing of the GCSB and TICS Act’s last year and the selling of our employment legislation to Hollywood, “being on the cups of something special” sounds incredibly ominous.

            I would be sincerely interested in what Key means by this statement.

    • phillip ure 1.2
      13 September 2014 at 12:49 pm

      the shitstorm should be at tornado-level by wed..

      ..if everything goes as hoped..

    • Rosie 1.3
      13 September 2014 at 1:50 pm

      “I wonder how much Team Key knew or guessed that Greenwald may be dumping something explosive on Monday?”

      Exactly, one can’t but help wonder.

      I had initially thought that three debates was adequate and wasn’t going to watch the last one, but everything could change by then and the discussion may deviate drastically from it’s original intended path.

      Maybe Key will even pull out all together if Monday night’s evidence/information is damning enough? Really hoping the info is absolutely rock solid, and there is no way he can squirm his way out of it in his usual flippant manner.

      What a strange time our small young country finds itself in.

      • Zorr 1.3.1
        13 September 2014 at 7:36 pm

        If Glenn Greenwald is involved, it’s his credibility on the line. He is the consummate journalist and I seriously doubt he would risk his professional career over something that wasn’t completely rock solid.

    • bearded git 1.4
      13 September 2014 at 3:17 pm

      Cunliffe should publicly offer to debate the GCSB issue for the extra half hour

      • ExStatic 1.4.1
        13 September 2014 at 4:10 pm

        Cunliffe has a big problem. This was going on well before this National government. Previous Labour governments have done exactly the same and Cunliffe has been a minister.
        Only the Greens can be relied on to cut this spying out.

        • Tracey 1.4.1.1
          13 September 2014 at 5:05 pm

          clark was mi ister in charge of sis and gcsb and by all accounts, unlike key she didnt delegate.

          Cunliffe can only be pm with the greens. He cant just keep the status quo and this is one thing i dont believe the greens will compromise

        • phillip ure 1.4.1.2
          13 September 2014 at 6:26 pm

          @ exstatic..

          ..i agree that this didn’t start with key..

          ..labour have their justified degreee of fear over what greenwald might reveal..

          ..the greens and internet/mana are the only ‘clean’ parties..

          ..the only ones who can be relied upon to reform..

  3. dv 3
    13 September 2014 at 12:28 pm

    I means my office?

  4. cogito 4
    13 September 2014 at 12:36 pm

    Anyone know if the Dotcom “Moment of Truth” on Monday is going to be livestreamed?

    Also, on same topic, the Radio Live interview with Robert Amsterdam is worth listening to http://www.radiolive.co.nz/Kim-Dotcoms-The-Moment-Of-Truth-pre-show-interview-with-lawyer-Robert-Amsterdam/tabid/506/articleID/54477/Default.aspx

  5. Tom Gould 5
    13 September 2014 at 12:46 pm

    Even if some chook somewhere has Key on tape saying directly and unambiguously, and in context, and with witnesses with signed affidavits, that he will resign, the Tory machine will already be primed and ready to dissemble and obfuscate and character assassinate, full noise. The spied-upon public don’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell.

    • yeshe 5.1
      13 September 2014 at 2:22 pm

      Let’s recall the obsequious ‘they’ said that about the nuclear ships coming in as well, until they didn’t.

      If Kiwis discover and see it proven that Key has been underarm bowling to them this whole time, NZ will rise and turn on anyone associated with it, with no mitigating factors. It’s what we do.

      We have seen it before, and I pray to see it again.

      • Tracey 5.1.1
        13 September 2014 at 3:50 pm

        dont be so sure, many kiwis believe this idea of nothing to hide nothing to fear so look at my emails…

        • yeshe 5.1.1.1
          13 September 2014 at 4:46 pm

          I agree many believe that .. but a majority didn’t and protested before the new law passed. I think if the deception is proven ? Very different story then.

          Have we become trained to absolute apathy ? Ugh.

          My vain hopes again coming through … let’s see what this way comes in the next couple of days …

          We might get to see some major squirm and deny !!

      • Mike 5.1.2
        13 September 2014 at 4:44 pm

        “NZ will rise and turn on anyone associated with it, with no mitigating factors” Wishful thinking I’m afraid. Kiwis just don’t do what you say they do. If they did we would have already seen this after the Slater affair.

        The NZ and the western public in general are almost completely brainwashed by the phony war on terror, and the loss of privacy associated with the eternal vigilance needed to protect our freedoms and democracy, blah, blah, blah. Hope you’re right though!

        • yeshe 5.1.2.1
          13 September 2014 at 4:54 pm

          Mike — look on the ‘Slater affair’ as the kindling and fire starter giving hot glowing embers to what is being stoked here. There is an unease ready to explode imho.

          The nuclear free issue was the same … no way ever it was going to happen for the whole country, just impossible to imagine … until the Rainbow Warrior was bombed in Auckland, and the country united in a heartbeat that has never trembled. ( Brash tried and was eggy all over the face by lunchtime !)

          I really hope you’re wrong and I am right on this one !! Cheers 🙂

  6. phillip ure 6
    13 September 2014 at 12:53 pm

    for those interested..i have been a greenwald fanboy for a very long time..

    ..so my greenwald archive is extensive..and stretches back for quite a few yrs..

    http://whoar.co.nz/?s=greenwald

    greenwald was one of the first to sound the alarm about the upcoming great financial crash..

    ..and he and roubini..and a couple of others..are how/why whoar was not far behind them in issuing those warnings..

    ..(i have six plus pages of greenwald links..

    ..and my first link to greenwald was in feb 2007..)

  7. Rolf 7
    13 September 2014 at 1:10 pm

    That New Zealand is operating as a spying agency for the US spying on China and Chinese business is well known in China, as well as that New Zealand is covering up past bloopers and misdemeanors in China. Even WINZ send out forms for Chinese pensioners who moved back to China and receiving Super in China requiring them to spy on relatives and report income and assets and relationships. This is creating an increasing animosity towards New Zealand and its export, similar to the historical hatred towards Japan, and it is anchored on grassroots level. Don’t buy products from these US lackeys and Quislings. It I poison.

    [lprent: That is an assertion without any backing. You are placed on auto-moderation until you either provide a link to some credible backing or I put you on a permanent ban after a few days.

    I see that you have made similar unbacked assertions before about other topics. Perhaps you should read the policy. ]

    • weka 7.1
      13 September 2014 at 1:21 pm

      “Even WINZ send out forms for Chinese pensioners who moved back to China and receiving Super in China requiring them to spy on relatives and report income and assets and relationships.”

      Fairly serious accusation that needs some kind of back up.

    • ianmac 8.1
      13 September 2014 at 2:56 pm

      Thanks OOB. Watched all 3 interviews. Greenwald credible. Cunliffe credible not on Greewald. Key not on Greenwald but very shifty and drifted all over the place.
      Be very interesting Monday night.
      But the National lot with the help of GCSB and interested parties in FBI will have a plan to combat Greenwald. They will have some nasty stuff lined up to discredit him. The Dirty Tricks Brigade have too much to loose.

  9. Valleyman 9
    13 September 2014 at 1:35 pm

    Key will claim its all lies & a left wing conspiracy also claiming the left are trying to smear the govt. I wonder how his mate Obama will take to being called a liar by key.

  10. Paul 10
    13 September 2014 at 1:44 pm

    … easy for Key …. what do you mean by mass survellience? … childs play for him to wiggle out of this

    …. the real concern (although not Keys concern) is the undermining of privacy and therefor democracy

    • yeshe 10.1
      13 September 2014 at 2:34 pm

      It wasn’t me; ekshully, it was my office at the end of the day ….

      Seriously, I think he has used up his ‘wiggle’ room with NZ .. let’s see.

  11. Bill 11
    13 September 2014 at 1:53 pm

    From ‘the Herald’ on 3rd Dec 2013 –

    Prime Minister John Key yesterday sought another assurance from GCSB director Ian Fletcher that the spy agency had not been involved in wholesale collection of metadata on New Zealanders – and was given it.

    As Greewald has pointed out in his interview on ‘The Nation’ this morning, the crucial word in the above is ‘wholesale’ as that would mean collecting absolutely everything. So, the GCSB and Key can honestly say there has been no wholesale collection of metadata.

    However, on the question of mass collection or widespread collection or indiscriminate collection….

    • Tracey 11.1
      13 September 2014 at 3:04 pm

      So the minister responsible for nothing cos he delegated it all, might just throw fletcher under the bus…

      I mean a spy boss who lies.. Whodathinkit

    • weka 11.2
      13 September 2014 at 6:27 pm

      I wouldn’t take wholesale to mean absolutely everything. My dictionary says things like extensive, widespread, mass.

      But yeah, expect Key to pull out his own dictionary.

    • Molly 11.3
      14 September 2014 at 11:42 am

      He’s also left himself another “out” with:

      “Prime Minister John Key yesterday sought another assurance from GCSB director Ian Fletcher that the spy agency had not been involved in wholesale collection of metadata on New Zealanders – and was given it.”

      The GCSB does not have to get involved with the collection of data, if the other members of the Five Eyes Network is doing it for them.

  12. cogito 12
    13 September 2014 at 1:53 pm

    Key has described Greenwald as “[Kim] Dotcom’s little henchman”.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10495738/Snowden-docs-prove-GCSB-spies-on-Kiwis-Greenwald

    Key is slowly but surely digging his own grave.

    • Sable 12.1
      13 September 2014 at 2:28 pm

      Almost a little like one of those tedious IQ tests:

      “Greenwald” is to “Dotcom” what “Keys” is to:

      (1) A monkey
      (2) A turnip
      (3) Obama
      (4) Nixon

    • BLiP 12.2
      13 September 2014 at 2:57 pm

      Dotcom’s little henchman

      I’ve mentioned it before and I will be mentioning it again . . .

      Tory Ideology 101: When confronted with undeniable facts and/or irrefutable logic, apply ad homs

      . . . unfortunately, the fallacy is seldom exposed by the MSM. Still, it is a good indication that John Key has nothing else to fall back on. Usually, he just lies and smiles, leavng the injection of filth into the narrative to the likes of Cameron Slater and David Farrar.

    • Tracey 12.3
      13 September 2014 at 3:10 pm

      wouldnt it be cool if a reporter asked by way of follow up

      ” henchman as in slater does your dirty work..or something else?”

    • weka 12.4
      13 September 2014 at 6:28 pm

      “Key is slowly but surely digging his own grave.”

      Who thinks Key already has his bags packed?

  13. BLiP 13
    13 September 2014 at 2:16 pm

    . . . I can tell you there are serious questions about whether the current government was at all truthful with its citizens in connection with that bill . . .

    Huh? There can be no question about whether National Ltd™ was lying to us in connection with the GCSB bill, and related matters. The serious questions should be about how extensive that lying was and why John Key gets away with it. Here’s a sampling of his lies on the topic to date . . .

    Iain Rennie came to me and recommended Fletcher for the GCSB job

    I told Cabinet that I knew Ian Fletcher

    I forgot that after I scrapped the shortlist for GCSB job I phoned a life-long friend to tell him to apply for the position

    I told Iain Rennie I would contact Fletcher

    I haven’t seen Ian Fletcher in a long time.

    I did not mislead the House (13)

    I have no reason to doubt at this stage that Peter Dunne did not leak the GCSB report

    I called directory service to get Ian Fletcher’s number

    the new legislation narrows the scope of the GCSB

    the GCSB has been prevented from carrying out its functions because of the law governing its functions

    because the opposition is opposed the GCSB law ammendments, parliamentary urgency is required

    the increasing number of cyber intrusions which I can’t detail or discuss prove that the GCSB laws need to be extended to protect prive enterprise

    it was always the intent of the GCSB Act to be able to spy on New Zealanders on behalf of the SIS and police

    National Ltd™ is not explanding the activities of the GCSB with this new law

    cyber terrorists have attempted to gain access to information about weapons of mass destruction held on New Zealand computers

    the law which says the GCSB cannot spy on New Zealanders is not clear

    it totally incorrect that the Government effectively through GCSB will be able to wholesale spy on New Zealanders

    we self identified that there was a problem with the GCSB spying on Kim Dotcom

    the illegal spying on Kim Dotcom was an isolated incident

    The advice I have had in 4 years as a Minister is that in no way ever has there been an indication of unlawful spying

    the Ministerial Warrant signed by Bill English did not cover anything up

    I wasn’t briefed about the raid on Kim Dotcom’s home.

    first I heard I heard about Kim Dotcom was on 19 January 2012

    first I heard about the illegal spying on Kim Dotcom was in 17 September

    I did not mislead the House (14)

    I won’t be discussing Kim Dotcom during my Hollywood visit.

    The Human Rights Commission couldn’t get its submission on the GCSB legislation in on time.

    it would cost too much to for the police and SIS to carry out the spying on New Zealanders that this new legislation will permit

    critics of the GCSB legislation, including the Law Society, the Human Rights Commission, and the Privacy Commission, are all uninformed

    no, I did not mislead the House (15)

    I do not know how Mr Henry is conducting the Enquiry

    no, I did not mislead the House (16)

    the Henry Enquiry had permission to view Ministers’ emails

    no, I did not mislead the House (??)

    we do not spy on journalists

    the passing of phone records to the Henry Enquiry was an error on the part of a contractor

    I wasn’t aware that my own Chief of Staff was instructing Parliamentary Services to hand over information concerning journalist Andrea Vance

    National Ltd™ has never tried to impinge on the role of the media

    I had nothing to do with information on a journalist being handed over to the inquiry into the leaking of the GCSB report

    the terms of the enquiry made it clear to everyone that it was only the phone records of parliamentary staff and ministers that were to be provided

    I have the utmost respect for the media and the role it plays in New Zealand’s democracy

    the Henry Enquiry did not access a journalist’s building-access records

    the Henry Enquiry did not ask for phone and email records

    no, I did not mislead the House (17)

    the Greens are opposed to the GCSB and the SIS even existing

    the GCSB needs to spy on New Zealanders because there are al-Qaeda terrorists in New Zealand

    the GCSB is not sharing meta-data with the NSA

  14. Sable 14
    13 September 2014 at 2:26 pm

    Oh well no surprise really. I’m sure Labour will be quick to put a stop to it if elected…..LOL

    • Tracey 14.1
      13 September 2014 at 2:57 pm

      if the only way labour can govern is with help from the greens, they will have to change it… LOL

  15. b waghorn 15
    13 September 2014 at 2:42 pm

    Considering a large portion of our countries income comes from Asia , if the gcsb / key are spying on them it’s a hell of a gamble just to please the yanks

    • phillip ure 15.1
      13 September 2014 at 2:59 pm

      they did say that monday nites’ reveal will create international headlines…

      ..and i wd guess they wd be detailed/proven revelations of our spooks/govt. spying on our friends/allies/trading-partners..

      ..as lackeys/spear-carriers of the americans..

      ..this story has more legs than a centipede..

    • Tracey 15.2
      13 September 2014 at 3:01 pm

      who knows, we might be doing some spying for China…

      😉

  16. Tracey 16
    13 September 2014 at 2:59 pm

    Are these guys giving advance previews to ensure that it begins seeping into the consciousness of the electorate before 20th?

    • ianmac 16.1
      13 September 2014 at 3:11 pm

      Perhaps someone should slip a secret message to Whaleoil saying that at high noon Greenwald has ridden into town and is armed! He will post on it. That way MSM will be sure to explode into a frenzy.

  17. Reddelusion 17
    13 September 2014 at 3:37 pm

    Ok we have a convicted hacker and criminal ( dotcom) , 2 hired well paid left wing mercenaries (greenwood and asterdam) and some guy hiding out in an Ecuadorean embassy on rape charges all trying to influence the nz election so the criminal hacker and thief does not get extradited. Make a good plot for a comedy

    • ianmac 17.1
      13 September 2014 at 3:56 pm

      Not to mention a reddelusion dwelling in a dark world of doubt, pessimism, cynicism and an all abiding love of the Prince John of Darkness. “But Prince John is the Father of God and he can do no wrong,” wails reddelusion.

    • Tracey 17.2
      13 September 2014 at 3:59 pm

      which makes you wonder why farrar and hooton are bothering to keep spreading lies, what with no one caring…

      Why hooton supplied hagers street name to someone suggesting some people who wanted to harm hager needed to know where he lived

      Why people so concerned about criminal behaviour will vote for a party that has 17% of its MPs convicted for fraud or deception

      I am pleased to read someone on the right cares so much about victims of sexual assault. I did a basic search and found no posts from you expressing outrage at roastbusters…

    • Paul 17.3
      13 September 2014 at 4:00 pm

      Greenwald won the Pulitzer Prize.
      He is a renowned international journalist.

      Your source, Cameron Slater, can make no such claims.

      • Tracey 17.3.1
        13 September 2014 at 5:10 pm

        so thats internationally recognised hager and greenwald as journalists versus slater, farrar and hooton, all paid to spread their particularly warped version of “information”.

    • BLiP 17.4
      13 September 2014 at 4:02 pm

      ‘

      More like a tragedy that those heroes should be so vilified by governments and those who benefit from silencing dissent so ably assisted by others such as yourself too craven or lazy to be actively concerned.

      I note that you are reduced to applying ad homs in response to the information being revealed. Such a tactic is an automatic FAIL in debate but I am more worried about what it indicates in terms of your cognitive functioning. Shooting the messenger is a thought-stopping practise which holds you back from discerning the implications the message carries. Perhaps the implications of Mr Greenwald’s message is too frightening for you to contemplate but shutting them out from your consideration and encouraging other to also dismiss them doesn’t make those implications go away. Just sayin’.

      Anyhow, get some help.

    • Little Boy Bleu 17.5
      14 September 2014 at 1:32 am

      Redd, I’ll see your ‘convicted hacker and criminal, 2 hired well-paid left-wing mercenaries and some guy hiding out in an Ecuadorean embassy’ and raise it with a no-morals, lying, heartless money trader, a deceitful, shameless sacked minister, a devious, corrupt Govt and a degenerate, money-loving National Party which wouldn’t know compassion if it tripped over it.

  18. Reddelusion 18
    13 September 2014 at 4:16 pm

    No great fan of slater tend to agree with herald writer today he over inflates his importance and influence. Pulitzer Prize or not greenwald is not coming here as an impartial journo, nor can you claim Hagar an impartial journalist. The rest of my post above is just stating fact, You got to admit the whole thing is a bit farcical and thats how most of nz see it, barring the exclusive enlightened hard left prancing about in morale indignation Can you imagine the morale outrage if the right tried to pull a stunt like this

    • Inky 18.1
      14 September 2014 at 1:19 am

      If you want to talk about impartial journalists, Reddulsion, how about a comment on the biased BS poured all over Cunliffe since he became Labour leader?

      Do you ever read the Herald political commentators? Are you aware they have had a great deal to do with Slater? Did you not see John Armstrong’s call for Cunliffe to resign over a nothing letter written 11 years earlier?

      Have you seen any commentator call on Key to resign over his many, far more serious and real brain fades?

      You’ve not detected the concerted mainstream media campaign that has pushed the Nats all the way in this election?

      Have you not heard Key’s mate Hosking literally describe Cunliffe as an idiot (this supposed serious political commentator)?

      And have you not seen how after that insult, and other venom directed his way by Hosking, how Cunliffe was forced to accept him as the bloke running the debates?

      Yet you have the nerve to describe GREENWALD as impartial? Spare me!
      I bloody well give up. Your type either never get it or never care.

  19. Reddelusion 19
    13 September 2014 at 4:21 pm

    Come on blip if every one just agreed with each other it would be a pretty boring site I only give advise not insults when responses to.arguements are just tired old cliches or lack any real thought

    • BLiP 19.1
      13 September 2014 at 5:56 pm

      Come on blip if every one just agreed with each other it would be a pretty boring site I only give advise not insults when responses to.arguements are just tired old cliches or lack any real thought

      Now I am even more concerned. Your comment is insensible, displays that you do not understand the difference between the ad hom fallacy and insults, accuses others of that which it is you do yourself while also, once again, shows you are unable to deal rationally about the subject under discussion.

      I kind of sympathise with you in that what Mr Greenwald is revealing is frightening for those who’s belief system is threatened by it. Fear is a powerful emotion and has been deliberately generated by those who seek to justify the clamping down on our civil liberties. Terrorism is the new spectre used now in place of such previous bogeymen as communists but it is the “big lie” because those who ostensibly are in place to protect us are the ones carrying out the terrorism. And its terrorism on a massive scale, far more subtle than bombs and beheadings. It is psychological terrorism designed to undermine cognitive faculties and replace them with thought-stopping slogans and emotional reactions.

      From a graveyard humour point of view, its kinda ironic that this terrorism is being orchestrated by the Right Wing and the ones most likely to suffer from it first are those wth a Right Wing tendency. The lols don’t stop there. The average person with a Right Wing tendency spouts all manner of platitudes about how the government should not interfere with the lives of its citizens and how, just like the Easter Bunny delivers chocolate eggs, the “invisible hand” of the market will deliver all a society requires. Yet, it is, by a huge margin, those people with Right Wing tendencies who support the government’s ability to monitor and record every keystroke and every phone call each citizen makes. How much more intrusive can a government be?

      To use your term, its “arguements” like these which are under discussion and they require real thought yet it is you who is throwing out clichés. That you don’t realise it or cannot face it is really, really sad because we are going to need everyone, including yourself, if we are to resolve the issue and bring government back into line. My idea of a perfect resolution with differ from yours but, together, we can come up with a satisfactory solution if we work together. Idealistic, I know, and beyond your abilities to understand, unfortunately, but never mind. I don’t blame you personally for having been terrorised into a blithering fight/flight state of mind but you might want to consider not interfering in our discussions.

      kthnxbai.

      • Colonial Viper 19.1.1
        14 September 2014 at 2:08 am

        Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who’s to blame? Well certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you’re looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror. I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn’t be? War, terror, disease. There were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you, and in your panic you turned to the now high chancellor, Adam Sutler. He promised you order, he promised you peace, and all he demanded in return was your silent, obedient consent.

        • greywarbler 19.1.1.1
          14 September 2014 at 11:02 am

          Reddelusion 19
          We don’t, most of us, take part on this site because we want to take part in a lively argument. That’s just fiddling while Rome is burning. And it’s risible, indefensible, and deadly self-indulgence which is beyond contempt.

  20. cogito 20
    13 September 2014 at 4:22 pm

    “Mr Greenwald’s hit back on Twitter, questioning if Mr Key thinks “bizarre ad hominem attacks” will make the facts, or the documents he has, disappear”
    http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/auckland/news/nbpol/1733099110-intelligence-rumours-bubble-away

    High noon…! LIAR KEY IS GOING DOWN.

    • Paul 20.1
      13 September 2014 at 4:26 pm

      Key is going to struggle to deal with Greenwald if all he’s got are his larrikin jokey approach to issues of civil liberties in this country.

    • emergency mike 20.2
      13 September 2014 at 6:15 pm

      “Dotcom’s little henchman”?

      haha how pathetic is that? What else John? Does he has a trenchcoat and scar? Bottle of poison in his pocket? How stupid does he think New Zealanders are to be swayed by crap like that about a Pulitzer prize winning journalist?

      Ok don’t answer that.

  21. Paul 21
    13 September 2014 at 4:59 pm

    John Key in the Guardian.

    “Key has also been accused by US journalist Glenn Greenwald of not being truthful with voters about the government’s surveillance of its citizens. Greenwald previously worked for the Guardian and was instrumental in the publication of the Edward Snowden National Security Agency leaks.

    Greenwald is in New Zealand for an event organised by Internet party founder Kim Dotcom on Monday which is billed as an exposé of the extent of NZ’s role in the “Five Eyes” intelligence pact with Australia, the US, Britain and Canada.”

    http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/13/john-key-considers-prospect-of-forming-minority-nz-government

  22. risildowgtn 22
    13 September 2014 at 5:38 pm

    Patrick Gower ‏@patrickgowernz 1m

    I have major new developments to do with @ggreenwald, mass spying and John Key – @3NewsNz 6pm. #decision14

    • Paul 22.1
      13 September 2014 at 5:41 pm

      Sure this isn’t Gower self promoting?

    • weka 22.2
      13 September 2014 at 6:19 pm

      The last time Gower tweeted major developments it was a half a percent rise in some poll or other for some party 🙄

      • karol 22.2.1
        13 September 2014 at 8:39 pm

        This time he’d had a long phone chat with Key, and Key is standing firm, and says he’ll release documents to show GCSB doesn’t do mass surveillance of Kiwis – Gower is now Key’s little messenger.

        This tweet from Chris Trotter:

        Key’s release will serve to blunt and/or divert media scrutiny in final week of campaign. That’s all it has to do. Judgement will be tribal.

        • emergency mike 22.2.1.1
          13 September 2014 at 9:51 pm

          Did you notice in the 3News piece how strongly Gower stressed how ‘crucial’ it was that people grasp that Key was going to produce a piece of paper that would prove Greenwald wrong?

        • Tom Jackson 22.2.1.2
          13 September 2014 at 11:22 pm

          It depends.

          Key’s problem is that he said all sorts of stuff before June 2013 in response to criticisms of the GCSB over illegal surveillance and Dotcom. Of course neither he nor anybody else could have guessed what Edward Snowden was about to do, so Key no doubt felt free to lie his ass off because he reasoned that secrets would remain secret. The Kitteridge report was also leaked to the media well in advance of Snowden’s revelations.

          If there are Snowden documents showing that the Kitteridge Report and Key’s statements were nothing more than a veil of bullshit, then he’s going to have a tough time of it.

          Remember that one of Greenwald’s favourite tricks is to leak information to extract denials while withholding further information that is then used to show that the denials were dishonest.

        • Zolan 22.2.1.3
          13 September 2014 at 11:49 pm

          The burden of proof is on Greenwald.
          Key has verbally refuted a specific premise.

          If Greenwald’s case depends on that premise, but doesn’t prove it, then the omission will be glaring to everyone, having been flagged in advance. And any deficiency in Key’s documentation will be cold gruel for critics.

          If Key’s defence is a strawman with no logical relevance to Greenwald’s case, then indeed “judgement will be tribal,” unless the case is impossible to deny or minimise.

          Key’s strategy deflates/diverts most scenarios, and can only backfire if Greenwald proves the refutation false, which of course is not a risk Key would have taken.

  23. karol 23
    13 September 2014 at 6:06 pm

    So, can we now call Gower, “Key’s little messenger”?

    He says he talked to Key at length on the phone today.

    • Paul 23.1
      13 September 2014 at 6:11 pm

      Chatted….
      What about interviewing him Mr Gower?
      Asking hard questions.
      Holding power to account.
      That’s what journalists do.

      Courtiers on the other hand….

      • emergency mike 23.1.1
        13 September 2014 at 8:36 pm

        What’s the bet that Key produces a piece of paper that states that NZ spy agencies are not to spy on NZers. He will waive it around and call it proof that Greenwald is wrong. While ignoring the question of whether other five eyes partners spied on NZers, and NZ’s spy agencies, as five eyes members, just happen to have access to that data…

        • Tom Jackson 23.1.1.1
          13 September 2014 at 11:28 pm

          When has Greenwald been wrong about this stuff?

        • One Anonymous Bloke 23.1.1.2
          14 September 2014 at 8:49 am

          There’s a graphic somewhere in the Snowden docs that illustrates the hardware topography.

          The diagram implies that all the surveilled material goes to the NSA prior to being distributed to the partner agencies.

  24. Paul 24
    13 September 2014 at 6:07 pm

    We shouldn’t be worrying about Nanny State in NZ.
    It’s Big Brother who’s watching you.

    Kind of ironic our right wing friends got so twisted about lightbulb controls and school tuck shop food, yet are happy to accept a surveillance state.

    Can any of our right wing visitors on this site not see the glaring contradiction in their stances.

  25. Potato 25
    13 September 2014 at 6:18 pm

    Dear Mr Key,
    Don’t bother resigning. Next Saturday, we’ll sack you instead !!

  26. Paul 26
    13 September 2014 at 6:19 pm

    TVNZ repeats Key’s description of Greenwald as “Dotcom’s little henchman”.
    Not the breaker of the Snowden story or a Pulitzer Prize winner.
    Pathetic news reporting.

  27. Richies McCLaw 27
    13 September 2014 at 6:20 pm

    Key never said anything. It was his office.

  28. Richies Mcclaw 28
    13 September 2014 at 6:21 pm

    Key never made any promises. It was all his office.

    • phillip ure 28.1
      13 September 2014 at 6:34 pm

      don’t you mean ‘orifice’..?

      • KJT 28.1.1
        13 September 2014 at 6:43 pm

        Key is probably telling the truth about not mass spying on New Zealanders. He gets the USA to do it for him.

        • phillip ure 28.1.1.1
          13 September 2014 at 6:48 pm

          somehow i don’t think keys’ ‘henchman’-sneer will be able to wash away what will be revealed on mon nite…

          ..utu-monday..i’m calling it…

          ..and that is group-‘utu’..

          ..we can all share in it…

        • ianmac 28.1.1.2
          13 September 2014 at 6:48 pm

          That may be his out. We spy on USA while they spy on NZ. Then swap results. Tricky stuff!

        • Tom Jackson 28.1.1.3
          13 September 2014 at 7:41 pm

          That may well be the case. Won’t fly with the public.

          • karol 28.1.1.3.1
            13 September 2014 at 7:44 pm

            Didn’t Key once say the GCSB doesn’t get other 5 Eyes agencies to spy on Kiwis for the GCSB?

            • emergency mike 28.1.1.3.1.1
              13 September 2014 at 8:42 pm

              “Didn’t Key once say the GCSB doesn’t get other 5 Eyes agencies to spy on Kiwis for the GCSB?”

              Yes but if those other agencies went ahead and spied on kiwis anyway, well, that’s not the GCSB’s doing now is it? That they, as 5 eyes members, would happen to have access to that data would just be a coincidence.

  29. Weepus beard 29
    13 September 2014 at 7:11 pm

    Lisa Owen (3:36): [quoting from the PM] “In terms of wholesale collection of metadata about New Zealanders, that hasn’t taken place. I have asked the agency, the GCSB, and that is the confirmation I have had.”

    GG (3:56): What I can tell you for certain is that the Government does engage in extraordinary amounts of analysis of metadata … on a massive, indiscriminate scale, not just internationally but of New Zealanders as well.

    GG (04:33): New Zealand spends an extraordinary amount of resources for a country of this size on surveillance.

    GG (06:15): One of the most interesting parts of the revelations for me is that it is not just about spying but about democracy and the honesty with which these governments treat their citizenry.

    GG (07:05): There is also a question of democratic subversion – of controlling one’s own citizenry by knowing what it is that they are saying and doing.

    GG (8:18): [terrorism] is the pretext and not the actual reason that this spying is taking place

    GG (08:55): What I can tell you is that the statement that the GCSB made to NZers last year that we don’t engage in mass surveillance aimed at NZers is not truthful.

    Some important points from the Greenwald interview by Lisa Owen.

    This one is particularly worrying to any free, socially responsible person in this country:

    GG (07:05): There is also a question of democratic subversion – of controlling one’s own citizenry by knowing what it is that they are saying and doing.

    • Puddleglum 29.1
      13 September 2014 at 9:11 pm

      Also interesting is the point at 3:56:

      “GG (3:56): What I can tell you for certain is that the Government does engage in extraordinary amounts of analysis of metadata … on a massive, indiscriminate scale, not just internationally but of New Zealanders as well.”

      That statement is not about the GCSB (or other government agency) collecting the metadata. Who collects it is irrelevant – what is relevant is that a New Zealand agency of government is analysing information about New Zealanders with no reason to do so.

      How the collection is done is a minor technical matter. Far more substantive is that the NZ government is making use of a massive and steady stream of data about New Zealanders.

      After all, if the GCSB collected the data but never, ever looked at it (or allowed others to look at it) then no harm would be done (apart from a waste of resources). Let’s remind ourselves that the reason for not wanting the GCSB to collect the information is the assumption that it would and could be analysed and then used.

      Greenwald is basically saying that it is being analysed. That’s what ultimately matters, irrespective of how it is collected.

      • Anne 29.1.1
        13 September 2014 at 9:24 pm

        Any thoughts on which agency is doing the analysing Puddleglum?

        It could of course be another Five Eyes country that’s doing the analysis and then making it available to the GCSB to pass on to the National government. You can be rest assured that in the event of a Labour led government being elected, very little of it would be made available to them. In fact, I doubt they would want it because it cuts right across the principle that people should be allowed to live their lives without fear of interference.

        • Puddleglum 29.1.1.1
          13 September 2014 at 10:16 pm

          Hi Anne,

          Greenwald refers to ‘the government’ doing the analysis which I presume means an agency of the government. Obviously I don’t know what Greenwald has access to but, from his words, it sounds like the data is made available to NZ agencies (presumably the GCSB) to analyse. (Who collects it is left unsaid by Greenwald – it could be the GCSB itself or, just as likely – or maybe more likely – some other country’s intelligence agency.)

          Just who collects it and makes it available to the NZ government agency(ies) is an open question but, as I argued, a largely irrelevant question (apart from the fact that it would be some agency outside of NZ – which itself is concerning).

          One way or the other, if Greenwald is correct, NZ agencies of government get to analyse a large amount of metadata about ordinary New Zealanders’ communications – communications that New Zealanders would have assumed was private.

          That to me is the worry. On top of that is the extra worry that any detailed analysis could then be fed back to other countries’ agencies for their purposes.

          • weka 29.1.1.1.1
            13 September 2014 at 10:22 pm

            Or fed to other NZ govt departments. Is that likely to be happening much at this stage?

            • Puddleglum 29.1.1.1.1.1
              13 September 2014 at 10:29 pm

              Who knows?

              The worry is that the genie appears to be out of the bottle.

              What happens once all this metadata – and/or its analysis – is available is anyone’s guess (or nightmare).

              That, in a nutshell, is surely the essence of the entire worry over such a huge, organised trawl of private communications. It should not be available in the first place.

              • weka …
                13 September 2014 at 10:35 pm

                Well yes I agree, but my concern had been that in addition to the people who will be targeted by the state now (thinking Tūhoe as an example), that in the future the mass collection, analysis and use of across the board of the data is incredibly dangerous in a state moving towards fascism. I’m just wondering if we are further down that track that I had thought. Possibly not, but Dirty Politics has me trusting the state way less than I did before. And NZ for that matter.

                “The worry is that the genie appears to be out of the bottle.”

                But can be put back in presumably. The data could be destroyed when the practice is stopped.

                • Puddleglum …
                  13 September 2014 at 10:45 pm

                  “But can be put back in presumably. The data could be destroyed when the practice is stopped.”

                  Yes, it can be stopped overall.

                  What I should have said is that once any particular metadata set is available and is analysed then where it goes after that is entirely open (could be anywhere and everywhere – i.e., the genie is out of the bottle).

                  I was thinking of specific instances of the data being made available rather than the continuation of the overall practice. That is, ‘the genie is out of the bottle’ in any particular case once the metadata have been made available and analysed.

          • karol 29.1.1.1.2
            13 September 2014 at 10:26 pm

            Key has said the GCSB has not done any mass “surveillance” of Kiwis.

            Does surveillance” refer to just the collection of data, or does it also include the analysis? I would have thought the latter.

            3 News print version of tonight’s report has an error:

            The man Mr Key calls a “henchman” won a Pulitzer Prize for his work with Snowden.

            “I think it’s preposterous to suggest that I as an American citizen who lives in Brazil am driven by anything other than journalism, and in particular that I’m driven by some desire to influence the outcome of the New Zealand election,” says Mr Key.

            But Mr Key is suspicious of his motives.

            • weka 29.1.1.1.2.1
              13 September 2014 at 10:37 pm

              Pretty sure that if it’s a word Key is using he gets to define it however he wants 😉

            • Puddleglum 29.1.1.1.2.2
              13 September 2014 at 10:37 pm

              I agree completely – ‘surveillance’ is primarily the latter (i.e., the analysis).

              For the very simple reason that it is analysis that gives data any meaning.

              To surveil is to ‘overview’ – you can’t view (perceive) without some analysis of the raw data. (from French – ‘sur’ = over; veiller = ‘watch’; from Latin vigilare = keep watch).

              • Colonial Viper …
                14 September 2014 at 12:01 am

                I agree completely – ‘surveillance’ is primarily the latter (i.e., the analysis).

                For the very simple reason that it is analysis that gives data any meaning.

                There is some sophistry in those arguments. You can’t ignore the many steps integral to the surveillance function and draw easy bright lines here and there and say “this is definitely inside the activity of surveillance, but this is definitely outside of it”. Raw info/data collection is an integral part of the surveillance function. Because of that, targets rightly see the mere collection of info/data as a real threat.

                Think of a spy satellite floating overhead. Or maybe a recon drone. If China or Russia were the targets they would not be saying – that spy satellite and that recon drone isn’t really conducting surveillance. They’re just gathering raw data.

              • One Anonymous Bloke …
                14 September 2014 at 8:57 am

                I doubt the chilling effect of data collection will be diminished greatly by the small print.

          • Anne 29.1.1.1.3
            14 September 2014 at 9:39 am

            Thank-you Puddleglum, I see what you’re saying now. Listening to Key’s weasel words on Q&A this morning adamantly denying the GCSB collect metadata sort of enhances the point.

            A neat arrangement that each of the Five Eyes countries scrolls through another counrty’s meta-data to enable “plausible deniability”, and then passes on the collected information to the sourced Five Eye country for them to analyse as they see fit.

            That phrase PLAUSIBLE DENIABILITY again. We’ve been hearing it a lot lately.

      • weka 29.1.2
        13 September 2014 at 10:13 pm

        Thanks Wp and Pg, very good to have those points an analysis so accessible.

    • Rich 29.2
      13 September 2014 at 10:38 pm

      Yes the new version of God.

  30. BLiP 30
    13 September 2014 at 7:38 pm

    ‘

    Yee Gods!! Does John Key have no shame? While he is denying outright that there was mass spying on New Zealanders, his attempted shaping of the narrative is becoming apparent . Its not “mass spying” it actually “mass protection”. I guess if its “mass protection” then it must be doubleplusgood.

    • emergency mike 30.1
      13 September 2014 at 9:47 pm

      Yep ‘mass protection’ is hilariously Orwellian. Like they’re not not just protecting a few people from the da turrists, they’re protecting lots of people. Wicked! I hope I’m being uh, ‘protected’.

      • Anne 30.1.1
        13 September 2014 at 9:57 pm

        I’m sure you are emergency mike as is probably everyone else who posts/comments on this site. Always with our interest at heart of course. 😛

      • One Anonymous Bloke 30.1.2
        14 September 2014 at 8:59 am

        It’s nice to have a nanny to watch over us all. No, wait…

  31. Jenk 31
    13 September 2014 at 8:29 pm

    Did anyone else notice John Key saying that a party with the most votes (ie National) could govern as a minority government if other parties decided to support such a type of govt. ie other parties eg NZ First would be prepared to support the Nats as a minority govt on certain matters of policy ? ? I don’t think I imagined this – TV3 News tonight ? Did anyone else notice this ? Is this a possibility – that the Nats could govern on their own (with 1 Act and 1 Dunne also) and party’s on the cross-benches agreeing to approve budgets, certain bits of legislation, etc ?

    • karol 31.1
      13 September 2014 at 8:31 pm

      Yes. It was on The Nation this morning. He’s floating that as a possibility if neither block can form a government. But, under MMP, that’s highly unlikely.

      However, It shows that Key is not very confident of a victory. it also shows he doesn’t give a shit for democracy – just wants power.

      • weka 31.1.1
        13 September 2014 at 10:40 pm

        Although to be fair I’ve seen it mooted for L/GP too.

        Not sure how it works? Isn’t it the dreaded instability, whereby the govt has to negotiate on each piece of legislation as they go?

    • ScottGN 31.2
      13 September 2014 at 10:57 pm

      Mr Key has been musing on this for quite a while and apart from anything else it tells us that National have never been terribly confident of outright victory at this election.
      Mr Key seems to be saying that, assuming he’s the leader of the party with the most seats in the House after next Saturday he can go to the GG and ask that the new parliament be called and he can test its confidence with the delivery of a Speech from the Throne. He’s hoping, of course, that opposition parties will not wish to trigger a new election (and be punished for it) and therefore they will vote for the Throne Speech and subsequent Budget.
      This is common practice in Canada, which after all is another Westminster Parliament like ours and seems to be where he’s got the idea from.
      It isn’t common in NZ and I think he’s overestimating the opprobrium opposition parties might face if they choose to send the country back to the polls in the first instance.
      It’s also worth pointing out that it’s become the habit of Stephen Harper and the Conservatives in Canada to bundle all sorts of contentious legislation (gun control measures for example or bills about abortion, prostitution or tax) into various catch-all Omnibus Bills that require the Confidence of the House and therefore dare the Opposition to vote them down.

  32. b waghorn 32
    13 September 2014 at 8:41 pm

    @ jenk
    Must mean key knows he’s fucked if he’s talking about minority government.

  33. emergency mike 33
    13 September 2014 at 9:09 pm

    First Key says, “There’s no mass surveillance of New Zealanders.” Period. But later in the same interview…

    Journalist- ‘Have we received mass surveillance on NZers from our overseas five eyes partners ?

    Key- ‘I can’t go into that detail because I don’t have the answer to that’.

    So, um, our minister for the GCSB, doesn’t know whether or not they have received massive data on NZers from their 5 eyes partners? Doncha think you should know Mr Key?

    But at the same time, he can state categorically that there’s no mass surveillance of New Zealanders. Hmm, I used to think that John Key was an impressive bullshit artist, but now I’m not so impressed. Do try to get your story straight.

    • emergency mike 33.1
      13 September 2014 at 9:27 pm

      I also note that the click warriors on Stuff seems to have given up on this 712 comment article. The normal situation of very high scores for the countless people calling Key a liar, and negative scores for people slagging off Greenwald has resumed.

    • Puddleglum 33.2
      13 September 2014 at 10:25 pm

      I suspect that Key’s ‘wiggle room’ is around who collects the data rather than who has access to it for analysis.

      It doesn’t matter who ‘collects’ it – Key’s assurance was that mass surveillance doesn’t happen. The kernel of this concern is not about ‘collection’ – it’s about analysis and use.

      He needs to be nailed on this – any journalists reading the comments on this post?

  34. Tautoko Viper 34
    13 September 2014 at 10:14 pm

    Looking back over some of the issues to do with the GCSB and Key, I would like to know the role of Peter Thiel and Palantir and if it involves analysing data collected on NZ citizens.

    The following article discusses Palantir in the US:

    Citizens of the world who were tired of how much of their personal data the U.S. government controlled may soon have to get used to a different dilemma: That same information being controlled by a private company.

    If information is being collected by the GCSB , passed to a private company for analysis, is there not a potential for information to be sold on for commercial reasons?

    • Rich 34.1
      13 September 2014 at 10:43 pm

      Yes I know nothing about this Palantir, but once I realised what was going on in this country, Thiel and his libertarian fascism with a strong base in elite shittery came immediately to mind. One of their ideas is for an offshore artificial island uncontrolled by any form of democracy and a place where the poor are banned (assumedly with the exception of fly in slaves). Sounds almost like they couldn’t be bothered building their own.

    • Colonial Viper 34.2
      14 September 2014 at 12:06 am

      I saw a tweet yesterday along these lines: Peter Thiel was asked if Palantir was a front for the CIA. He replied – no, it’s the CIA which is a front for Palantir.

      Oh, how wonderfully droll, I thought. Gagh.

  35. Valleyman 35
    14 September 2014 at 12:06 am

    Key will have received his script from the US government about what to say in response to the Snowdon documents that Greenwald will release on Monday, Key will also be franticly practising his script all weekend so he has it memorised word for word.

    • Colonial Viper 35.1
      14 September 2014 at 12:15 am

      The beautiful thing: Greenwald knows exactly what that script says as Greenwald has heard it hundreds of times before.

      • emergency mike 35.1.1
        14 September 2014 at 1:19 am

        Exactly, Greenwald has heard it all before here there and everywhere.

        I don’t think ‘henchman’ is going to throw him at this stage.

  36. Inky 36
    14 September 2014 at 1:02 am

    Another beautiful thing is Key’s bitchy remark about Greenwald being Dotcom’s ‘henchman’. Because you can be sure that it’s going to be reported overseas and he will have put himself on the radar with a lot more people. Many will know Greenwald is nobody’s henchman and will be thinking, ‘hmm, that sounds pretty defensive. Who is this guy Key and what is this all about?’

    Way to go, John, if you had even the sense of a melon farmer (google it), you’d have kept your stupid yap shut.

  37. karol 37
    14 September 2014 at 7:27 am

    Sunday Star Times this morning:

    Glenn Greenwald will speak first on Monday night. Simultaneously his report on NZ and the Snowden documents will be released online on Intercept.

    Dotcom will speak last (after Snowden & Assange via video link). Dotcom’s statement will be short, “incontrovertible” evidence that Key lied about when he knew him.

    SST says Key is poised to release a transcript of the briefing Key got just before the raid on Dotcom mansion, to show that was the first he’d heard of KDC. It shows Key asked if Dotcom was Korean.

    • One Anonymous Bloke 37.1
      14 September 2014 at 9:02 am

      The [redacted] answer to his question can now be revealed:

      “No, Prime Minister, remember your briefing in Los Angeles?”

  38. veutoviper 38
    14 September 2014 at 8:20 am

    Two IP/IMP releases that are worth reading/watching.

    First, the excellent press release from Harre and Harawira in response to Key’s reaction to Greenwald’s The Nation interview – and in particular Key’s statement that he is going to declassify documents to prove Greenwald wrong. Misusing security information for political purposes ??????

    https://t.co/r4rMrLsmSU

    Second, Laila (Not the Six O’Clock News) in discussion with Robert Amsterdam and Glenn Greenwald on mass surveillance, Key’s reaction to date and related matters. Twenty minutes of my life that I do not regret as it was well worth watching.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYEdaxbfpYc&feature=youtu.be

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    I like to keep an eye on what’s happening in places like the UK, the US, and over the ditch with our good mates the Aussies. Let’s call them AUKUS, for want of a better collective term. More on that in a bit.It used to be, not long ago, that ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    14 hours ago

  • Study sees climate change baking in 19% lower global income by 2050
    TL;DR: The global economy will be one fifth smaller than it would have otherwise been in 2050 as a result of climate damage, according to a new study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and published in the journal Nature. (See more detail and analysis below, and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    14 hours ago

  • Weekly Roundup 19-April-2024
    It’s Friday again. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week on Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt covered at the government looking into a long tunnel for Wellington. On Wednesday we ran a post from Oscar Simms on some lessons from Texas. AT’s ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    15 hours ago

  • Jack Vowles: Stop the panic – we’ve been here before
    New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’.  The data is from February this ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    17 hours ago

  • Clearing up confusion (or trying to)
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters is understood to be planning a major speech within the next fortnight to clear up the confusion over whether or not New Zealand might join the AUKUS submarine project. So far, there have been conflicting signals from the Government. RNZ reported the Prime Minister yesterday in ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    18 hours ago

  • How to Retrieve Deleted Call Log iPhone Without Computer
    How to Retrieve Deleted Call Log on iPhone Without a Computer: A Step–by–Step Guide Losing your iPhone call history can be frustrating, especially when you need to find a specific number or recall an important conversation. But before you panic, know that there are ways to retrieve deleted call logs on your iPhone, even without a computer. This guide will explore various methods, ranging from simple checks to utilizing iCloud backups and third–party applications. So, let‘s dive in and recover those lost calls! 1. Check Recently Deleted Folder: Apple understands that accidental deletions happen. That‘s why they introduced the “Recently Deleted“ folder for various apps, including the Phone app. This folder acts as a safety net, storing deleted call logs for up to 30 days before permanently erasing them. Here‘s how to check it: Open the Phone app on your iPhone. Tap on the “Recents“ tab at the bottom. Scroll to the top and tap on “Edit“. Select “Show Recently Deleted“. Browse the list to find the call logs you want to recover. Tap on the desired call log and choose “Recover“ to restore it to your call history. 2. Restore from iCloud Backup: If you regularly back up your iPhone to iCloud, you might be able to retrieve your deleted call log from a previous backup. However, keep in mind that this process will restore your entire phone to the state it was in at the time of the backup, potentially erasing any data added since then. Here‘s how to restore from an iCloud backup: Go to Settings > General > Reset. Choose “Erase All Content and Settings“. Follow the on–screen instructions. Your iPhone will restart and show the initial setup screen. Choose “Restore from iCloud Backup“ during the setup process. Select the relevant backup that contains your deleted call log. Wait for the restoration process to complete. 3. Explore Third–Party Apps (with Caution): ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    20 hours ago

  • How to Factory Reset iPhone without Computer: A Comprehensive Guide to Restoring your Device
    Life throws curveballs, and sometimes, those curveballs necessitate wiping your iPhone clean and starting anew. Whether you’re facing persistent software glitches, preparing to sell your device, or simply wanting a fresh start, knowing how to factory reset iPhone without a computer is a valuable skill. While using a computer with ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • How to Call Someone on a Computer: A Guide to Voice and Video Communication in the Digital Age
    Gone are the days when communication was limited to landline phones and physical proximity. Today, computers have become powerful tools for connecting with people across the globe through voice and video calls. But with a plethora of applications and methods available, how to call someone on a computer might seem ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #16 2024
    Open access notables Glacial isostatic adjustment reduces past and future Arctic subsea permafrost, Creel et al., Nature Communications: Sea-level rise submerges terrestrial permafrost in the Arctic, turning it into subsea permafrost. Subsea permafrost underlies ~ 1.8 million km2 of Arctic continental shelf, with thicknesses in places exceeding 700 m. Sea-level variations over glacial-interglacial cycles control ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 day ago

  • Where on a Computer is the Operating System Generally Stored? Delving into the Digital Home of your ...
    The operating system (OS) is the heart and soul of a computer, orchestrating every action and interaction between hardware and software. But have you ever wondered where on a computer is the operating system generally stored? The answer lies in the intricate dance between hardware and software components, particularly within ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • How Many Watts Does a Laptop Use? Understanding Power Consumption and Efficiency
    Laptops have become essential tools for work, entertainment, and communication, offering portability and functionality. However, with rising energy costs and growing environmental concerns, understanding a laptop’s power consumption is more important than ever. So, how many watts does a laptop use? The answer, unfortunately, isn’t straightforward. It depends on several ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • How to Screen Record on a Dell Laptop A Guide to Capturing Your Screen with Ease
    Screen recording has become an essential tool for various purposes, such as creating tutorials, capturing gameplay footage, recording online meetings, or sharing information with others. Fortunately, Dell laptops offer several built-in and external options for screen recording, catering to different needs and preferences. This guide will explore various methods on ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • How Much Does it Cost to Fix a Laptop Screen? Navigating Repair Options and Costs
    A cracked or damaged laptop screen can be a frustrating experience, impacting productivity and enjoyment. Fortunately, laptop screen repair is a common service offered by various repair shops and technicians. However, the cost of fixing a laptop screen can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article delves into the ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • How Long Do Gaming Laptops Last? Demystifying Lifespan and Maximizing Longevity
    Gaming laptops represent a significant investment for passionate gamers, offering portability and powerful performance for immersive gaming experiences. However, a common concern among potential buyers is their lifespan. Unlike desktop PCs, which allow for easier component upgrades, gaming laptops have inherent limitations due to their compact and integrated design. This ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • Climate Change: Turning the tide
    The annual inventory report of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions has been released, showing that gross emissions have dropped for the third year in a row, to 78.4 million tons: All-told gross emissions have decreased by over 6 million tons since the Zero Carbon Act was passed in 2019. ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 day ago

  • How to Unlock Your Computer A Comprehensive Guide to Regaining Access
    Experiencing a locked computer can be frustrating, especially when you need access to your files and applications urgently. The methods to unlock your computer will vary depending on the specific situation and the type of lock you encounter. This guide will explore various scenarios and provide step-by-step instructions on how ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • Faxing from Your Computer A Modern Guide to Sending Documents Digitally
    While the world has largely transitioned to digital communication, faxing still holds relevance in certain industries and situations. Fortunately, gone are the days of bulky fax machines and dedicated phone lines. Today, you can easily send and receive faxes directly from your computer, offering a convenient and efficient way to ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • Protecting Your Home Computer A Guide to Cyber Awareness
    In our increasingly digital world, home computers have become essential tools for work, communication, entertainment, and more. However, this increased reliance on technology also exposes us to various cyber threats. Understanding these threats and taking proactive steps to protect your home computer is crucial for safeguarding your personal information, finances, ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • Server-Based Computing Powering the Modern Digital Landscape
    In the ever-evolving world of technology, server-based computing has emerged as a cornerstone of modern digital infrastructure. This article delves into the concept of server-based computing, exploring its various forms, benefits, challenges, and its impact on the way we work and interact with technology. Understanding Server-Based Computing: At its core, ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    1 day ago

  • Vroom vroom go the big red trucks
    The absolute brass neck of this guy.We want more medical doctors, not more spin doctors, Luxon was saying a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re told the guy has seven salaried adults on TikTok duty. Sorry, doing social media. The absolute brass neck of it. The irony that the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 day ago

  • Jones finds $410,000 to help the government muscle in on a spat project
    Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago

  • Again, hate crimes are not necessarily terrorism.
    Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    1 day ago

  • Despair – construction consenting edition
    Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago

  • Coalition promises – will the Govt keep the commitment to keep Kiwis equal before the law?
    Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago

  • An impermanent public service is a guarantee of very little else but failure
    Chris Trotter writes –  The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago

  • What happens after the war – Mariupol
    Mariupol, on the Azov Sea coast, was one of the first cities to suffer almost complete destruction after the start of the Ukraine War started in late February 2022. We remember the scenes of absolute destruction of the houses and city structures. The deaths of innocent civilians – many of ...
    Open ParachuteBy Ken
    2 days ago

  • Babies and benefits – no good news
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – Ten years ago, I wrote the following in a Listener column: Every year around one in five new-born babies will be reliant on their caregivers benefit by Christmas. This pattern has persisted from at least 1993. For Maori the number jumps to over one in three.  ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Should the RBNZ be looking through climate inflation?
    Climate change is expected to generate more and more extreme events, delivering a sort of structural shock to inflation that central banks will have to react to as if they were short-term cyclical issues. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Bernard's pick 'n' mix of the news links
    The top six news links I’ve seen elsewhere in the last 24 hours, as of 9:16 am on Thursday, April 18 are:Housing: Tauranga residents living in boats, vans RNZ Checkpoint Louise TernouthHousing: Waikato councillor says wastewater plant issues could hold up Sleepyhead building a massive company town Waikato Times Stephen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the public sector carnage, and misogyny as terrorism
    It’s a simple deal. We pay taxes in order to finance the social services we want and need. The carnage now occurring across the public sector though, is breaking that contract. Over 3,000 jobs have been lost so far. Many are in crucial areas like Education where the impact of ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    2 days ago

  • Meeting the Master Baiters
    Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago

  • How extreme was the Earth's temperature in 2023
    This is a re-post from Andrew Dessler at the Climate Brink blog In 2023, the Earth reached temperature levels unprecedented in modern times. Given that, it’s reasonable to ask: What’s going on? There’s been lots of discussions by scientists about whether this is just the normal progression of global warming or if something ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago

  • Backbone, revisited
    The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • Ministers are not above the law
    Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • What’s the outfit you can hear going down the gurgler? Probably it’s David Parker’s Oceans Sec...
    Buzz from the Beehive Point  of Order first heard of the Oceans Secretariat in June 2021, when David Parker (remember him?) announced a multi-agency approach to protecting New Zealand’s marine ecosystems and fisheries. Parker (holding the Environment, and Oceans and Fisheries portfolios) broke the news at the annual Forest & ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • Will politicians let democracy die in the darkness?
    Bryce Edwards writes  – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Matt Doocey doubles down on trans “healthcare”
    Citizen Science writes –  Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • A TikTok Prime Minister.
    One night while sleeping in my bed I had a beautiful dreamThat all the people of the world got together on the same wavelengthAnd began helping one anotherNow in this dream, universal love was the theme of the dayPeace and understanding and it happened this wayAfter such an eventful day ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • Texas Lessons
    This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    3 days ago

  • Bernard's pick 'n' mix of the news links at 6:06 am
    The top six news links I’ve seen elsewhere in the last 24 hours as of 6:06 am on Wednesday, April 17 are:Must read: Secrecy shrouds which projects might be fast-tracked RNZ Farah HancockScoop: Revealed: Luxon has seven staffers working on social media content - partly paid for by taxpayer Newshub ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Fighting poverty on the holiday highway
    Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago

  • Bernard's six-stack of substacks at 6:26 pm
    Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • At a glance – Is the science settled?
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago

  • Apposite Quotations.
    How Long Is Long Enough? Gaza under Israeli bombardment, July 2014. This posting is exclusive to Bowalley Road. ...
    Bowalley Road
    3 days ago

  • What’s a life worth now?
    You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • Howling at the Moon
    Karl du Fresne writes –  There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Newshub is Dead.
    I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • Seymour is chuffed about cutting early-learning red tape – but we hear, too, that Jones has loose...
    Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: Will politicians let democracy die in the darkness?
    Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago

  • Was Hawkesby entirely wrong?
    David Farrar  writes –  The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • PRC shadow looms as the Solomons head for election
    PRC and its proxies in Solomons have been preparing for these elections for a long time. A lot of money, effort and intelligence have gone into ensuring an outcome that won’t compromise Beijing’s plans. Cleo Paskall writes – On April 17th the Solomon Islands, a country of ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Climate Change: Criminal ecocide
    We are in the middle of a climate crisis. Last year was (again) the hottest year on record. NOAA has just announced another global coral bleaching event. Floods are threatening UK food security. So naturally, Shane Jones wants to make it easier to mine coal: Resources Minister Shane Jones ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • Is saving one minute of a politician's time worth nearly $1 billion?
    Is speeding up the trip to and from Wellington airport by 12 minutes worth spending up more than $10 billion? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me in the last day to 8:26 am today are:The Lead: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • Long Tunnel or Long Con?
    Yesterday it was revealed that Transport Minister had asked Waka Kotahi to look at the options for a long tunnel through Wellington. State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    4 days ago

  • Smoke And Mirrors.
    You're a fraud, and you know itBut it's too good to throw it all awayAnyone would do the sameYou've got 'em goingAnd you're careful not to show itSometimes you even fool yourself a bitIt's like magicBut it's always been a smoke and mirrors gameAnyone would do the sameForty six billion ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • What is Mexico doing about climate change?
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The June general election in Mexico could mark a turning point in ensuring that the country’s climate policies better reflect the desire of its citizens to address the climate crisis, with both leading presidential candidates expressing support for renewable energy. Mexico is the ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • State of humanity, 2024
    2024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?When I say 2024 I really mean the state of humanity in 2024.Saturday night, we watched Civil War because that is one terrifying cliff we've ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • Govt’s Wellington tunnel vision aims to ease the way to the airport (but zealous promoters of cycl...
    Buzz from the Beehive A pet project and governmental tunnel vision jump out from the latest batch of ministerial announcements. The government is keen to assure us of its concern for the wellbeing of our pets. It will be introducing pet bonds in a change to the Residential Tenancies Act ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • The case for cultural connectedness
    A recent report generated from a Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) survey of 1,224 rangatahi Māori aged 11-12 found: Cultural connectedness was associated with fewer depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms and better quality of life. That sounds cut and dry. But further into the report the following appears: Cultural connectedness is ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Useful context on public sector job cuts
    David Farrar writes –    The Herald reports: From the gory details of job-cuts news, you’d think the public service was being eviscerated.   While the media’s view of the cuts is incomplete, it’s also true that departments have been leaking the particulars faster than a Wellington ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell On When Racism Comes Disguised As Anti-racism
    Remember the good old days, back when New Zealand had a PM who could think and speak calmly and intelligently in whole sentences without blustering? Even while Iran’s drones and missiles were still being launched, Helen Clark was live on TVNZ expertly summing up the latest crisis in the Middle ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    5 days ago

  • Govt ignored economic analysis of smokefree reversal
    Costello did not pass on analysis of the benefits of the smokefree reforms to Cabinet, emphasising instead the extra tax revenues of repealing them. Photo: Hagen Hopkins, Getty Images TL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me at 7:26 am today are:The Lead: Casey Costello never passed on ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • True Blue.
    True loveYou're the one I'm dreaming ofYour heart fits me like a gloveAnd I'm gonna be true blueBaby, I love youI’ve written about the job cuts in our news media last week. The impact on individuals, and the loss to Aotearoa of voices covering our news from different angles.That by ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • Who is running New Zealand’s foreign policy?
    While commentators, including former Prime Minister Helen Clark, are noting a subtle shift in New Zealand’s foreign policy, which now places more emphasis on the United States, many have missed a key element of the shift. What National said before the election is not what the government is doing now. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago

  • $41m to support clean energy in South East Asia
    New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago

  • Minister releases Fast-track stakeholder list
    The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago

  • Judicial appointments announced
    Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    10 hours ago

  • Education Minister heads to major teaching summit in Singapore
    Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa.  The summit is co-hosted ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    11 hours ago

  • Value of stopbank project proven during cyclone
    A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    11 hours ago

  • Anzac commemorations, Türkiye relationship focus of visit
    Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul.    “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    11 hours ago

  • Minister to Europe for OECD meeting, Anzac Day
    Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    13 hours ago

  • Comprehensive Partnership the goal for NZ and the Philippines
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.  The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Government commits $20m to Westport flood protection
    The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Taupō takes pole position
    The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Cost of living support for low-income homeowners
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  • Government backing mussel spat project
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  • Government focused on getting people into work
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    2 days ago

  • Clean energy key driver to reducing emissions
    The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
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  • Earthquake-prone buildings review brought forward
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  • Thailand and NZ to agree to Strategic Partnership
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
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  • Government consults on extending coastal permits for ports
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  • School attendance restored as a priority in health advice
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  • Unnecessary bureaucracy cut in oceans sector
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  • Patterson promoting NZ’s wool sector at International Congress
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  • Removing red tape to help early learners thrive
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  • RMA changes to cut coal mining consent red tape
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  • McClay reaffirms strong NZ-China trade relationship
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  • Prime Minister Luxon acknowledges legacy of Singapore Prime Minister Lee
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.   Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
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  • PMs Luxon and Lee deepen Singapore-NZ ties
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  • Antarctica New Zealand Board appointments
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  • Pet bonds a win/win for renters and landlords
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  • Long Tunnel for SH1 Wellington being considered
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    5 days ago

  • New Zealand condemns Iranian strikes
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel.    “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says.    "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
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  • Huge interest in Government’s infrastructure plans
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  • Health Minister thanks outgoing Health New Zealand Chair
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board.   “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti.  “I have asked her to ...
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  • Roads of National Significance planning underway
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  • Navigating an unstable global environment
    New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.   “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States.    “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
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  • NZ welcomes Australian Governor-General
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
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  • Pseudoephedrine back on shelves for Winter
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  • NZ and the US: an ever closer partnership
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  • Joint US and NZ declaration
    April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
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  • NZ and US to undertake further practical Pacific cooperation
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