NZ spies on its Pacific neighbours

Written By: - Date published: 6:29 am, March 5th, 2015 - 170 comments
Categories: Abuse of power, Deep stuff, International, john key, national, Politics - Tags: , , ,

gcsb-scum

The Herald this morning has reported on the latest analysis of New Zealand’s data gathering role based on Eric Snowden’s files.  The story is bound to have a profound effect on New Zealand’s relationship with its Pacific neighbours.  Essentially New Zealand has been collecting data en masse from them and handing it over to the Americans.

From the Herald:

New Zealand’s spies are targeting the entire email, phone and social media communications of the country’s closest, friendliest and most vulnerable neighbours, according to documents supplied by United States fugitive and whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Snowden’s files reveal a heavy focus on “full-take collection” from the Pacific with nearly two dozen countries around the world targeted by our Government Communications Security Bureau.

Information from across the Pacific is collected by New Zealand’s GCSB but sent onto the United States’ National Security Agency to plug holes in its global spying network, the documents show.

Our beloved Prime Minister tried yesterday to usurp the claims.  It appears his office was approached for a response and it adopted the standard “we do not know that the documents are true but the claims are false” line.

From Stuff:

Today Key went on the attack, giving “very strong advice” for New Zealanders not to believe Hager, whose Dirty Politics book was a major theme of the September election.

That book alleged that National used a strategy of making Key the friendly face of the government while using right-wing blogs, most notably Whale Oil, to attack opponents. It was based on correspondence hacked from Whale Oil blogger Cameron Slater’s computers.

Key claimed the material in Dirty Politics was wrong, and the same would be the case this time.

“Last time he came out with all this stuff, he was categorically wrong, he’ll be wrong this time as well, because information changes, we review things all the time, different actions are taken,” Key said this afternoon.

It had never been in doubt that New Zealand gathered and shared intelligence, he said.

“What a bizarre time to be coming out making the case that New Zealand either gathers and shares information or gets information from other intelligence agencies.

“Well, of course we do, and we do that to keep New Zealanders safe. We’re in the situation where we’ve got ISIL [Islamic State] reaching out to cause harm to New Zealanders, I think New Zealanders would expect me to share information,” Key said.

“My very strong advice to New Zealanders is [to] discount massively everything you hear from Nicky Hager. He was wrong last time, he’s wrong this time, his interests are his own self-serving interests, not the rest of the country.”

Key did not confirm or deny that New Zealand’s spy agencies were spying in the Pacific.

“I’m not going into who we gather information from, or why, but I can tell you we do gather information, we have over successive governments across a range of different places, but we do that for really, really good reasons.”

“We don’t do that loosely or randomly, and actually, those situations change dramatically.”

I cannot imagine a more random gathering of information than collecting all of it and providing it to the Americans.  And it will be interesting for Key to explain how the handing over of the data of kiwis living or holidaying in the Pacific to the Americans is legal or complies with previous promises that there is no mass surveillance of New Zealanders.  As a minimum it would appear that Kiwis in the Pacific Islands have been subject to mass surveillance.

I suspect that National will look rattled on this issue for a few days.  Until the focus group results are in.

170 comments on “NZ spies on its Pacific neighbours ”

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  1. Tinfoilhat 1
    5 March 2015 at 6:59 am

    I expect that most of the population just won’t care what with all the rugby and cricket on at the moment.

    • Pascals bookie 1.1
      5 March 2015 at 7:15 am

      So?

      Caring what people care about is a damn fool way to go about your business I reckon.

      • Peter 1.1.1
        5 March 2015 at 7:25 am

        …… not if you want to win elections, keep power and do as you please. Fooling most of the people most of the time appears to be an outrageous success for National.

        • Pascals bookie 1.1.1.1
          5 March 2015 at 7:56 am

          Can assure you my name wasn’t on the voting paper. I’m a citizen. I’m not looking to be elected, but to elect.

          Horse race journalism has fucked how we think.

          It should make no difference to you what others think. Think for yourself.

      • tinfoilhat 1.1.2
        5 March 2015 at 8:47 am

        Don’t know what you’re so uppity about.

        I was just making comment as to what my perception is of the likely public response to this revelation.

        • Colonial Rawshark 1.1.2.1
          5 March 2015 at 9:59 am

          Ahhhh, but we don’t need most members of the public to care today. This is a process of shifting opinion which will take a few years. And it is well underway.

          Just like the thousands of people who turned up to the Auckland Town Hall to hear Glenn Greenwald and Edward Snowden speak, we only need to have the small percentage of awake, active people care enough to wake up the people closest to them.

          • Chooky 1.1.2.1.1
            5 March 2015 at 10:01 am

            +100 CR

          • Molly 1.1.2.1.2
            6 March 2015 at 8:11 am

            This is true. Over the last few years, a few of the non-political acquaintances and family have started reading alternative news sources, and conversations and discussions are much more political and current.

            This discourse continues to grow.

    • saveNZ 1.2
      5 March 2015 at 1:07 pm

      @Tinfoilhat
      Yep actually people do care. Love that line ‘no one cares’ discourse gets trotted out every five minutes with each expose of Keys lies. Even if MSM does print a lie, they tend to end with, but the public doesn’t care.

      One day there will be a dossier of Brand Key’s lies. They are so plentiful.

      If the public don’t care, why was only 48 hrs given for public consultation on the surveillance bill and why, even in that time frame many members of the public submitted submissions?

      Why is there no parliamentary vote on sending troops to Iraq?

      Actually people care, there is just erosion of democracy in this country under our noses.

  2. Whateva next? 2
    5 March 2015 at 7:05 am

    “…his interests are his own self serving interests, not the rest of the country…..”
    Bit ironic

  3. wyndham 3
    5 March 2015 at 7:15 am

    Why has Ian Fletcher resigned from his position as head of the GCSB ?

    • Anne 3.1
      5 March 2015 at 8:35 am

      Because he knew what was coming? Hager spoke of… he and a colleague spending months going through all the documents… so that probably means the GCSB has known about it since well before Xmas. Fletcher announces he’s resigning just before Xmas. He left exactly one week ago today.

      • Chooky 3.1.1
        5 March 2015 at 9:50 am

        +100 Anne…but Fletcher probably knew other things too and couldn’t stomach them

    • One Anonymous Bloke 3.2
      5 March 2015 at 8:41 am

      Pure conjecture: he was forced out because the Gwynn inquiry found out what he’d been up to. Consideration was given to the timing.

  4. Pasupial 4
    5 March 2015 at 7:45 am

    John Key’s crimes against Journalism

    Killing off Public Broadcasting TV by shutting down TVNZ7 and having Minister’s lie about how many people watched the station.
    Raiding newspapers and broadcasters to stop them publishing the tea pot tapes.
    Defaming investigative journalist Jon Stephenson who questioned if NZs SAS had committed war crimes in Afghanistan by handing civilians over to known torture units.
    Defaming investigative Journalist Nicky Hager by calling him a communist conspiracy theorist when Hager opened up the Dirty Politics black ops team working within Key’s office.
    Calling award winning Journalist Glenn Greenwald and whistle blowers Julian Assange and Edward Snowden ‘Henchmen’ when they revealed the truth of Key’s mass surveillance plans.
    Having all of Andrea Vance’s emails and phone records taken.
    Using far right hate speech merchant and Fascist Cameron Slater to smear public servants the Government didn’t like.
    Falsifying SIS information and working with the state spy service to smear Phil Goff in the media months before the 2011 election.

    http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/03/05/the-hypocrisy-of-key-on-freedom-of-speech/#sthash.uwDHXaQg.dpuf

    • framu 4.1
      5 March 2015 at 8:55 am

      and he dropped another clanger today saying that the last time nikki hagar made claims it all turned out to be lies

      shame that JKs stories kept changing on a day to day basis during that time

      and frankly – media shouldnt be able to broadcast blatant lies from our MPs without some sort of context or further facts added. (im not saying they should tell us what to think gosman)

      • SHG 4.1.1
        5 March 2015 at 12:56 pm

        Well then, all Nicky Hager has to do is prove that the claims in his book are true. That’s called “journalism”.

        • framu 4.1.1.1
          6 March 2015 at 8:05 am

          so nicky hagar presents the news now and/or gets right of reply every time the MSM lets JK spread lies?

          Is Hagar the subject of all JKs lies?

          Is Hagar employed as the media’;s fact checker?

          its about the MSM repeating things they know arent true – is that clear?

        • Tracey 4.1.1.2
          6 March 2015 at 8:07 am

          did not the release of the hacked emails by the hacker put evidence to the claims?

        • Naturesong 4.1.1.3
          6 March 2015 at 8:27 am

          Proof as in, confirmation of authenticity from the person whose emails they were?

          Like that time that the oily one confirmed that the emails were true when he went to court to try and get them suppressed.

          Is that the sort of proof you were after?

    • Chooky 4.2
      5 March 2015 at 9:53 am

      +100….good points Pasupial

  5. vto 5
    5 March 2015 at 8:03 am

    John Key is a bare-faced liar yet again

    liar
    liar
    liar

    john key is a liar

  6. Gosman 6
    5 March 2015 at 8:32 am

    Isn’t this what a foreign intelligence agency is meant to do?

    • mickysavage 6.1
      5 March 2015 at 8:34 am

      How would you feel if the Russians were collecting all of our digital data?

      • Roflcopter 6.1.1
        5 March 2015 at 8:39 am

        Of course they do, as well as every other nation with capability to do so, but I don’t see you making a big song and dance about it.

      • Naturesong 6.1.2
        5 March 2015 at 8:41 am

        I think the analogy is “what if the Australians were collecting all of our digital data?”

        But of course that isn’t necessary since we hand it all over to them anyway.

      • Gosman 6.1.3
        5 March 2015 at 8:42 am

        I’m pretty confident that is exactly what the Russians attempt to do.

        • Once was Tim 6.1.3.1
          5 March 2015 at 9:39 am

          @ Gosman ….
          There is an article on Stuff which no doubt you’ve read by Michael Field.
          The headline doesn’t do it justice and is a little at odds with the content because the point he is making is that although we’re hoovering up all communications (i.e. hearing), we’re not actually ‘listening’.
          It’s all a bit pointless and driven more by political paranoia than anything – which begs the question WHY do it in the first place? All that’s being achieved is we’re pissing off our neighbours from whom we then expect ‘loyalty’ (when we go for things like Security Council seats). We seem to get it wrong every time.
          All that’s quite apart from issues of the State warehousing personal information for ‘future use’ (just as the Stasi did).
          No doubt you’re fine with that but don’t expect cooperation from the spied on when there’s a need to go groveling to them.

        • wtl 6.1.3.2
          5 March 2015 at 11:43 am

          Yes, and it is STOPPING the Russians and Chinese from collecting this data is exactly what the GCSB is meant to be doing, not collecting the data themselves.

          • Gosman 6.1.3.2.1
            6 March 2015 at 8:22 am

            No its not
            That is the role of counter intelligence. The GCSB’s main focus us on intelligence gathering.

            • tricledrown 6.1.3.2.1.1
              18 March 2015 at 12:16 pm

              Knowing the Russians and Chinese they won’t need to collect any thing as the Yanks will do it for them the Yanks have never been able to keep any secrets.So the GSCB handing info to the US will probably be seen in China first as it still requires huge manpower to desciminate vast volumes of Data.
              The US claims to have better technology to keep its secrets when its made in China.
              While New Zealand’s National party had signed up Huawei to set up its broadband .
              Huawei have been caught many times doing espionage stealing state and coporate secrets.
              So Goose man.
              As per usual you are full of it.

      • nadis 6.1.4
        5 March 2015 at 11:27 am

        The russians and the chinese are , or at least attempting to. The state surveillance mechanism within Russia and China are way more intrusive than 5 eyes. We just don’t hear about them via Snowden, wikileaks or similar.

        Russia’s system has been described as “Prism on steroids”. Google “Sorm” for more details.

        Ron Deibert, a professor at the University of Toronto and director of Citizen Lab, which co-operated with the Sochi research, describes the Sorm amendments as “Prism on steroids”, referring to the programme used by the NSA in the US and revealed to the Guardian by the whistleblower Edward Snowden. “The scope and scale of Russian surveillance are similar to the disclosures about the US programme but there are subtle differences to the regulations,” says Deibert. “We know from Snowden’s disclosures that many of the checks were weak or sidestepped in the US, but in the Russian system permanent access for Sorm is a requirement of building the infrastructure.”

        For instance Russian internet and telephone providers have to pay for and install a system that records all information (not jhust meta but also content) and make it available to 7 different government agencies without warrant or notification to the customer.

        http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/nsa-is-no-match-for-the-fsb/481913.html

        • Colonial Rawshark 6.1.4.1
          5 March 2015 at 11:37 am

          I think you are correct and the Russian spy systems are far more intrusive and overt within their own borders. However they do not have anywhere near the access to western telcos and fibre optic networks terminating on US territory as the NSA and FVEY nations have.

          What this tells me is that our intelligence agencies are far more interested in mass surveillance of their own citizens, probably for the purposes of political control.

          I am pretty sure that Snowden’s offices in Hawaii will have had direct access to all data travelling on NZ’s Southern Cross cable. The Ruskies wouldn’t have that.

          Another example is how the NSA sets up interception rooms in the middle of telco switch centres. In these rooms, beam splitters are used to take a full copy of a fibre optic cable’s contents. We’re talking many gigabits per second taken and stored. These facilities were installed across the USA.

          One difference to the Russian scenario you mention is that I understand that the NSA pays telcos handsomely to have NSA facilities on site. All part of the money go round intrinsic in the heart of the Security Surveillance Industrial Congressional Complex.

          http://www.wired.com/2013/06/nsa-whistleblower-klein/

          • nadis 6.1.4.1.1
            5 March 2015 at 12:20 pm

            I’m not sure your making a logical point here – you might want to re-read what you have written.

            The two sentences in para 1 are logically inconsistent with each other for instance.

            Yes I’m sure the americans have access to to the southern cross cable terminating on their terrotiry and the Russains probably don’t. But the russians do have access to cables terminating in Russia or their satellites. So again the point you are making is logically inconsistent.

            The only point you make that makes sense is that NSA pays telcos for access, whereas the FSB charges the telcos for giving access.

            Heres how I’d summarise:

            – Hagars revelations today are a big yawn and nothing new – shades of Dotcoms big reveal. Oversold and under-delivered. Where is the promised proof of domestic surveillance?
            – Every major government does this or aspires to do so. It’s just easy to point fingers at the USA because more information flies around
            – There appears to no suggestion the Governments of the Pacific nations are being spied on by 5 eyes – that would be at least a little bit explosive. (BTW I think they probably are being spied on especially in their dealings with China).
            – What Snowden released probably undersells what NSA is capable of and does

            • Colonial Rawshark 6.1.4.1.1.1
              5 March 2015 at 12:33 pm

              Every major government does this or aspires to do so

              Mass surveillance is directly against the US Fourth Amendment. And until the last decade and a half, only Soviet police states have aspired to conduct mass surveillance on their own citizens.

              – There appears to no suggestion the Governments of the Pacific nations are being spied on by 5 eyes – that would be at least a little bit explosive. (BTW I think they probably are being spied on especially in their dealings with China).

              As one of the FVEY nations NZ is passing their data on to other FVEY nations. That is clear in Fisher’s write up.

              – Hagars revelations today are a big yawn and nothing new – shades of Dotcoms big reveal. Oversold and under-delivered. Where is the promised proof of domestic surveillance?

              Remember that there are a series of Herald articles coming out. Also this is not about the hype – this is about the reality of mass surveillance on ordinary people and the gradual undermining of democratic institutions.

              • nadis …
                5 March 2015 at 12:58 pm

                I think the technical position of the US government is that they do not engage in mass surveillance of US citizens, and therefore the actions of the NSA are within US law. (The reality may or may not be different).

                US constitutional protections do not apply to non-citizens.

                • Colonial Rawshark …
                  5 March 2015 at 1:23 pm

                  Given that the US intelligence services is building hundreds of thousands of square metres worth of data storage facilities eg. at Bluffdale, Utah (and there are several more facilities), they’re definitely spying on a very, very large number of people re: both metadata and content.

            • Murray Rawshark 6.1.4.1.1.2
              7 March 2015 at 4:37 pm

              “– There appears to no suggestion the Governments of the Pacific nations are being spied on by 5 eyes”

              You mean apart from the fact that they collect everything?

    • One Anonymous Bloke 6.2
      5 March 2015 at 8:37 am

      Never mind that deploying military personnel against civilians is a war crime.

      • Gosman 6.2.1
        5 March 2015 at 8:43 am

        So spying is now a war crime is it?

        • One Anonymous Bloke 6.2.1.1
          5 March 2015 at 8:46 am

          Did you twist my words because you don’t understand them or because you agree with them?

          • Roflcopter 6.2.1.1.1
            5 March 2015 at 8:48 am

            What’s this got to do with spying?

            • One Anonymous Bloke 6.2.1.1.1.1
              5 March 2015 at 9:12 am

              Roflcopter, spying is a military activity. Like any military activity it has legitimate targets. Targeting civilians is outlawed by the Geneva conventions.

              When there are grounds to spy on civilians, that is carried out by the civilian authorities as part of a court ordered procedure.

              Or is that just lip service you Righties pay to your Lawnorder idol?

              • Gosman …
                5 March 2015 at 9:23 am

                A question for you on that. If I read a newspaper in a foreign country and gather intelligence from that to be used by intelligence services here or in a third country would you regard that as a war crime?

                • One Anonymous Bloke …
                  5 March 2015 at 9:39 am

                  I’m not playing your stupid twenty questions game Gosman. if you’ve got something to say, say it.

                  • Gosman …
                    5 March 2015 at 9:57 am

                    My point is that your attempt to claim that gathering intelligence from non military sources somehow breeches the Geneva convention is not grounded in reality as that is how Intelligence agencies have always operated.

                    • One Anonymous Bloke …
                      5 March 2015 at 12:39 pm

                      Yes, because reading newspapers is exactly the same as intercepting people’s phone calls.

                    • felix …
                      5 March 2015 at 12:45 pm

                      What if Gosman ate a cake while on holiday, and it remained with him all the way home. Would that be the same as stealing the recipe or is he just full of shit?

                    • emergency mike …
                      5 March 2015 at 1:06 pm

                      Gosman thinks reading a newspaper is ‘intelligence gathering’. Go home, you’re stupid.

                • DoublePlusGood …
                  5 March 2015 at 12:45 pm

                  How exactly is publicly available information like a newspaper in any way similar to hacked personal communications?
                  I mean really, please think before you write.

                  • Gosman …
                    6 March 2015 at 8:27 am

                    I didn’t state is was the same. I pointed out trying to claim spying on civilians is against the Geneva convention is not based in reality as Spy agencies have done this since they were first set up.

                • Murray Rawshark …
                  7 March 2015 at 4:39 pm

                  “A question for you on that. If I read a newspaper in a foreign country and gather intelligence from that to be used by intelligence services here or in a third country would you regard that as a war crime?”

                  No Goosemann, if you gathered anything intelligent I’d regard it as a miracle.

              • Jones …
                5 March 2015 at 11:31 am

                Spying is also a commercial activity.

                • One Anonymous Bloke …
                  5 March 2015 at 12:40 pm

                  Not when military personnel do it.

                  • Murray Rawshark …
                    7 March 2015 at 4:41 pm

                    It probably is actually a mixture of both, OAB. The Pentagon basically works on behalf of US corporates and has since the days of Smedley Butler. I don’t think there is a real distinction between military and commercial any more.

          • Gosman 6.2.1.1.2
            5 March 2015 at 8:53 am

            Have you ever read or heard about WWII publicity campaigns such as ‘Loose lips sink ships’ ? What do you think they were about? Perhaps they were about spies gathering important intelligence from civilian members of the public. In fact I’m pretty sure spies have always gained valuable intel from general (i.e. civilian) sources.

            • framu 6.2.1.1.2.1
              5 March 2015 at 8:57 am

              so you favor a stasi like approach to how the govt treats its citizens?

              that does appear to be what you are providing semantic cover for – maybe you could clear up any confusion in a clear and concise manner?

              • Gosman …
                5 March 2015 at 9:03 am

                Massive leap there. The Stasi kept dossiers on most of the citizens of that poor communist dictatorship. That is not the same as sifting through data to identify potential threats.

                If you have evidence that the security services have individual dossiers on all or even a significant portion of us then you have my 100 percent support to overthrow the brutal dictatorial regime we obviously live in as a result.

                • framu …
                  5 March 2015 at 9:10 am

                  so you disagree that the NSA keeps all the data we send it?

                  your being quite obvious on this one gos – we all know your not this thick so just stop it ok

                  but as usual – your avoiding. Can you clear up what exactly you mean in a clear and concise manner without the side steps and goal post shifting?

                  • Gosman …
                    5 March 2015 at 9:19 am

                    I work in IT and have experience with data collection and storage. The idea that there is a system in place that collects and stores all our individual communication in a manner that could be easily accessed from a single location is fanciful. For one it would likely require Servers more powerful that what Google uses. For another it wouldn’t really help intelligence agencies having so much information. They want relevant detail not everything. Of course you can construct a giant conspiratorial fanstasy world where we are all secretly being manipulated and controlled by dark sinister forces. I believe they are shape shifting reptillian aliens last time I looked.

                    • One Anonymous Bloke …
                      5 March 2015 at 9:26 am

                      The fact that they boast about it doesn’t register with Gosman. That they outline the hardware by which it is achieved doesn’t raise a ripple. The fact that it’s a war crime doesn’t either.

                      Then there’s the ridiculous notion that collecting everyone’s data means you have to read all of it.

                      Look! A cycleway!

                    • framu …
                      5 March 2015 at 9:32 am

                      so your calling the the US senate/congress, nsa, greenwald, hagar, JK and numerous other insiders and commentators liars now?

                      all of these people/groups have admitted/exposed/acknowledged that mass meta data collection and storage happens.

                      unless your making some cute little distinction between meta data and message contents of course

                    • Gosman …
                      5 March 2015 at 9:32 am

                      “Then there’s the ridiculous notion that collecting everyone’s data means you have to read all of it.”

                      That is my point. If you don’t read it you are wasting your money if you then store it. They sift through a massive amount of data to identify the bits that are relevant and then likely dump the rest.

                    • Skinny …
                      5 March 2015 at 9:49 am

                      Oh I see now, “your in IT” and an expert in spying by the sounds of it.

                      I thought someone was watching me if I take my phone into the bathroom when I shower ‘,’ you flithy little animal. Thought you would have a complex by now Gosman.

                    • Kaplan …
                      5 March 2015 at 9:56 am

                      Gosman. You may claim to work in IT but you have had nothing to do with big data if you believe what you have typed here. Storing and reporting on massive amounts of data is not hard in the slightest.

                      In terms a layman can understand:
                      Google continuously crawl and index the entire internet. Most content is crawled and indexed with twelve hours of creation, usually much quicker.
                      Once the data is indexed user searches can return relevant data in a few milliseconds To do this with communication data is a formality, with the added bonus that it’d be totally acceptable to have the operator batch queue their searches and return data in minutes rather than seconds.

                      You can say what you like about the morals and consequences of storing communication data but trying to argue the job is ‘too hard’ is factually incorrect.

                    • Gosman …
                      5 March 2015 at 10:02 am

                      Google has massive server farms which cost hundreds if not billions of dollars to set up and operate. They manage to do this because the generate billions in revenue. The US Military is well resourced it is true but I doubt even they could justify the huge expenditures required to maintain a Google size infrastructure especially if most of the data is never used and therefore useless.

                    • Pascals bookie …
                      5 March 2015 at 10:11 am

                      “but I doubt even they could justify the huge expenditures required to maintain a Google size infrastructure especially if most of the data is never used and therefore useless”

                      lol

                      This would cost more or less then the f-35?

                      And they prob use this for getting an edge in MoH

                      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_Data_Center

                    • thatguynz …
                      5 March 2015 at 10:14 am

                      I suggest you get into some googling about the NSA datacentres then Gos – you may be surprised.

                    • tricledrown …
                      5 March 2015 at 11:32 am

                      Go StasSIS man.
                      Spinning your pathetic web of lies cynicism and deceit.
                      So we have example of those who expose the Truth.
                      Private Manning totured held in solitary confinement locked up for the rest of his life.
                      His whole life ruined for exposing a multiple murder by US marines.
                      Those perpetrators muderers have never been brought to justice.
                      Now we complain when the enemy retaliate in just as gruesome manner.
                      A 13 year old Arab boy non combatent is kidnapped by Jewish fundamentalists and burned alive in a similar manner to Jordanian pilot combatent.
                      Key uses one example but not equally horific other example.
                      Go goostepper.

                    • Colonial Rawshark …
                      5 March 2015 at 11:49 am

                      The FVEY citizen surveillance system is orders of magnitude more powerful than what the Stasi could even dream of.

                      I laughed at Gossie’s use of the word “dossiers” as that is a weasel word that Clapper, Hayden and other head spooks sometimes use to confuse the issue.

                      Of course the FVEY agencies don’t keep “dossiers” or “folders” on individual citizens like the Stasi did. These things are now generated instantaneously via automated database queries, including transcripts of all your phone conversations. (ahhh, Dragon naturally speaking dictation software, how you have fallen).

                      Just another BS Gossie distraction in other words.

                    • nadis …
                      5 March 2015 at 11:49 am

                      I’m pretty sure the NSA isn’t struggling for budget, though it is pretty hared to tell becuase much of its’ budget is secret.

                      Recent spending:

                      http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2013/07/24/blueprints-of-nsa-data-center-in-utah-suggest-its-storage-capacity-is-less-impressive-than-thought/

                    • Colonial Rawshark …
                      5 March 2015 at 11:54 am

                      Worth remembering that Snowden was a Booz Allen consultant. The security and surveillance state has been throwing massive amounts of money to the private sector.

                      Where former NSA chief Gen Keith Alexander has just gone to work for millions, incidentally, as a consultant helping high tech corporates get NSA and Pentagon contracts.

                    • Tracey …
                      6 March 2015 at 8:12 am

                      I am sorry you work in IT, it makes me nervous to think of someone with your lack of ethics and understanding of privacy in charge of anything.

            • tricledrown 6.2.1.1.2.2
              5 March 2015 at 11:43 am

              Goostepper they haven’t gained any intelligence from you.

              • Colonial Rawshark …
                5 March 2015 at 11:50 am

                Unfortunately though we have found out that Gosman appears to enjoy being watched.

              • tricledrown …
                5 March 2015 at 12:17 pm

                Booze Allen is a CIA fronting company only set up to give the appearance of a private contractor.most likely funded by CIA clandestine money laundering through drug trade corruption clandestine activities (like the disappearance of US billions in Iraqis )etc tto o avoid oversight by govt agencies.

        • Sabine 6.2.1.2
          5 March 2015 at 9:22 am

          The Gestapo and the Stasi and the KGB said all the same thing 🙂

          • Gosman 6.2.1.2.1
            5 March 2015 at 9:26 am

            Have you just Godwin’d this thread?

            I have already explained why there is a difference between what the Stasi did and what is suggested happens here.

            Another question for you. What level of Spying is acceptable to you/

            • framu 6.2.1.2.1.1
              5 March 2015 at 9:33 am

              actually buddy – if your going to play godwin i think that was me (unless godwin only applies to gestapo and not stasi)

            • DoublePlusGood 6.2.1.2.1.2
              6 March 2015 at 10:10 am

              It’s not actually a Godwin if mention of Nazis is relevant to the discussion, as it is here with reference to a historical example of a totalitarian surveillance state.
              I mean, otherwise World War II History scholarship just wouldn’t work, as peer review would consist of “I disagree with the author here, as I do not consider Godwinning during a discussion of occupied Belgium to be appropriate”

      • nadis 6.2.2
        5 March 2015 at 12:54 pm

        Selective reading of the Geneva convention. It is not a war crime to “deploy military personnel against civilians”. It’s a war crime to use military force against non-combatants (which includes surrendered combatants), use torture, deny them medical aid, use summary justice. But the mere fact that a soldier interacts with a civilian is not a war crime.

        I’m also not sure whether the NSA is military or civilian. It is part of the DoD, but has mostly civilian employees, although the head has always had a rank of at least General. The CIA is certainly a civilian organisation.

        • One Anonymous Bloke 6.2.2.1
          5 March 2015 at 12:57 pm

          “Interacts with” is exactly the same as illegal surveillance is it? The distinction between the GCSB and SIS is military.

    • framu 6.3
      5 March 2015 at 8:52 am

      i dont think “spy on everyone” is what an intelligence agency is meant to do – do you?

      • Gosman 6.3.1
        5 March 2015 at 8:55 am

        I don’t believe they have such restrictions placed on their activities overseas. Their remit is to gather intelligence from foreign sources. This they seem to be doing.

        • framu 6.3.1.1
          5 March 2015 at 8:58 am

          aww look – hes pretending he doesnt understand how five eyes operates vis a vis info sharing and spying on behalf

          • Gosman 6.3.1.1.1
            5 March 2015 at 9:00 am

            Your point ?

            • framu 6.3.1.1.1.1
              5 March 2015 at 9:09 am

              your playing your role here on purpose

            • Tiger Mountain 6.3.1.1.1.2
              5 March 2015 at 9:30 am

              “GCSB is just doing their expected job” according to resident snout Gosman; well dear leader has previously offered to resign if mass surveillance of ‘noo zilundas’ was revealed and it appears that it has been.

              Lots of Pasifika people and Pacific tourists and business people are NZ citizens so the GCSB has undie sniffed beyond the brief, no pun etc.

              Nat HQ and Crosby Textor took a while to cough up todays line that the Penguin and others are now regurgitating online.

    • fisiani 6.4
      5 March 2015 at 9:43 am

      Foreign intelligence is about ….wait for it……getting intelligence about foreigners. Quelle surprise!
      This is a storm in a D-cup. What a tit.

      • Bill 6.4.1
        5 March 2015 at 9:51 am

        And NZ is playing the role of faithful lieutenant for the US….why?

        Gathering info on individual foreigners who are ‘of interest’ is a bit different to monitoring Pacific government ministers and senior officials, government agencies, international organisations and non-government organisations, no?

        http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11411759

        And it’s a bit different to collecting economic info. And it’s a bit different to collecting all communications that are interceptable and passing it all to the US, no?

      • Tracey 6.4.2
        6 March 2015 at 8:16 am

        foreign intelligence

        This is what intelligence and independent thinking is to Fisi.

    • Colonial Rawshark 6.5
      5 March 2015 at 10:04 am

      Isn’t this what a foreign intelligence agency is meant to do?

      Mass surveillance is a totalitarian activity which puts all of us in danger. It does that by disempowering elected officials and subverting democratic processes. A ‘secret government’ (usually made up of a few men in various closed committee meetings) ends up with excess power, making all key decisions, with only a veneer of democratic legitimacy placed as a cherry on top as an after thought.

      Make no mistake – all the metadata AND content related to NZers is being captured as well.

      • Gosman 6.5.1
        5 March 2015 at 10:26 am

        Do you think Andrew Little or anyone in Labour will make the case that we should change what is happening?

        [ Congratulations on hitting moderation. Your comments may or may not be released as and when a moderator gets around to clearing out the queue – Bill]

    • Tracey 6.6
      6 March 2015 at 8:08 am

      Hi John, thanks for commenting on The Standard. Just yesterday you said you weren’t doing this, that the claims are lies.

    • Murray Rawshark 6.7
      7 March 2015 at 4:32 pm

      No, it’s not what an intelligence agency is supposed to do. It would be akin to the police interrogating every citizen on a random basis because they may have committed some crime. Nothing to hide, nothing to fear, eh? It’s not even intelligent and it’s done on behalf of the seppos. FJK.

  7. Sabine 7
    5 March 2015 at 9:24 am

    Maybe we could – and that includes me – just ignore the one that is just here to ejaculate over his keyboard.

    It makes for better discussions.

  8. Gosman 8
    5 March 2015 at 9:39 am

    They just had a Pacific Islands correspondant (I presume for Radio NZ) on Nine to Noon. He mentioned that this sort of thing is pretty standard. China for example has had a major spy base on Kiribati which has been doing similar activities. What do people think a external intelligence organisation should do if not gather intelligence on other countries?

    • Bill 8.1
      5 March 2015 at 9:57 am

      Okay Gosman, I’ll attempt to make this simple for you. The NZ Government isn’t collecting ‘intelligence’ – it’s collecting everything.

      • Colonial Rawshark 8.1.1
        5 March 2015 at 10:34 am

        Yep including piles of dross producing far too much data for their analysts to wade through. Which is why the much vaunted security services keep missing terrorist plans until after they occur.

        As Bill Binney (former NSA Technical Director ‘of the world’, a rank equivalent to a 1 star or 2 star General within the NSA) has repeatedly said – they keep the problem going in order to keep the funding flowing.

        TL:DR they use “terrorism” to gain budget and power, but create a system which targets everyone, not terrorists.

        • Tracey 8.1.1.1
          6 March 2015 at 8:18 am

          this point requires major highlighting and repetition. it is part of the crux, that and the feeding of information received/gathered for the benefit of the kinds of corporates who are “advisors” to the USA TPP team.

    • Once was Tim 8.2
      5 March 2015 at 10:05 am

      You actually missed the point he has been trying to make – i.e. we’re gathering and hearing but NOT actually listening.
      The spooks are all very chuffed at their ability to gather and keep for future use, but they fuck it up in its interpretation EVERY time!
      What’s the point in being able to prove Frank is unfaithful to Mere (say for example) – only for effective future blackmailing in the future. I mean we know the answer to that already (or rather the diplomatic corps do, or SHOULD do).
      And what is the point of being able to do that on NZ citizens visiting the Pacific other than being in a position to blackmail them or kick them into line sometime in the future. Of course, you’re utterly perfect without any human failings, so it won’t affect you. The intent is ‘compliance’, but as we see elsewhere in the world – the exact opposite is more often the case.

    • One Anonymous Bloke 8.3
      6 March 2015 at 8:26 am

      All you have to do to see the wrong in this is turn the tables. A frigate from Iceland docks in Wellington. Sailors from that frigate, once they’ve ticked all the customs boxes, can come and go as they please.

      If they come and go as they please while systematically tapping our phones and opening our letters, they’re criminals. If they were tourists they’d get arrested. So the police arrest them.

      “Ah,” they argue, “we were only following orders.”

      War crimes, just like other crimes, come in different degrees of severity. This isn’t as bad as murdering people at weddings, and it’s still a war crime.

  9. framu 9
    5 March 2015 at 9:43 am

    In the 1970s the government realised that more crimes were being committed than was technically possible. This was partly due to the fact that 31% of crimes were fabricated by the government to keep citizens in a constant state of anxiety. To maintain its own credibility, the government banned the use of contraceptives for 3 months per year in the hope that the population would rise and thus generate the citizens required to meet the implausible high crime figures.

    The scheme backfired when the new population proved to comprise largely blameless, model citizens. However, the government was not convinced of their apparent virtue and created a special, combined investigation & prosecution squad. It invested birds, insects and other animals with the full power of a law court and trained them to spy on citizens, assuming that guilt would inevitably be detected.

    In addition to pigeons (see below), there were crack teams of sparrows, cats, butterflies, stoats and tuna, but there were also ‘lone wolf’ operatives, the most infamous of which was a ladybird who everyone knew as Two-Spots Bailey, though his real identity remains a mystery to this day.

    • Gosman 9.1
      5 March 2015 at 9:47 am

      This has just gone to prove the fact that 76.4% of statistics are made up to try and influence an argument.

      • framu 9.1.1
        5 March 2015 at 9:48 am

        i see what you did there – look gosman ive told you a million times – stop exaggerating 🙂

        • Gosman 9.1.1.1
          5 March 2015 at 10:11 am

          Have you got a link to your 31% of crimes being fabricated by the government claim?

          • framu 9.1.1.1.1
            5 March 2015 at 11:19 am

            yes – but its not what you think it is

          • Once was Tim 9.1.1.1.2
            6 March 2015 at 1:48 pm

            I do – I’ll put it up on Wiki and get a couple of mates to peer review just as soon as I can translate the BS-speak (going forward)

            Just as an aside Gozzzz-boi

            Do you ekshly have an ego the size of a bus, or are you more a kind of Jamie-Lee Ross type fella.
            I’m just a little curious after that claim above about your IT creds and database knowledge (or rather ‘knowism’).

            If you don;t want to answer, fair cop. It’s just that you are one of the reasons I don’t ‘engage’ with The Standard other than to read and occasionally comment (i.e. you’re one the reasons I flick to ‘elsewhere’ and I suppose that’s mission successful for you.
            (Don’t think it’ll add an inch to the length or girth tho’ Goz – I ain;t the meat – it’s the motion ….. something I reckon you’d even have to check with your masters before even attempting)

    • David 9.2
      5 March 2015 at 12:36 pm

      Best lolz of the day, Two-Spots Bailey?

      • framu 9.2.1
        6 March 2015 at 8:08 am

        go to the scarfolk link – sure its really just one big add for a freelance graphic designer – but its damn funny in a douglas adams/monty python esque sort of way

  10. Bill 10
    5 March 2015 at 9:46 am

    From an accompanying Herald article that appears a wee bit more informative…

    Leaked Snowden files show most of GCSB’s targets are not security threats to New Zealand, as Government suggests.

    And the countries include Tuvalu, Nauru, Kiribati and Samoa, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Fiji, Tonga and French Polynesia.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11411759

    • Gosman 10.1
      5 March 2015 at 9:48 am

      You don’t think the French are a potential threat to NZ?

      • Bill 10.1.1
        5 March 2015 at 10:02 am

        I think you’re being a threat to my good will and patience. Up your game, engage intelligently and stop with the mostly irrelevant and potentially derailing one-liners or risk being neutralised (ie, copping a ban on this post), yes?

        • Gosman 10.1.1.1
          5 March 2015 at 10:09 am

          There has been only one act of State sponsored terrorism carried out in New Zealand and it was perfomed by the French. I’m not sure why pointing this out would incur a ban when you posted a list of countries that included territories controlled by France with the implied assumption being why should we target these nations. I merely asked why would the French not be a threat.

          • Bill 10.1.1.1.1
            5 March 2015 at 10:25 am

            It wouldn’t. The “mostly irrelevant and potentially derailing one-liners” in conjunction with what I pointed out in my previous comment and compounded by wasting my fucking time will though.

          • tricledrown 10.1.1.1.2
            5 March 2015 at 11:47 am

            Goostepper is now frog marching this discussion.

            [ Nope. All comments he attempts to make on this thread have been hitting (and staying in) moderation since about 10.30.] – Bill

  11. Sable 11
    5 March 2015 at 9:46 am

    First of all its Edward Snowden not Eric. As to the rest, well I’ve said it before but Ill go on saying it because it needs to be said; this government are “traitors” selling us all out to US interests.

    • Colonial Rawshark 11.1
      5 March 2015 at 10:38 am

      Apparently most of our leadership class are too keen to get in bed with the 0.1% to really worry about looking after the rest of our interests.

      Make no mistake, this mass collection of data and metadata will have been occurring (or prepared for) during Helen Clark’s time. (The NSA started mass collection of American citizens’ data in October 2001, and gradually gave their tools to the rest of the FVEY nations.)

      • Murray Rawshark 11.1.1
        7 March 2015 at 4:57 pm

        I’m willing to be charitable and think that the squirrels may have done it behind Helen’s back. Goff, Jones, and Mallard may have been the only government members who knew.

  12. Anne 12
    5 March 2015 at 9:50 am

    While the GCSB has always had a role carrying out surveillance on the Pacific, the Snowden documents show it grew massively from 2009.

    If my memory is right, the head of the GCSB was Sir Bruce Ferguson in 2009. He had been appointed by Helen Clark some 3 years sooner, and his term was due for renewal that same year. To everyone’s surprise his position was not renewed by the new govt. (or he was advised it would not be renewed) and he was forced to go into premature retirement. At the time I assumed his ‘crime’ had been that he was elevated to the position by the Labour govt. so therefore he had to go. It is now more likely to have been the proposed increases in surveillance activity, and they assumed – correctly I’m sure – that Sir Bruce would not tolerate such massive increases.

    It also suggests to me that given all this happened within months of Key becoming PM, he had been having private discussions with the Americans when he was still the Leader of the Opposition? Now, that scenario, if correct, would raise some very interesting questions indeed!

    • Chooky 12.1
      5 March 2015 at 9:59 am

      +100 Anne…good points…New Zealand is rapidly losing its sovereignty and becoming an instrument to outside interests ….under John Key

      ….and I hope Little Labour is not party to this

      • Tautoko Mangō Mata 12.1.1
        5 March 2015 at 10:06 am

        Taking this line of thought further, what incentives have been given to John Key if he implemented the US plan? I am thinking aloud on hidden campaign funding as well as string pulling.

        • Anne 12.1.1.1
          5 March 2015 at 10:15 am

          That was my line of thought too. It would also account for his gaining access to Obama with such remarkable ease virtually from Day One. A very, very, very, very good friend indeed!

          When you think about it, he always came across as slightly uneasy whenever he was questioned about his (and NZ’s) sudden increase in ties to the US. It was almost as if he was wary of questions in case he let something slip.

        • Colonial Rawshark 12.1.1.2
          5 March 2015 at 10:41 am

          I am thinking aloud on hidden campaign funding as well as string pulling.

          Possibly – although these days the “bribe” of choice is a plum multi-million dollar private sector “consulting” position after leaving public office.

          • Anne 12.1.1.2.1
            5 March 2015 at 10:52 am

            I have always been suspicious of Key’s decision not to delay his departure to Los Angeles (for a matter of some 12 hours or so) at the time of the memorial service for the 3 soldiers killed in combat in Afghanistan. The son’s baseball match was crap because it transpired it took place 4 days after the event. We also learnt later that on his way to the baseball he had a pre-arranged dinner in LA… purportedly at the invitation of the Warner Bros. moguls. Who else was present I wonder…?

    • Gosman 12.2
      5 March 2015 at 10:06 am

      Why don’t you, or someone else, go and ask him? He has been interviewed on matters of security on numerous times since 2009 so he isn’t shy giving his opinion.

      • Tautoko Mangō Mata 12.2.1
        5 March 2015 at 10:08 am

        He was shy this morning- no interview on RNZ

        • tricledrown 12.2.1.1
          5 March 2015 at 12:00 pm

          Key wouldn’t have had his spin doctors briefing from Cosby trickster the Aussie Lizard bellied low life lying company who will not be taking advice from goostepper.

      • miravox 12.2.2
        5 March 2015 at 10:12 am

        Yep, clearly it would be for

        really, really good reasons.

      • marty mars 12.2.3
        5 March 2015 at 11:42 am

        He’d just lie like he always does

      • tricledrown 12.2.4
        5 March 2015 at 12:03 pm

        Cosby tricksters make Rolf Harris look good.

      • Tracey 12.2.5
        6 March 2015 at 8:21 am

        he is very shy on giving facts and truth though

      • Murray Rawshark 12.2.6
        7 March 2015 at 5:00 pm

        It’s not worth asking Key anything because he lies. He may not be shy about giving an opinion, but it’s not guaranteed to be his, nor to be honest. This is why we need people like Snowden and Hager. It’s the only way we find out what our government is doing.

        • Colonial Rawshark 12.2.6.1
          7 March 2015 at 5:39 pm

          How can an uninformed and misled electorate participate in democracy? Of course, it cannot, so all we have left really are the superficial trappings of democracy while all the ‘serious decisions’ are made by the in-crowd in the back rooms well out of sight.

    • Tracey 12.3
      6 March 2015 at 8:20 am

      Interesting timeline, thanks

  13. Dont worry. Be happy 13
    5 March 2015 at 10:38 am

    Do we have free and fair elections in this country? Or do we have so much money swilling around that in effect we have “bought and paid for ” elections?

    And does some or most of that money come in from the large corperations that want to own this country?

    Was the ‘economic coup’ of Roger Douglas a one off or the beginning of a trend?

    Why NZ?

    We have resources, many of them under our sea bed.

    Many of the 1% consider NZ to be a type of life boat for when their policies have completely stuffed the rest of the Planet.

    And we have form…we once showed the World, that a small aware population can give the Empires a two fingered salute.

    Spying of the type revelaed already is not for the security of the State, unless the State is now defined as the 1%. The “sniff it all” spying we are now paying for instead of fixing leaky hospitals say is to get info to blackmail people …to add another tool to the control kit.

    Why else would the SIS have people behind the scenes in the casinos?

    • Colonial Rawshark 13.1
      5 March 2015 at 10:43 am

      Do we have free and fair elections in this country? Or do we have so much money swilling around that in effect we have “bought and paid for ” elections?

      I think our elections are free and fair, but I also think that we must NEVER go to online or electronic voting.

      It’s the “dirty politics” before the election which is definitely not free and fair. For instance, any MP in Parliament who is having an extra-marital affair – if you’ve used txt or email to arrange an illicit meet up, or had a smart phone on you when you went to that meet up – you are already compromised to the intelligence services.

      The suspicion is that they screwed General Patreaus in exactly this way. No one is safe once you get off side.

      This is how actual democracy ends and a surveillance and security state which appears like a democracy is quietly installed in place.

      • nadis 13.1.1
        5 March 2015 at 12:04 pm

        What happened with Petraeus? What did he do to get offside with “them? He was so integral to the development of the US approach to intelligence and counter-terrorism I can’t imagine he is offside withthe US establishment. In fact the clamour from reppublicans and democrats for his pardon and reinstatement is notable. It is actually the US army who (publicly at least) has said see you later.

        I thought the simple story was that he got led astray by his dick, his mistress went psycho at another women she was jealous of and the cyber stalking of that women led to the mistresses email account being investigated by the FBI which led to the discovery of classified information sent to her by Petraeus. If anything the initial response of the FBI and the US Army – victimising Jill Kelley, looks like an attempt to protect Petraeus rather than hang him out.

        Looks like Petraeus has just reached a plea bargain: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/03/03/david-petraeus-paula-broadwell/24312109/

        My bet is that he will be pardoned by Obama next year, and will be back as a special adviser and eventuaqlly as a politician.

      • saveNZ 13.1.2
        6 March 2015 at 9:51 am

        Totally agree. Electronic voting is not safe under any circumstances.

        I don’t think the last election was free and fair. 3 prominent sports people tweeting for National when they had been given funding. Not acceptable!

        Everyone has a private life that should be private unless it involves some sort of corruption.

        Democracy has been eroded in this country and just like other measures, often freedoms won, have to be fought for again and again.

    • thatguynz 13.2
      5 March 2015 at 10:58 am

      I’m truly interested in knowing more about “Why else would the SIS have people behind the scenes in the casinos?”. Do you have more details?

    • Colonial Rawshark 13.3
      5 March 2015 at 11:15 am

      Many of the 1% consider NZ to be a type of life boat for when their policies have completely stuffed the rest of the Planet.

      Bear in mind that most of the 1% are unremarkable, though successful professionals and small business people. If you like, they are the (disposable) enablers of the true multi-millionaire and billionaire class.

      It’s the 0.01% and especially the 0.001% that we need to watch out for.

  14. ankerawshark 14
    5 March 2015 at 10:54 am

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11412186

    And this from my hero at the Herald, David Fisher. One of the few journalist’s there with integrity.

    • Tautoko Mangō Mata 14.1
      5 March 2015 at 11:16 am

      +1 Great job David Fisher.

      It is clear that NZ is simply an outpost of the US as regards surveillance.
      The signing of the TPPA would virtually complete the takeover. Look for the stars and stripes as a flag option!

    • Colonial Rawshark 14.2
      5 March 2015 at 11:20 am

      The one point that Fisher doesn’t quite get around to mentioning is that mass surveillance *weakens* anti-terrorism efforts by burying intelligence agencies in so much data that their analysts are simply overwhelmed. That is why things like the Boston Bombing, the Fort Hood shootings, the Charlie Hebdo killings and the UK school girls running away to Syria after talking to a known terrorist on FaceBook still occur and will keep occurring.

      Mass surveillance is great for targeting problem people you already know about or after the fact, though.

      • Tracey 14.2.1
        6 March 2015 at 8:22 am

        ^^^^^^ this

        scattergun is wasting time and energy and defeating the alleged purpose

  15. Tautoko Mangō Mata 15
    5 March 2015 at 11:40 am

    It would appear that trying to save your own country from exploitation both environmentally and politically is now considered potentially treasonous by an agency, (GCSB) which we, the public, fund. We are the enemy and need to surveilled!

    If you are incensed by the scope of the surveillance exposed today and realise that John Key has allowed this to occur, then you need to seriously consider the fact that signing the TPPA will even further reduce our ability to make our own laws in NZ as additional pressure can be applied by large multicorporations which have largely taken over USA. We don’t want to give away any more rights. We need to take back the rights to privacy that have been secretly stolen from us with the help of John Key in exchange for who knows what?

    Please join in the anti TPPA protest marches on Saturday, 7 March.

    Auckland – http://www.itsourfuture.org.nz/th_event/7-march-auckland/
    Hamilton – http://www.itsourfuture.org.nz/th_event/tppa-no-deal-hamilton/
    Whitianga – http://www.itsourfuture.org.nz/th_event/tppa-no-deal-whitianga/
    Tauranga – http://www.itsourfuture.org.nz/th_event/7-march-tauranga/
    Rotorua – http://www.itsourfuture.org.nz/th_event/7-march-rotorua/
    Napier – http://www.itsourfuture.org.nz/th_event/7-march-napier/
    Gisborne – http://www.itsourfuture.org.nz/th_event/7-march-gisborne/
    Palmerston North – http://www.itsourfuture.org.nz/th_event/7-march-palmerston-north/
    Whanganui – http://www.itsourfuture.org.nz/th_event/7-march-whanganui/
    Levin – http://www.itsourfuture.org.nz/th_event/7-march-levin/
    Wellington – http://www.itsourfuture.org.nz/th_event/7-march-wellington/
    Nelson – http://www.itsourfuture.org.nz/th_event/7-march-nelson/
    Hokitika – http://www.itsourfuture.org.nz/th_event/tppa-no-deal-hokitika-2/
    Christchurch – http://www.itsourfuture.org.nz/th_event/7-march-christchurch/
    Timaru – http://www.itsourfuture.org.nz/th_event/7-march-timaru/
    Dunedin – http://www.itsourfuture.org.nz/th_event/7-march-dunedin/
    Invercargill – http://www.itsourfuture.org.nz/th_event/tppa-no-deal-invercargill/

    • Gosman 15.1
      6 March 2015 at 8:57 am

      Massively off topic i would suggest as spying on people in the Pacific has nowt to do with the TPPA.

      • Murray Rawshark 15.1.1
        7 March 2015 at 5:18 pm

        Wrong Goosemann. Both tie us more firmly to the American empire, although I’m not surprised that you can’t see it. Or more likely, see it and celebrate the tendency.

    • saveNZ 15.2
      6 March 2015 at 9:35 am

      +1
      For those of all political creeds, unite as TPP will be the sale of NZ on a massive scale.

      Even the right wingers in the US don’t agree with it.

      So if both right and left don’t agree, and the public don’t agree, and nobody is allowed to know what is being agreed, why are governments thinking of signing it?

  16. Ian H 16
    5 March 2015 at 11:43 am

    There is a byelection on and … oh look. It’s Nicky Hager trying to screw the political scrum. What a surprise.

    • vto 16.1
      5 March 2015 at 11:46 am

      John Key is talking and … oh look, nothing but bullshit and absolute lies. What a surprise.

      Good on Hager for getting all required information into the public arena so people can make informed decisions, rather than uninformed knee-jerks

    • Colonial Rawshark 16.2
      5 March 2015 at 11:52 am

      There is a byelection on and … oh look. It’s Nicky Hager trying to screw the political scrum. What a surprise.

      Please explain how you think telling the truth about mass surveillance on our friends affects the Northland by-election.

      Take your time to go into detail.

    • tricledrown 16.3
      5 March 2015 at 11:53 am

      Surprise all the right wingers are screwing John Keys bum.

    • Tracey 16.4
      6 March 2015 at 8:25 am

      Surprise, a Key supporter has no idea what is really important to Northlanders and doesnt care that Key and the National party screwed Northlanders by keeping a VERY big secret about their candidate prior to and after the election. What a surprise.

  17. Chooky 17
    5 March 2015 at 1:30 pm

    This puts it all quite well i think…NZ spies for USA ..and USA is beholden to whom?

    …as some of the comments indicate….not necessarily the American people

    http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/03/05/so-we-spy-on-the-pacific-for-america/

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  • Fact brief – Does manmade CO2 have any detectable fingerprint?

    Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with John Mason. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Does manmade CO2 have any ...
    Skeptical Science
    22 hours ago
  • Judge Not.

    Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. Matthew 7:1-2FOUR HUNDRED AND FORTY men and women professing the Christian faith would appear to have imperilled their immortal souls. ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 day ago
  • Managed Democracy: Letting The People Decide, But Only When They Can Be Relied Upon To Give the Righ...

    Uh-uh! Not So Fast, Citizens! The power to initiate systemic change remains where it has always been in New Zealand’s representative democracy – in Parliament. To order a binding referendum, the House of Representatives must first to be persuaded that, on the question proposed, sharing its decision-making power with the people ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 day ago
  • Looking For Labour’s Vital Signs.

    Flatlining: With no evidence of a genuine policy disruptor at work in Labour’s ranks, New Zealand’s wealthiest citizens can sleep easy.PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN has walked a picket-line. Presidential candidate Kamala Harris has threatened “price-gauging” grocery retailers with price control. The Democratic Party’s 2024 platform situates it well to the left of Sir ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 day ago
  • Forty Years Of Remembering To Forget.

    The Beginning of the End: Rogernomics became the short-hand descriptor for all the radical changes that swept away New Zealand’s social-democratic economy and society between 1984 and 1990. In the bitterest of ironies, those changes were introduced by the very same party which had entrenched New Zealand social-democracy 50 years earlier. ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 day ago
  • Kōrero Mai – Speak to Me.

    Good morning all you lovely people. 🙂I woke up this morning, and it felt a bit like the last day of school. You might recall from earlier in the week that I’m heading home to Rotorua to see an old friend who doesn’t have much time. A sad journey, but ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Winning ways

    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on anything you may have missed. Street architecture adjustment, KolkataShare Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 day ago
  • 48 seconds on a plan that would reverberate for a million years

    Despite fears that Trump presidency would be disastrous for progress on climate change, the topic barely rated a mention in the Presidential debate. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories short, here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Using blunt instruments and magical thinking to ignore evidence of harm

    The abrupt cancellations and suspensions of Government spending also caused private sector hiring, spending, and investment to freeze up for the first six months of the year. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāThis week we learned:The new National/ACT/NZ First Coalition Government ignored advice from Treasury that it didn’t have to ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Is This A Dagger Which I See Before Me: A Review and Analysis of The Rings of Power Episode 5 (Seaso...

    Another week of The Rings of Power, season two, and another confirmation that things are definitely coming together for the show. The fifth Episode of season one represented the nadir of the series. Now? Amid the firmer footing of 2024, Episode Five represents further a further step towards excellent Tolkien ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    2 days ago
  • In Open Seas; A Book

    The background to In Open Seas: How the New Zealand Labour Government Went Wrong:2017-2023Not in Narrow Seas: The Economic History of Aotearoa New Zealand, published in 2020, proved more successful than either I or the publisher (VUP, now Te Herenga Waka University Press) expected. I had expected that it would ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    2 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to Sept 13

    The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts and talking about the week’s news with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on the latest climate science on rising temperatures and the climate implications of the US Presidential elections; and special guests Janet ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Do or do not. There is no try

    1. Upon receiving evidence that school lunches were doing a marvellous job of improving outcomes for students, David Seymour did what?a. Declared we need much more of this sort of good news and poured extra resources and funding into them b. Emailed Atlas network to ask what to do next c. Cut ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Dangerous ground

    The Waitangi Tribunal has reported back on National's proposed changes to gut the Marine and Coastal Area Act and steal the foreshore and seabed for its greedy fishing-industry donors, and declared it to be another huge violation of ti Tiriti: The Waitangi Tribunal has found government changes to the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago
  • Climate Change: National wants to cheat on Paris

    In 2016, the then-National government signed the Paris Agreement, committing Aotearoa to a 30 (later 50) percent reduction in emissions by 2030. When questioned about how they intended to meet that target with their complete absence of effective climate policy, they made a lot of noise about how it was ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago
  • Treasury warned Govt lower debt limits meant less ‘productivity-enhancing investment’

    Treasury’s advice to Cabinet was that the new Government could actually prudently carry net core Crown debt of up to 50% of GDP. But Luxon and Willis instead chose to portray the Government’s finances as in such a mess they had no choice but to carve 6.5% to 7.5% off ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Is the Media Complicit?

    This is a long read. Open to all.SYNOPSIS: Traditional media is at a cross roads. There is a need for those in the media landscape, as it stands, to earn enough to stay afloat, but also come across as balanced and neutral to keep its audiences.In America, NYT’s liberal leaning ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • Black Friday

    It's Black Friday, the end of the weekYou take my hand and hold it gently up against your cheekIt's all in my head, it's all in my mindI see the darkness where you see the lightSong by Tom OdellFriday the 13th, don’t be afraid.No, really, don’t. Everything has felt a ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 13-September-2024

    Ooh, Friday the thirteenth. Spooky! Is that why certain zombie ideas have been stalking the landscape this week, like the Mayor’s brainwave for a motorway bridge from Kauri Point to Point Chev? Read on and find out. This roundup, like all our coverage, is brought to you by the Greater ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    2 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #37 2024

    Open access notables Early knowledge but delays in climate actions: An ecocide case against both transnational oil corporations and national governments, Hauser et al., Environmental Science & Policy: Cast within the wide context of investigating the collusion at play between powerful political-economic actors and decision-makers as monopolists and debates about ‘the modern ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago
  • What it is

    I liked what Kieran McAnulty had to say about the Treaty Principles bill this morning so much I've written it down and copied it out for you. He was saying that rather than let this piece of ordure spend six months in Select Committee, the Prime Minister could stop making such ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • A government-funded hate campaign

    Cabinet discussed National's constitutionally and historically illiterate "Treaty Principles Bill" this week, and decided to push on with it. The bill will apparently receive a full six month select committee process - unlike practically every other policy this government has pushed, and despite the fact that if the government is ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • How Substack works to take (some) craziness out of America’s elections

    I spoke with Substack co-founder yesterday, just before the Trump-Harris debate, about how Substack is doing its thing during the US elections. He talks in particular about how Substack’s focus on paid subscriptions rather than ads has made political debate on the platform calmer, simpler, deeper and more satisfying ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Kamala Harris Did Something Unthinkable

    Hi,Yesterday me and a bunch of friends gathered in front of the TV, ate tortillas, drank wine, and watched the debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.Some of you may have joined in on the live Webworm chat where we shared thoughts, jokes and memes — and a basic glee ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    3 days ago
  • Kamala Harris Did Something Unthinkable

    Hi,Yesterday me and a bunch of friends gathered in front of the TV, ate tortillas, drank wine, and watched the debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.Some of you may have joined in on the live Webworm chat where we shared thoughts, jokes and memes — and a basic glee ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    3 days ago
  • Kamala Harris Did Something Unthinkable

    Hi,Yesterday me and a bunch of friends gathered in front of the TV, ate tortillas, drank wine, and watched the debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.Some of you may have joined in on the live Webworm chat where we shared thoughts, jokes and memes — and a basic glee ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    3 days ago
  • David Seymour is such a loser

    For paid subscribersNot content with siphoning off $230,000,000 of taxpayers money for his hobby projects - and telling everyone his passion is education and early childcare - an intersection painfully coincidental to the interests of wealthy private families like Sean Plunkett’s1 backers, the Wright Family, Seymour is back in the ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    3 days ago
  • Cross-party consensus: there’s no pipeline without good faith

    There’s been a lot of talk recently about a cross-party agreement to develop a pipeline for infrastructure, including transport. Last month, outgoing CRL boss Sean Sweeney talked about the importance of securing an enduring infrastructure programme. He outlined the high costs of the relentless political flip-flopping of priorities, which drives ...
    Greater AucklandBy Connor Sharp
    3 days ago
  • Voters love this climate policy they’ve never heard of

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The Inflation Reduction Act is the Biden administration’s signature climate law and the largest U.S. government investment in reducing climate pollution to date. Among climate advocates, the policy is well-known and celebrated, but beyond that, only a minority of Americans ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago
  • ACC wants to administer inflation at more than double the RBNZ’s target rate

    ACC levies are set to rise at more than double the inflation rate targeted by the RBNZ. Photo: Lynn GrievesonKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, September 12:The state-owned monopoly for accident insurance wants ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Harris vs Trump

    We’ve been selected to rock your asses 'til midnightThis is my term, I've shaved off my perm, but it's alrightI solemnly swear to uphold the ConstitutionGot a rock 'n' roll problem? Well we got a solutionLet us be who we am, and let us kick out the jams, yeahKick out ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Treaty Bill “a political stunt”

    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon appears to have given ACT Leader David Seymour more than he has been admitting in the proposals to go forward with a Treaty Principles Bill.All along, Luxon has maintained that the Government is proceeding with the Bill to honour the coalition agreement.But that is quite specific.It ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • An average 219 NZers migrated each day in July

    Kia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, September 11:Annual migration of New Zealanders rose to a record-high 80,963 in the year to the end of July, which is more than double its pre-Covid levels.Two ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • What you’re wanting to win more than anything is The Narrative

    Hubris is sitting down on election day 2016 to watch that pig Trump get his ass handed to him, and watching the New York Times needle hover for a while over Hillary and then move across to Trump where it remains all night to your gathering horror and dismay. You're ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago
  • National’s automated lie machine

    The government has a problem: lots of people want information from it all the time. Information about benefits, about superannuation, ACC coverage and healthcare, taxes, jury service, immigration - and that's just the routine stuff. Responding to all of those queries takes a lot of time and costs a lot ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Christopher Luxon: A Man of “Faith” and “Compassion” Speaks on the Treaty Pr...

    Synopsis: Today - we explore two different realities. One where National lost. And another - which is the one we are living with here. Note: the footnote on increased fees/taxes may be of interest to some readers.Article open.Subscribe nowIt’s an alternate timeline.Yesterday as news broke that the central North Island ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    4 days ago
  • Member’s Day

    Today is a Member's Day. First up is the third reading of Dan Bidois' Fair Trading (Gift Card Expiry) Amendment Bill, which will be followed by the committee stage of Deborah Russell's Family Proceedings (Dissolution for Family Violence) Amendment Bill. This will be followed by the second readings of Katie ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Northern Expressway Boondoggle

    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has been soaring high with his hubris of getting on and building motorways but some uncomfortable realities are starting to creep in. Back in July he announced that the government was pushing on with a Northland Expressway using an “accelerated delivery strategy” The Coalition Government is ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    4 days ago
  • Never Enough

    However much I'm falling downNever enoughHowever much I'm falling outNever, never enough!Whatever smile I smile the mostNever enoughHowever I smile I smile the mostSongwriters: Robert James Smith / Simon Gallup / Boris Williams / Porl ThompsonToday in Nick’s Kōrero:A death in the Emergency Department at Rotorua Hospital.A sad homecoming and ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Question Two of The Kākā Project of 2026 for 2050 (TKP 26/50)

    Kia ora.Last month I proposed restarting The Kākā Project work done before the 2023 election as The Kākā Project of 2026 for 2050 (TKP 26/50), aiming to be up and running before the 2025 Local Government elections, and then in a finalised form by the 2026 General Elections.A couple of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Why is God Obsessed with Spanking?

    Hi,If you’ve read Webworm for a while, you’ll be aware that I’ve spent a lot of time writing about horrific, corrupt megachurches and the shitty men who lead them.And in all of this writing, I think some people have this idea that I hate Christians or Christianity. As I explain ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    4 days ago
  • Inside the public service

    In 2023, there were 63,117 full-time public servants earning, on average, $97,200 a year each. All up, that is a cost to the Government of $6.1 billion a year. It’s little wonder, then, that the public service has become a political whipping boy castigated by the Prime Minister and members ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • New Models Show Stronger Atlantic Hurricanes, and More of Them

    This is a re-post from This is Not Cool Here’s an example of some of the best kind of climate reporting, especially in that it relates to impacts that will directly affect the audience. WFLA in Tampa conducted a study in collaboration with the Department of Energy, analyzing trends in ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago
  • Where ever do they find these people?

    A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, is how Winston Churchill described the Soviet Union in 1939.  How might the great man have described the 2024 government of New Zealand, do we think? I can't imagine he would have thought them all that mysterious or enigmatic. I think ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago
  • Motorway madness

    How mad is National's obsession with roads? One of their pet projects - a truck highway to Whangārei - is going to eat 10% of our total infrastructure budget for the next 25 years: Official advice from the Infrastructure Commission shows the government could be set to spend 10 ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Our transport planning system is fundamentally broken

    Ever since Wayne Brown became mayor (nearly two years ago now) he’s been wanting to progress an “integrated transport plan” with the government – which sounded a lot like the previous Auckland Transport Alignment Project (ATAP) with just a different name. It seems like a fair bit of work progressed ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    5 days ago
  • Thou Shalt Not Steal

    And they taught usWhoa-oh, black woman, thou shalt not stealI said, hey, yeah, black man, thou shalt not stealWe're gonna civilise your black barbaric livesAnd we teach you how to kneelBut your history couldn't hide the genocideThe hypocrisy to us was realFor your Jesus said you're supposed to giveThe oppressed ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • How mismanagement, not wind and solar energy, causes blackouts

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections In February 2021, several severe storms swept across the United States, culminating with one that the Weather Channel unofficially named Winter Storm Uri. In Texas, Uri knocked out power to over 4.5 million homes and 10 million people. Hundreds of Texans died as a ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago
  • The ‘Infra Boys’ Highway to Budget Hell

    Chris Bishop has enthusiastically dubbed himself and Simeon Brown “the Infra Boys”, but they need to take note of the sums around their roading dreams. Photo: Lynn GrievesonMōrena. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, September ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Media Link: “AVFA” on the politics of desperation.

    In this podcast Selwyn Manning and I talk about what appears to be a particular type of end-game in the long transition to systemic realignment in international affairs, in which the move to a new multipolar order with different characteristics … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    6 days ago
  • The cost of flying blind

    Just over two years ago, when worries about immediate mass-death from covid had waned, and people started to talk about covid becoming "endemic", I asked various government agencies what work they'd done on the costs of that - and particularly, on the cost of Long Covid. The answer was that ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Seymour vs The Clergy

    For paid subscribers“Aotearoa is not as malleable as they think,” Lynette wrote last week on Homage to Simeon Brown:In my heart/mind, that phrase ricocheted over the next days, translating out to “We are not so malleable.”It gave me comfort. I always felt that we were given an advantage in New ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • Unstoppable Minister McKee

    All smiles, I know what it takes to fool this townI'll do it 'til the sun goes downAnd all through the nighttimeOh, yeahOh, yeah, I'll tell you what you wanna hearLeave my sunglasses on while I shed a tearIt's never the right timeYeah, yeahSong by SiaLast night there was a ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • Could outdoor dining revitalise Queen Street?

    This is a guest post by Ben van Bruggen of The Urban Room,.An earlier version of this post appeared on LinkedIn. All images are by Ben. Have you noticed that there’s almost nowhere on Queen Street that invites you to stop, sit outside and enjoy a coffee, let alone ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    6 days ago
  • Hipkins challenges long-held Labour view Government must stay below 30% of GDP

    Hipkins says when considering tax settings and the size of government, the big question mark is over what happens with the balance between the size of the working-age population and the growing number of Kiwis over the age of 65. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short; here’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Your invite to Webworm Chat (a bit like Reddit)

    Hi,One of the things I love the most about Webworm is, well, you. The community that’s gathered around this lil’ newsletter isn’t something I ever expected when I started writing it four years ago — now the comments section is one of my favourite places on the internet. The comments ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Seymour’s Treaty bill making Nats nervous

    A delay in reappointing a top civil servant may indicate a growing nervousness within the National Party about the potential consequences of David Seymour’s Treaty Principles Bill. Dave Samuels is waiting for reappointment as the Chief Executive of Te Puni Kokiri, but POLITIK understands that what should have been a ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #36

    A listing of 34 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, September 1, 2024 thru Sat, September 7, 2024. Story of the week Our Story of the Week is about how peopele are not born stupid but can be fooled ...
    Skeptical Science
    7 days ago
  • Time for a Change

    You act as thoughYou are a blind manWho's crying, crying 'boutAll the virgins that are dyingIn your habitual dreams, you knowSeems you need more sleepBut like a parrot in a flaming treeI know it's pretty hard to seeI'm beginning to wonderIf it's time for a changeSong: Phil JuddThe next line ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies: Excerpt Six.

    The “double shocks” in post Cold War international affairs. The end of the Cold War fundamentally altered the global geostrategic context. In particular, the end of the nuclear “balance of terror” between the USA and USSR, coupled with the relaxation … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    1 week ago
  • Buried deep

    Here's a bike on Manchester St, Feilding. I took this photo on Friday night after a very nice dinner at the very nice Vietnamese restaurant, Saigon, on Manchester Street.I thought to myself, Manchester Street? Bicycle? This could be the very spot.To recap from an earlier edition: on a February night ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago
  • Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies, Excerpt Five.

    Military politics as a distinct “partial regime.” Notwithstanding their peripheral status, national defense offers the raison d’être of the combat function, which their relative vulnerability makes apparent, so military forces in small peripheral democracies must be very conscious of events … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    1 week ago
  • Leadership for Dummies

    If you’re going somewhere, do you maybe take a bit of an interest in the place? Read up a bit on the history, current events, places to see - that sort of thing? Presumably, if you’re taking a trip somewhere, it’s for a reason. But what if you’re going somewhere ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Home again

    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on anything you may have missed. Share Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago
  • Dead even tie for hottest August ever

    Long stories short, here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer:The month of August was 1.49˚C warmer than pre-industrial levels, tying with 2023 for the warmest August ever, according ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Hoon around the week to Sept 7

    The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts and talking about the week’s news with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on the latest climate science on rising temperatures and the debate about how to responde to climate disinformation; and special guest ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Have We an Infrastructure Deficit?

    An Infrastructure New Zealand report says we are keeping up with infrastructure better than we might have thought from the grumbling. But the challenge of providing for the future remains.I was astonished to learn that the quantity of our infrastructure has been keeping up with economic growth. Your paper almost ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago
  • Councils reject racism

    Last month, National passed a racist law requiring local councils to remove their Māori wards, or hold a referendum on them at the 2025 local body election. The final councils voted today, and the verdict is in: an overwhelming rejection. Only two councils out of 45 supported National's racist agenda ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago
  • Homage to Simeon Brown

    Open to all - happy weekend ahead, friends.Today I just want to be petty. It’s the way I imagine this chap is -Not only as a political persona. But his real-deal inner personality, in all its glory - appears to be pure pettiness & populist driven.Sometimes I wonder if Simeon ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Government of deceit

    When National cut health spending and imposed a commissioner on Te Whatu Ora, they claimed that it was necessary because the organisation was bloated and inefficient, with "14 layers of management between the CEO and the patient". But it turns out they were simply lying: Health Minister Shane Reti’s ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago
  • The professionals actually think and act like our Government has no fiscal crisis at all

    Treasury staff at work: The demand for a new 12-year Government bond was so strong, Treasury decided to double the amount of bonds it sold. Photo: Lynn GrievesonMōrena. Long stories short; here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, September ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Roundup 6-September-2024

    Welcome to another Friday and another roundup of stories that caught our eye this week. As always, this and every post is brought to you by the Greater Auckland crew. If you like our work and you’d like to see more of it, we invite you to join our regular ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 week ago

  • Government eliminates $190 million in trade barriers to boost the economy

    The Government has successfully removed trade barriers affecting nearly $190 million worth of exports to help grow the economy, Minister for Trade and Agriculture Todd McClay today announced.  “In the past year, we have resolved 14 Non Tariff Barriers (NTBs), returning significant value to kiwi exporters. These efforts directly boost our ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • Reo Māori the ‘beating heart’ of Aotearoa New Zealand

    From private business to the Paris Olympics, reo Māori is growing with the success of New Zealanders, says Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka. “I’m joining New Zealanders across the country in celebrating this year’s Te Wiki o te Reo Māori – Māori Language Week, which has a big range ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Need and value at forefront of public service delivery

    New Cabinet policy directives will ensure public agencies prioritise public services on the basis of need and award Government contracts on the basis of public value, Minister for the Public Service Nicola Willis says. “Cabinet Office has today issued a circular to central government organisations setting out the Government’s expectations ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Minister to attend Police Ministers Council Meeting

    Police Minister Mark Mitchell will join with Australian Police Ministers and Commissioners at the Police Ministers Council meeting (PMC) today in Melbourne. “The council is an opportunity to come together to discuss a range of issues, gain valuable insights on areas of common interest, and different approaches towards law enforcement ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • New Bill to crack down on youth vaping

    The coalition Government has introduced legislation to tackle youth vaping, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Amendment Bill (No 2) is aimed at preventing youth vaping.  “While vaping has contributed to a significant fall in our smoking rates, the rise in youth vaping ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Interest in agricultural and horticultural products regulatory review welcomed

    Regulation Minister David Seymour, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds, and Food Safety Minister Andrew Hoggard have welcomed interest in the agricultural and horticultural products regulatory review. The review by the Ministry for Regulation is looking at how to speed up the process to get farmers and growers access to the safe, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Bill to allow online charity lotteries passes first reading

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government is moving at pace to ensure lotteries for charitable purposes are allowed to operate online permanently. Charities fundraising online, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust and local hospices will continue to do ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Tax exempt threshold changes to benefit startups

    Technology companies are among the startups which will benefit from increases to current thresholds of exempt employee share schemes, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Revenue Minister Simon Watts say. Tax exempt thresholds for the schemes are increasing as part of the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2024-25, Emergency ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Getting the healthcare you need, when you need it

    The path to faster cancer treatment, an increase in immunisation rates, shorter stays in emergency departments and quick assessment and treatments when you are sick has been laid out today. Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has revealed details of how the ambitious health targets the Government has set will be ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Targeted supports to accelerate reading

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