Thanks Tracey. Just trying to encourage the debate. I am hoping that Jon Stephenson is on the case and will publish something soon (if he is not in Iraq).
Sorry OAB, I know nothing more than what is publicly available. From your link it looks like he has a pretty good grasp of the ME. He also does not appear to be beholden to Erdogan, which is a good thing IMO. The Kurdish canton model, something that has ...
Brownlee appears to be out of his depth, very ill-informed about what is going on under his nose, or is just being pathological with his misdirections. Besides the Australian announcement that 100 NZDF are accompanying the Australian complement of 300 that...
One reason that the government may be refusing to reveal much about the deployment--which clearly started a while ago with the pre-positioning of equipment and SAS personnel--is that identifying the units from where the troops were drawn and the equipment ...
In short: No. But that is why public debate is needed. If the majority of the informed public accept the argument that the majority of of NZ's GDP is derived from the export/import sector, and if it is accepted that the benefits accrued "trickle down" to ...
I think that threats to economic security are worth including among the intelligence community's concerns (for example, beyond what Bill mentioned below at 12.2.1 as a defense against physical threats to critical infrastructure, to include spying in ...
That is a generous interpretation that could well be correct. However, as far as I can tell the broad definition of national security and the intelligence agencies' scope of responsibilities (as per section 7 of the GCSB Act) were introduced post 9/11 (...
Ad: Very good points and well worth debating when the parliamentary review of the intelligence community begins later this year. But the issue extends further. Not only does the scope of intelligence collection need to be reviewed, but the very definition ...
More early warning: http://www.kiwipolitico.com/2014/09/double-trouble/
The government cannot say that it was not warned. Here is a little blast from the past: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11165857
Cheers John, for the links. I have said this before but will repeat it--joining 5 Eyes was like joining the mafia. You can never really leave. But that does not mean that NZ cannot renegotiate its role, particularly in the wake of Snowden's revelations. As...
Thanks Anne. The question of who authorised the spying needs to be answered by the Inspector General of Intelligence and Security, who at the moment is the only entity that can demand answers from the GCSB and DPMC. And even then, she may not get the full ...
John: You are preaching to the converted. I have written fairly extensively on the subject and have even posed the suggestion that NZ consider withdrawing from 5 Eyes in public forums (although I believe that the costs may outweigh the benefits of doing so...
Under the GCSB Act amended last year, the GCSB can undertake virtually any type of spying if it is the "NZ national interest," including on NZ's resident or traveling abroad. Similarly, the definition of "national security" in NZ includes "threats to the ...
tracey: Could you elaborate? I have not heard anything about market contingency advice and am wondering in any event how it might mitigate potential fallout if spied-upon countries decide to retaliate, say, by arresting Kiwi business people on charges of ...
Sorry, Jenny, I overlooked your earlier post. Another important thing to get out of the 1080/formula threats is NZ's economic vulnerability to foreign boycotts or retaliation. The blackmailer has already cost the dairy industry millions, and that has not ...
Just as a sidebar. The 1080/infant formula blackmail plot puts paid to the claims that the main domestic terrorist threat comes from home grown jihadis and returning foreign fighters. It also demonstrates that the extension of state powers of search, ...
The satellite communications used by Antarctic bases are strategically important because they also serve as conduits for submarine and space telemetry. All major powers have Antarctic scientific bases that rely on said satellites, but the utility of the ...
Weka: I think that the mission was determined quite a while ago, at least since the meeting of coalition defence chiefs outside of Washington in mid October. The government was going to obfuscate anyway, but if indeed a kiwi hostage has been taken then it ...
I agree Weka. Shame on Ralston for introducing the rumour into the public domain and shame on PG for repeating and linking to it. The rumour has circulated amongst media circles for a while and apparently does not involve a journalist. The government asked...
Overall responsibility for how the intelligence community conducts its business will remain with the PM, as he sets out the policy under which the intel shops do their thing. This is similar to other countries, including the other Five Eyes partners. ...
Tracey: The new division of labour does not necessarily increase the number of people "in the loop" beyond the one new minister. It does place the onus for adhering to legal requirements on the Attorney General, who presumably has the legal background to ...
I disagree with your analysis although I understand your concerns (and those of Gordon Campbell) about Mr. Key trying to insulate himself from accountability. One of the hallmarks of liberal democratic intelligence oversight is the decentralisation of it. ...
The stability of democracy is based on mutual contingent consent, not only between capitalists and workers but between opposing political factions. Mutual contingent consent requires that all actors accept mutual second best outcomes (that is, no gets ...
I had the opportunity to read extensive excerpts of the book prior to pubication and can say that it is meticulously researched and detailed. As I said in the PA discussion of Ng's post on the matter, the main issue here is the undermining of the concept ...
JaneW: Lets not try to equate the two things. My email was rude and intemperate, for which I quickly and voluntarily apologised and made amends that allowed the student to pass the course. What happened afterwards was an orchestrated jack up that among ...
VoR: I generally agree with your differentiation of the cases, but you would be surprised to know how powerless mere teaching/research staff (as opposed to academic managers) actually are. The real issue in this instance is the invasion of privacy and ...
I hate to say it, but I think bullying crosses the aisle and is endemic not only in NZ politics but the society at large, be it in academia, government, unions or corporations. Helen Clark openly called for my dismissal from Auckland University when I ...
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