Spying against the law? Whatever…

Written By: - Date published: 10:03 am, July 2nd, 2013 - 18 comments
Categories: accountability, Ethics, john key, law - Tags: , ,

Key’s enquiry into the GCSB report leak appears to have broken the law. He doesn’t give a damn. What a clear and timely example of exactly why Key and the GCSB can’t be trusted with further powers. “Nothing to hide nothing to fear” my arse.

Key’s enquiry raided Peter Dunne’s emails without his permission.

Key’s enquiry tracked Andrea Vance without her permission (Key claims innocence of course).

These actions appear to be illegal, and the Green Party has lodged a complaint with the Ombudsmen. I/S at No Right Turn identifies the Standing Order which has been broken, and reckons that heads must roll:

Spying on members and tracking who they communicate with clearly impedes them in their function as elected representatives. Spying on members of the press gallery for doing their job does the same (in that communicating with the media is one of the key functions of MPs). Henry shouldn’t just be investigated by the Ombudsman – he should be dragged before the Privileges Committee. As for the Parliamentary staff member(s) who so obligingly handed over information without once thinking about the constitutional implications, they must be sacked. There simply is no other remedy.

And Key’s response? Whatever…

PM has limited sympathy for Dunne’s email complaints

Prime Minister John Key has indicated he has little sympathy for Peter Dunne’s concerns that information about his emails was accessed without his permission during the inquiry into the leak of a sensitive GCSB report. …

Mr Key said he had some sympathy for concerns journalists such as Ms Vance may have about their metadata including information about their movements around the parliamentary complex being examined without their permission. That did not extend to Mr Dunne.

This arrogant disregard for the law and due process is completely typical of Key. As long as he is popular he doesn’t give a damn.

If Peter Dunne surrenders his vote to Key on the extension of GCSB powers after this grubby little episode then he has no self respect, and no respect for the privacy of New Zealanders.

18 comments on “Spying against the law? Whatever… ”

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  1. muzza 1
    2 July 2013 at 10:13 am

    – If someone is pointing a gun to your head, how do you react?

    – If your brother is pointing the gun, how do you react?

    – If you endorse the brothers actions, how do you react?

  2. JonL 2
    2 July 2013 at 10:26 am

    Key is a psychopath – of course he doesn’t give a damn!

    Don’t believe me – study Psychology, particularly regarding Sociopathy.

    The sooner people wake up to this fact, the better (not that they will, but one can hope……)

  3. tracey 3
    2 July 2013 at 11:30 am

    This from the man who used the police to stop tge teacup tapes being made public.

  4. Macro_adder 4
    2 July 2013 at 1:42 pm

    Key needs to look more “Presidential” – so he has to behave as if it’s his divine right – I wonder how long before he decides to make himself Emperor?

  5. fambo 5
    2 July 2013 at 3:45 pm

    My money is on Dunne voting yes. Key seems to have the measure of the man

    • Pascal's bookie 5.1
      2 July 2013 at 4:55 pm

      Normally I’d agree, but they seem to be getting quite pissy with each other in public.

  6. Huginn 6
    2 July 2013 at 4:40 pm

    A mendacious PM who reads the law to suit himself tells us to trust him with GCSB

    Watch him bend the Public Finance Act here:
    http://goo.gl/ebEjY

  7. Macro_adder 7
    2 July 2013 at 4:45 pm

    The illegality of this is mind blowing…. We learn now that Key has indeed given himself the powers of an Emperor – even if he hasn’t as yet declared himself as one.

  8. One Anonymous Knucklehead 8
    2 July 2013 at 5:03 pm

    Spying is a military operation. Conducting military operations against civilians is a war crime.

  9. Pascal's bookie 9
    2 July 2013 at 5:14 pm

    As well as DotCom appearing before the I&S Comm. tomorrow, which will obviously suck a lot of media oxygen, Winston is playing at the dance of the 7 veils once again:

    On Tuesday, Mr Peters suggested in parliament that Prime Minister John Key knew more about GCSB’s involvement in the Kim Dotcom case than he had let on.
    He asked five questions of Mr Key, about whether he stood by previous statements.
    Mr Key was out of the country when acting Prime Minister Bill English signed off on the surveillance warrant, and told parliament on September 25 last year that he had only learnt of the warrant the previous night.
    On Tuesday, Mr Key stood by that statement – along with a 2011 statement regarding the experience and skills of GCSB director Ian Fletcher.
    Mr Peters is expected to gradually reveal what evidence he has to back up his cover-up claims with further questions in parliament on Wednesday.

    Read more: http://www.3news.co.nz/GCSB-bill-a-cover-up-Peters-claims/tabid/1607/articleID/303497/Default.aspx#ixzz2XrW4j6KF

  10. Pascal's bookie 10
    2 July 2013 at 5:21 pm

    QOTD: “John Key makes a cup of tea during chairing of intelligence committee. Proceeds to spill it all over his iPhone.”

    https://twitter.com/katieabradford/status/351931768808554498

  11. karol 11
    2 July 2013 at 6:08 pm

    Key was twisting and turning today, in response to Russel Norman on the spying on Dunne’s emails.

    His attempts to turn it back on Green-Labour with smears of them, made it seem like such spying on MPs should be OK as long as the party initiating the spying could be “trusted” by the party spied upon.

    Dr Russel Norman: So is the Prime Minister saying that the extent of the consent obtained by the Henry inquiry, acting under the authority of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, was simply that the terms of the inquiry were published, and there was no reply from Mr Dunne agreeing to those terms of inquiry, and there was no explicit consent from Mr Dunne for Mr Henry to access Mr Dunne’s parliamentary email log?

    Rt Hon JOHN KEY: All of those can be checked in case there is other correspondence, but I think it was quite clear, if one looks at the terms of reference, what was going to be accessed. As I said, no Minister made it clear that they had concerns, but what is becoming increasingly clear, actually, is that if the Greens were ever in Government with Labour they are obviously concerned that they might do such dodgy things that they want nothing—

    Mr SPEAKER: Order! That is an unnecessary part to the answer.

    […]
    Rt Hon JOHN KEY: In my view the authority that was vested in him when I asked him to conduct the inquiry, when I made it quite clear that all communications, copying equipment, records, and log books would be looked at, that no Minister raised concerns, and when the member himself went on to say that not only was this a very serious matter but that if I did not know who had leaked the report, I should launch an inquiry and get to the bottom of it, and that, fundamentally, I should leave no stone unturned to get an answer.

    Dr Russel Norman: So is the Prime Minister saying that the authority of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, which was the sole authority that the Henry inquiry had, is sufficient authority to access the parliamentary server and parliamentary emails without the consent of the member of Parliament concerned?

    Rt Hon JOHN KEY: Well, I think this is going to come as a shock to the member, but, for very good reasons, when a ministerial inquiry of this nature is established, then, actually, there is a responsibility to try to get to the bottom of that. And, in fact—as I have just tried to point out with what the member himself was saying when he thought it was a National member—he was quite happy for all information to be accessed. No Minister and no staff member at any time, from the moment we actually went out there and put out the terms of reference, ever came and complained or was upset by that.

  13. Tom 13
    3 July 2013 at 8:35 am

    I am over John Key. The problem is what to do about it. It means becoming socially active ..

  14. democracy 14
    3 July 2013 at 10:28 pm

    John Keys popularity rating
    Like a pork sausage in a synagogue

    Really how can anyone find this guys arrogance and ineptitude something to be classed a popular
    He hasnt even thought of the environmental impact of his million a year Chinese tourists and its cost in all areas of this country