Unbelievable

Written By: - Date published: 3:39 pm, July 16th, 2013 - 15 comments
Categories: john key - Tags: ,

no-right-turnNo Right Turn points out how useless our security minister is. To say this is astonishing would be an understatement

John Key’s chief justification for his spy law giving the GCSB the right to spy on all New Zealanders is cost: it would apparently cost too much for the police or SIS to be given their own capability for domestic law enforcement / counter-espionage use, so we have to legalise GCSB using theirs instead (and allow them to use it on everybody, just in case). So you’d expect them to have at least done the costings to back that up, right?

Wrong:

The Government has no idea what it would cost to have the SIS eavesdrop on New Zealanders and intercept their emails, despite saying cost is the reason for getting the GCSB to do it.

This is simply unbelievable. Working out how much a policy will cost is a basic part of the policy process – and certainly fundamental to any claim that not doing it would be more expensive. Instead, the Prime Minister just hasn’t bothered, relying on the GCSB’s aura of secrecy to prevent anyone from challenging his claim. But the result is that his arguments for the bill are an exercise in pure bad faith.

The good news is that Peter Dunne appears to be calling him on it, demanding an analysis before he will support the bill. And given that his vote is crucial, Key may just be forced to either substantiate his claim, or admit that it is bullshit and that he is selling us out for chump change.

15 comments on “Unbelievable ”

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  1. One Anonymous Knucklehead 1
    16 July 2013 at 3:54 pm

    Well mathematics is just like law and I can show you a mathematician who’ll give you a counterview.

    • McFlock 1.1
      16 July 2013 at 4:06 pm

      How can I help it?’ he blubbered. ‘How can I help seeing what is in front of my eyes? Two and two are four.’
      ‘Sometimes, Winston. Sometimes they are five. Sometimes they are three. Sometimes they are all of them at once. You must try harder. It is not easy to become sane.’

  2. karol 2
    16 July 2013 at 3:59 pm

    Gordon Campbell raised questions about h=this funding issue today, too. Basically, why has the SIS been starved of funds?

    At what point did the SIS lose the technological ability to fulfil its statutory duty, which is to detect and to counter threats to our domestic security? Surely, out of its annual budget, the SIS should have been setting aside the funds required to update its surveillance technology – rather than letting things slide and relying on the GCSB, an entirely different agency, to come in surreptitiously and do the job for it, and for the Police?

    • McFlock 2.1
      16 July 2013 at 4:07 pm

      excellent point

    • Anne 2.2
      16 July 2013 at 7:51 pm

      Or are the demands of foreign intelligence agencies (such as the NSA) to expand surveillance activities imposing a fresh set of budgetary demands on both the SIS and the GCSB? If so, the government needs to come clean about this, and explain why compliance is in our national interest.

      I’m inclined to suspect this latter part of the quote supplies at least part of the answer. The SIS was starved of the funds to do the job by this govt? Why? Well, the appointment of John Key lackey,
      Ian Fletcher as head of the GCSB and the craven desire to do the bidding of the NSA/FBI is the obvious starting point.

      • UglyTruth 2.2.1
        17 July 2013 at 6:47 pm

        Here’s an RT interview with the original NSA whistleblower, Russel Tice. The main point is that the NSA appears to be operating according to an agenda of control via blackmail rather than an agenda of security intelligence.

        http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/23877.html

        • Chooky 2.2.1.1
          17 July 2013 at 10:43 pm

          Squawk!…Freaky…!!! …The real reasons come out…. Thanks Ugly Truth!

          Sent shivers all down the perches….Where is Winnie?

          • Colonial Viper 2.2.1.1.1
            17 July 2013 at 10:50 pm

            That, and commercial/industrial espionage. Boeing would dearly love to see the tender documents Airbus submits in to potential customers, for instance. And Wikileaks/Manning’s materials made it clear that the State Dept actively assists US corporations against foreign competitors.

  3. BLiP 3
    16 July 2013 at 5:31 pm

    ‘

    Everything John Key has said about this legislation is unbelievable . . .

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

    I told Cabinet that I knew Ian Fletcher

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

    I told Iain Rennie I would contact Fletcher

    for 30 years, or three decades, I didn’t have any dinners or lunches or breakfasts with Ian Fletcher

    I did not mislead the House (14)

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

    I called directory service to get Ian Fletcher’s number

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    the illegal spying on Kim Dotcom was an isolated incident

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

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

    I did not mislead the House (6)

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

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

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

    • pollywog 3.1
      16 July 2013 at 6:43 pm

      Liars are just the scummiest people in the world!!!

      • Tim 3.1.1
        16 July 2013 at 7:17 pm

        …. especially when they purport to ‘represent’ the will of the people knowing full well they’re just troughing it.
        …. the harder they rise – the harder they fall (at which point we’re all expected to feel sorry for them)

    • CnrJoe 3.2
      16 July 2013 at 9:42 pm

      + everything

      –

  4. AmaKiwi 4
    16 July 2013 at 8:46 pm

    To the Labour Party:

    Take BLiP’s list and make it into a sign to publicly display as The Greens did with Simon Bridges lies.

    Or make smaller signs to post in trains, buses, and bus stops where people have time to read them.

    Come on, Labour. Get you asses in gear. Pretend you want to win the next election.