15 April 2013

Government to allow more spying on New Zealanders

The Government’s response to a review of the GCSB is to reward the agency which has failed to act within its law by giving it more powers to spy on New Zealanders, says the Green Party.

“The GCSB is being rewarded for bad behaviour. John Key is eroding all New Zealanders right by allowing more spying on Kiwi citizens to occur,” said Green Party Co-leader Dr Russel Norman.

“These changes put the cart before the horse. The Government needs to sort out the problems at the GCSB by implementing an independent commission of inquiry before expanding their role to make it legal for them to spy on New Zealander’s.

“The GCSB have shown they have a culture of operating outside the law and that is what needs to be addressed, not a law change.

“It is incorrect to say the current law is unworkable. The GCSB acted unlawfully because it had a disregard for the law. The current law needs to be implemented properly, not changed.

“John Key’s proposed law changes are an expedient get out of jail free card that blames the legislation, not the GCSB and their lack of oversight for their illegal operation.

“Most other countries separate domestic and international spying. These changes will mean New Zealanders will have more state oversight than most other developed nations.

“There is not a single improvement to Parliamentary oversight in the Government’s proposed changes.

“The changes are the worst of all worlds. The GCSB gets more powers to spy but Parliament is stuck with the same toothless tools to keep an eye on their activities.

“While the Inspector General gets more powers and a beefed up office, it will still have no Parliamentary oversight.

“We need an inquiry to understand what we need from these kinds of agencies in the 21st century, given that they were formed to fight the Cold War.

“A first principles review can tell us if and why we need the agencies and hence what kind of structure they should have and what kind of democratic oversights they need.
ends

© Scoop Media