Once upon a time we thought we had a right to privacy. That was before the global reach of American electronic spying had been fully exposed. Now we’re told we’ll just have to live in a world where privacy no longer exists for people, corporations or governments. And we’re not supposed to complain because supposedly every government is involved in spying, in its own national interests.
GCSB Director Ian Fletcher has let me know, in a letter dated 31 October, that I was “not amongst the 88 [illegally spied on by the GCSB] and that the GCSB has not conducted surveillance of you.”
Is life with John Key getting you down? Are you losing faith in New Zealanders’ ability to change things? Then I have an inspirational book for you. “Peace, Power and Politics: How New Zealand Became Nuclear Free” by Maire Leadbeater. Just out from Otago University Press.
Australia may think that, as America’s “deputy sheriff” in our region, it has a free hand to spy on anyone, and doesn’t need to apologise when caught. But as America has found out already, from both Germany and Brazil, spying on the leaders of friendly countries is not risk free.
December 1st is a special day for West Papuans because on that day, back in 1961, the Morning Star flag was raised for the first time. The then Dutch colonists were sympathetic, because they had put West Papua on the road to independence. However the hopes for a free West Papua were dashed after Indonesia troops invaded the country.
My opinion piece (below) was published in the 5 December 2013 issue of the New Zealand Herald.
Read this article on the NZ Herald website
In his Dialogue page piece...
We should not forget that until quite recently Mandela himself was designated as a terrorist by the United States, and had to get a special exemption from the State Department to visit Washington in 2008.
Many people have criticised the wall of secrecy around negotiations for a Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. They fear New Zealand’s negotiators will sign a deal which undermines our sovereignty and has a big social and economic downside.
It looks like Len Brown will be staying as Mayor of Auckland. This will be a defeat for the moral right, which has refused to separate the mayor’s private life from his political life.