Below is the text of an Opinion Piece I had published in Wellington's daily newspaper, the Dominion Post, on 3 May 2013.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/8627516/NZs-reputation-at-stake-over-summit-venue
NZ''S REPUTATION AT STAKE OVER SUMMIT VENUE
OPINION: Sri...
To read some of my recent Daily Blog Posts go to: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/category/bloggers/keith-locke/
The blogs cover the GCSB controversy, the use of domestic drones, political censorship in NZ (on the...
“New support for the West Papuan movement becoming member of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG). Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and the New Caledonian Kanak nationalist coalition FLNKS (already an MSG member) are the strongest backers. There is also more openness to such a move in Papua New Guinea and Fiji.”
It was not clear from the two SIS reports whether the SIS (and perhaps the GCSB) gained their information from spying on my communications, or those of NZ Tamils assisting me with the trip, or whether it was spying on both parties. Maybe the SIS interception warrants targeted the local Tamils helping me, and in the process they happened to intercept communications between us.
However, it is hard to accept that the GCSB unknowingly violated the Government Communications Security Bureau Act 2003 when it simply and explicitly says the GCSB is only allowed to spy on foreigners. Kitteridge says the agency spied on 85 New Zealanders between April 2003 and September 2012.
“Under pressure, Mr Key now says he expects there will be a shakeup at the GCSB. But we need much more than that. We need a comprehensive independent inquiry, with public input, to critically examine not only the GCSB’s competence but also its worth to New Zealand.”
“Drones, by contrast, can take video of places we expect to be private, like enclosed backyards, or bedroom windows that cannot be seen from the street or a neighbour’s property. Small, quiet, low-flying drones will be particularly dangerous in this respect.”