Below is the text of a Green Leaflet distributed during recent Film Festivals and special screenings of Michael Moore’s documentary.
The Leaflet is also available as a
print quality PDF
. That PDF is set for double-sided printing or phtocopying.
Fahrenheit 9/11 isn’t Just About America
New Zealand has its own “patriot act”
In Fahrenheit 9/11 Michael Moore shows how George W Bush’s “War on Terror” is also a war on the civil liberties of Americans.But it’s not just “over there” that long-cherished freedoms are being taken away.
Since September 11 2001 the New Zealand government has effectively passed its own “Patriot Act” through several pieces of legislation.
The power of state agencies to spy on your life has been increased dramatically. New legislation has given the police and the SIS the right to intercept your emails, hack into your computer, and put tracking devices on you. Warrants are required in most instances, but you’ll probably be the last to find out.
Our government has also fallen into line with American demands for biometric details (such as identifying face characteristics) to be put on our passports. Expect to see armed sky marshals on our planes soon.
We even have our own “Guantanamo” legislation whereby government ministers are given punitive powers usually reserved for the judiciary.
Under a bill currently before Parliament, a Minister will be able to take away your passport on “national security” grounds. Under the already passed Terrorism Suppression Act the Prime Minister can designate a modern-day Nelson Mandela or Xanana Gusmao as a “terrorist” and New Zealanders supporting them can get 14 years in jail. “National security” has also been used to keep former Algerian MP Ahmed Zaoui in jail for nearly 20 months. Such punitive measures are taken on the basis of “classified information” which we are denied access to.
Secrecy also surrounds New Zealand’s participation in America’s wars, specifically the NZSAS commitment to Afghanistan. You know that American planes have bombed weddings and the homes of innocent Afghanis, and that American soldiers have tortured prisoners. But we have been denied any information about what the SAS is doing there.
The Clark government, like the Bush government, says “trust us.” Do you??
Help the Greens, the only parliamentary party that has opposed all New Zealand’s “Patriot Acts” and participation in Bush’s Afghan war.
Real security is achieved through social justice not through war and undermining our freedoms.