Never thought I’d be quoting the Standard but this is one close to my heart and I could not have said it better!!!
Pop quiz, who said “Anyone who is innocent has nothing to fear”? Answer, just about every politician ever who was arguing for an increase in state powers, especially powers of surveillance. On this particular occasion it was John Key defending the powers of a newly created “customs center” to monitor and preserve comprehensive details on air passengers.
Those words might just come back to haunt Key. His government has been busily ramping up Search and Surveillance powers and recently rammed through the Video Camera Surveillance Bill to boot. ”Anyone who is innocent has nothing to fear” is very much the subtext. Brian Rudman in The Herald considers the recent teapot tape fiasco in this context. He pulls no punches:
Key plays risky game over taping
… Trotting off to the police on Monday full of injured innocence about a nasty cameraman recording his open invitation, “secret” meeting with Epsom Act candidate John Banks is all very well. But isn’t this the same John Key who shoved through retrospective legislation last month legalising widespread covert and unlawful videotaping by police.
… The tapes recorded police spying on a diverse range of suspects, capturing images ranging from the alleged Urewera revolutionaries through to, according to Mana Party leader Hone Harawira, speaking in Parliament, “a very high-profile politician caught during surveillance of a woman as part of a P investigation …”
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