State Spying and a Police who see no spying, hear no spying and speak no spying

Martyn 'Bomber' Bradbury

John Campbell's remarkable investigation at the beginning of the week into a Government agency tasked with looking after earthquake survivors using corporate spies to secretly tape complaining earthquake survivors was made more important by the remarkable announcement midweek from the NZ Police that found nothing illegal in the actions of anyone involved.

John details how Southern Response colluded with private security agency Thompson & Clark to spy on angry claimants who were upset by the responsiveness of Southern Response.

When setting up an inquiry into state services using corporate spies to spy on activists and Kiwis, State Services Commissioner Peter Hughes said it was "never acceptable for an agency to undertake targeted surveillance of a person just because they are lawfully exercising their democratic rights, including their right to freedom of expression, association and right to protest".

"That is an affront to democracy," he said.

An. Affront. To. Democracy.

So the police investigated (despite originally 'forgetting' to start the investigation) and surprise, surprise the Police have found Thompson & Clark didn't break the law by secretly recording meetings of claimants.

Isn't that convenient?

This is a private spying firm staffed by former Police Officers who use moonlighting Police Officers for their work and who beyond Southern Response, have worked for the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, MSD, Crown Law, the Serious Fraud Office, Inland Revenue, MBIE, Foreign Affairs Ministry, ACC, Department of Internal Affairs, Maritime New Zealand, Ministry of Health, Department of Conservation, Otakaro, Te Papa, Niwa, AgResearch, Plant and Food, Education Ministry, Land Information NZ, the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Agency, Housing NZ and the actual Police themselves.

So if the Police had found a breach of the law, that could trigger a cascade of problems for the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, MSD, Crown Law, the Serious Fraud Office, Inland Revenue, MBIE, Foreign Affairs Ministry, ACC, Department of Internal Affairs, Maritime New Zealand, Ministry of Health, Department of Conservation, Otakaro, Te Papa, Niwa, AgResearch, Plant and Food, Education Ministry, Land Information NZ, the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Agency, Housing NZ and of course, the actual Police themselves.

Again, isn't that fantastically coincidental and serendipitously lucky for the corporate spies and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, MSD, Crown Law, the Serious Fraud Office, Inland Revenue, MBIE, Foreign Affairs Ministry, ACC, Department of Internal Affairs, Maritime New Zealand, Ministry of Health, Department of Conservation, Otakaro, Te Papa, Niwa, AgResearch, Plant and Food, Education Ministry, Land Information NZ, the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Agency, Housing NZ and as I have mentioned twice before, the actual Police themselves?

Martyn Bradbury

Editor - TheDailyBlog.nz

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