I’ve always been concerned about the SIS and GCSB. I think everybody should be concerned about their country’s intelligence services. This article from Salient gives a pretty good argument for why Kiwis should be worried. But I particularly like this last quote from Dr Paul Buchanan of Auckland University:
What I find interesting is that people in New Zealand – with the exception of the left – uncritically accept whatever the security agencies say. I believe that the military operates, by and large, honestly, and I know that the SAS [Special Air Service] guys are extremely good soldiers and pretty righteous to boot. I can’t say the same thing about the SIS. I think that this is a problem. If we don’t have a public that doesn’t take an interest in being lied to, being manipulated, then we won’t have a Parliament that will ask the hard questions about these guys, which means they’re essentially irresponsible – these guys don’t have to answer the hard questions so they can basically go about their business as they please.
And he’s exactly right. Especially about the uncriticalness of your average Kiwi.
