The Todd Barclay affair, where the unelected Prime Minister claimed seven times that he couldn’t recall if Barclay had told him about the secret recording of a National party staffer, proved without a doubt that Bill English is dishonest!But if that wasn’t bad enough, only five week’s out from a general election English has once again been caught out in another whopping lie involving the government using the services of a private investigation firm to illegally spy on New Zealand citizens.
On Thursday, the NZ Herald reported:
Greenpeace spying: Is the Govt also involved?
Greenpeace boss Russel Norman is calling on the Government to "categorically deny" any involvement with a surveillance campaign targeting the environmental lobby group.
Greenpeace says it has caught spies in the act, tracking and photographing staff and volunteers and filed litigation against the private investigation company it claims is organising it.
"The information received suggests the New Zealand Government has also been involved," said Norman, a former Green MP.
…
But Prime Minister Bill English categorically dismissed any suggestion that the Government was in any way involved, or was complicit.
"Not at all I don't where they'd get that allegation from," English said.
He would be concerned if there was surveillance of a protest group, but stopped short of saying he was convinced of Greenpeace's claims that they had been spied on, noting that "Greenpeace like to make people think they're the centre of all things".
There is no question that in the interim day between these two articles, Bill English or his advisors were able to view the evidence Greenpeace had provided the court, evidence that would categorically prove the government’s involvement in illegal spying.
On Friday, 1News reported:
Government admits using information from private investigation firm being taken to court by Greenpeace
“The government admits it’s using information attained from a controversial private investigation firm that Greenpeace is taking to court. The environmental group says it’s outraged the investigators have been tracking Greenpeace staff and passing that information on to the government.”
The illegally obtained information was being provided to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment by Thompson & Clark. The government has claimed that the information they’ve received was obtained legally, however that is clearly not the case.
Head of Greenpeace NZ, Russell Norman, said that the government should not have anything to do with Thompson & Clark, a message relayed by reporter Jessica Mutch to the Prime Minister, who fumbled around for an answer:
Look I think we should just run an open and transparent process people ah like Greenpeace are protesting about things they are free to do so.
Greenpeace are clearly not free to protest about “things” if they’re being actively and illegally spied on by a disreputable private investigation firm that’s working for the oil and gas industry as well as the National led government.
This is especially the case because Thompson & Clark was spying on Greenpeace members when they were going about their own private business.
Intimidation is a tactic often employed by the oil and gas industry to try and impede activists from their lawful and peaceful protests. The only difference this time is they got caught.
There is no doubt that the Prime Minister has tried to mislead reporters and the public once again about illegal recordings. Clearly Bill English is a highly dishonest politician who shouldn’t be trusted with running the National party, let alone the country.
If you value your privacy, don't vote for National.
