And then they came for Rodney Hide?

1. Well it just goes to show, if they can do it to Rodney then they can do it to anyone.
   I guess Rodney is not rich enough to be untouchable, but I thought he would have a few mates in National who he could call favours in with. Since he doesn’t it actually increases my esteem for the guy, although I dispise most of his political ideals.

   • HIDE = ACT
     ACT=BANKS
     BANKS = Nothing to fear nothing to hide
     Nothing to fear nothing to hide = Slithering GCSB laws into NZ

     The equation seems simple. Your “Hollow Men” cronies wanted this level of surveillance. Some might say, hoisted by your own petard Rodney.

     Maybe it’s because you are reading left wing Daily Blogs Rodney and committing thoughtcrime in the land of the long black cloud. Campbell Live would have let you have your say, but alas he’s gone too.

     Last one not in jail, turn out the lights and turn off the computer. Still, there appears to be good “entertainment” in SERCO-run jails these days.

     ACT was all about privatising everything like schools, jails, hospitals and things too wasn’t it Rodney?

     • Except this is about a bureaucrat abusing his power, not ideology or our surveillance laws. And besides, the surveillance laws have been created as a means to stop and prevent terrorist activity (whether they have done so is another topic). I would hardly call a bankrupt a terrorist.

       • Somehow I doubt that “surveillance laws have been created as a means to stop and prevent terrorist activity”. To achieve that, we’d have to put cammeras everywhere; in every home; office; motel; hotel; factory; public facility; park; cafe; restaurant; bar; shop; bank; corner dairy… and I suspect it still wouldn’t deter really determined terrorists. Or the “lone wolf” gunman.

         The only foolproof way to stop terrorism is to address the root causes that motivate men and women to take up arms.

         Otherwise, why are we fighting extremism?

         Answer: to preserve our way of life.

         And how do we do that?

         Answer: by turning our society that once respected privacy and strict limits to State power, into a Survelliance State.

         And what has that achieved?

         Answer: Terrorist have succeeded in changing our way of life by frightening us into submission (to State Surveillance).

         The terrorists haven’t attacked our freedom. We’ve done it to ourselves.

         (Note: I’ve lived in an Eastern European country, in my early twenties, when it was a One Party state, with a powerful spy/security apparatus spying on citizens and visitors. It wasn’t much fun. If all Kiwis had a taste what a Surveillance Society ends up like, you wouldn’t be so keen to endorse increased state powers.)

         • Whether the surveillance laws have been effective or have just been a cover I’m not making a judgement call on.

           With those kinds of laws though I believe they should only be allowed for a certain period of time. Extreme circumstances like as in war require extreme laws but once those extreme circumstances are no longer there then those extreme laws should go as well.

           It’s no longer 2001. Al Qaeda is a former shadow of itself. And with the exception of the threat from ISIS, I think there’s an argument for reviewing our surveillance laws.

           • “Al Qaeda” was the invention of a desperate, crooked CIA informant. See the BBC documentary ‘The Power of Nightmares’. I suspect the “Islamic State” (or ISIS or ISIL or whatever they’re called this week) is also a fiction, a cobbling together of a bunch of disparate resistance groups into yet another “Evil Empire” which can be used as an excuse to dismantle democracy in those countries where some semblance of it exists.

             Aotearoa is not as war. The NZ state has not declared war. There is *no* excuse for the seemingly endless pseudo-martial law being imposed on us. The best way to protect kiwis from Islamist resistance fighters is *not* to support the US empire’s war machine, and to publicly criticise the US for invaded their countries and murdered their people.
             “Al Qaeda” was the invention of a desperate, crooked CIA informant. See the BBC documentary ‘The Power of Nightmares’. Is suspect the “Islamic State” (or ISIS or ISIL or whatever they’re called this week) is also a fiction, a cobbling together of a bunch of disparate resistance groups into yet another “Evil Empire” which can be used as an excuse to dismantle democracy.

             Aotearoa is not as war. The NZ state has not declared war. There is *no* excuse for the seemingly endless pseudo-martial law being imposed on us. The best way to protect kiwis from Islamist resistance fighters is to criticize the US empire which has invaded their countries and murdered their people, *not* to support the US war machine as both Clark and Key have done.

2. Couldn’t agree with you more on this one Bradbury

   National and Labour stooged up under urgency to pass their spy laws and strip Kiwi’s of their right to privacy – to protect us from the ‘terrorists’ of course [sarc]

   https://r1016132.wordpress.com/2014/12/09/the-rise-of-national-socialism-nz-style-pt-1/

   It disgusts me to the bone

3. I feel the same way about Hager if what you’ve been saying about how the cops have treated him is true and if true heads should roll. We’re not living in a police state and no one deserves to be treated like they’re living in one no matter how much we disagree with their politics or dislike what they’ve done. Freedom to say and do what we want so long as it’s within the law is worthless if it only applies to people we like.

4. Unfortunately it seems that it will take an assault on individual Right Wingers, by state agencies, before those smug, complacent cheerleaders for spy agencies wake up to what is happening…

   • Well Kim Dotcom was VERY right wing (even giving John Banks $50,000 for his mayor campaign), got The John Key surveillance/police state treatment in full force, and NZers (both right- and left-wing) average pulse rate remained steady at zero beats per minute.

   • Labour passed the spy laws too Frank in case you didn’t notice. Still waiting for your reply regarding global climate whatever your mob is calling it these days

     https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/07/14/using-freezing-temperatures-to-claim-global-warming-is-a-hoax/

     Not holding my breath either

   • oddly enough just after the uruwera raids kyle chapman popped up on TV and publicly stated that him and his buddies were planning for an armed insurection against the state and routinely went on practice outings with real firearms

     oh! – is that a tumble weed?

5. +100 Great Post…Rodney Hide was very good on trying to protect little people from being illegitimately bankrupted by the Tax Deaprtment….lets hope he also fights his own persecution!

6. Nothing to hide nothing to fear rodney? Despotic governments dont play by the rules do they!

7. Great post Martyn,

   Using black ops again is just another part of the puzzle now showing that “National promotes “Dirty Politics” fully at any cost to function.

   After Rodney Hide and what do I think they can do to people with no public profile at all? – Anything they want to, so we are now living in a police state for real.

   “providing information without any legal protections is Orwellian AND Kafkaesque.”

   Bliderberg top leader David Rockerfeller said “We are now on the verge of a global transformation”

   All we need tois the right major crisis and the nations will accept World global Government.”

8. Nothing new Citizens of New Zealand – my wife and I and our kids have been through it all recently – and not one peep – not one enquiry by our so called free press…..wankers cowards, who are controlled, manipulated leveraged and entrapped to leave this story alone………

   Citizens of NZ are seeing unfold in real time – all the signs of a NAZI – FACIST state being imposed on good human beings – whats more disturbing is that we are seeing EXTREME RIGHT WING – RACIST antics being used across the world to force change – this must disturb EVERY GOOD HUMAN BEING.

   Sadly the two choices on offer give us FACISM on the RIght and COMMUNISM on the left – and neither of these is GOOD for HUMAN BEINGS

   Thats why they will turn on their own people if they have to protect the corruption……..

   Our story below…..

   http://frameblame.org/personal-experiences-entrapment/

   • Hornet +100….wow! …that is a MUST READ for everyone including political activists, environmentalists, Maori, the judiciary and Members of Parliament!…and computer specialists!

     ….and anyone innocently working for public welfare and justice in the Police and Secret Services

     ….questions are whether foreign powers are also using this against NZ citizens

     SCAREY!

9. Thanks Bomber. And commentators.

   To be fair I don’t think it’s the politicians. It’s little bureaucrats with a little power abusing it. Although politicians on all sides of the House have been less than helpful in dealing with my complaints about the Official Assignee’s abuse.

   The best was when I approached the Official Assignee for comment for my column. I simply got a letter explaining I could be jailed for a year and fined $5,000 if I revealed what had been asked about me!

   I had previously been to the OA’s office having got nowhere with emails and phone calls to find out why they were asking questions about me and what they wanted to know. They refused to tell me and then called security. For a week! I had behaved myself. I didn’t want to prove their point and knew there was a security camera in their foyer.

   The legislation is fine as far as I can tell. It was passed by Labour in 2006. It enables the Assignee to investigate uncooperative bankrupts through s165 notices which are demands to turn up and be interviewed about the bankrupts “property, conduct, or dealings”. Fair enough.

   There’s no power to spray them about and ask questions about my activities and movements and to gather information about me and my family. But that’s what’s happened. More upsetting, it was done by a private investigator under contract. A deputy Official Assignee was just sitting their to swear or affirm the oath.

   I have asked the Official Assignee how many of these section 165 notices have been issued in each of the last five years: the answer came back “it’s not been possible to determine with any precision” !! I have been unsuccessfully been seeking to get an MP from any side of the House to ask the Minister (Hon Paul Goldsmith) the same question as a written parliamentary question. Surely the expectation would be there would be a record kept of how often the power has been used to detain people without charge and to compel testimony?

   Just to be clear Bomber: if you publish this then under section 169 of the Insolvency Act 2006 you are and I according to the OA are liable to a year’s jail and a $5,000 fine. We may have lots of time to talk.

   best

   Rodney Hide

   • …f..ck that is bad….I have never liked the look of Paul Goldsmith….lol

     …what exactly is his profile and biog details?…he seems rather shadowy

   • Apart from all sides of the political divide we all come from be it left, right, or middle, – we all have one thing burning in our soul;

     That is our right to free speech!

     You know the thing that we all went to wars to keep.

     Rodney I have not always agreed with as a 70yr old I grew up in the glorious days of egalitarianism where we all had equal shares of the Nations’ wealth.

     It was a time where we were encouraged to “Give it a go” fix a house or car or anything was fair game, as we all became known as “Kiwi can do” but when Nationakl came along with disasteroius rules to curb this free thinking that we were all handmen and fixer upper experts one guy should out among the crowd to say, STOP to Government and said we should nhave our rights to work on our own properties said Rodney Hide and he even made it an election issue when he spoke at a gathering.

     From that day I began to respect Rodney as he was like Rob Muldoon was, as someone that actually gave the average kiwi a fair go.

     Go Rodney don’t loose that independent thinking fair go flare you showed.
     As a footnote wasn’t it strange that the architect of this “Compliance” Building act that stopped our “Kiwi can do” Maurice Williamson himself was nabbed fixing up his Chinese neighbours home he sold him???

     Revenge is sweet isn’t it Rodney.
     lu

   • “It’s little bureaucrats with a little power abusing it.”
     Yes Rodney, it is just the ‘little people’ doing their jobs
     The Careerists
     http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_careerists_20120723
     Posted on Jul 23, 2012
     by Chris Hedges

     The greatest crimes of human history are made possible by the most colorless human beings. They are the careerists. The bureaucrats. The cynics. They do the little chores that make vast, complicated systems of exploitation and death a reality. They collect and read the personal data gathered on tens of millions of us by the security and surveillance state. ……………………………

   • Rodney…..I read about those circumstances you typed in the NZ Herald.

     That raised alarms. But you being who you are..found it peculiar that you weren’t getting any traction…

     However…the rot starts at the top !!!

     As Sun Tzu said…

     ” If the subordinate failed to follow my commands …it is my fault the general for not making my instructions clear enough…..however …if my instructions were clear…it is the fault of the subordinate in not obeying me in carrying them out ”…

     An American president also said it another way…”The buck stops here”.

     And what we are seeing is that a circumstance such as yours …even with all those years in parliament , even with those connections…failed to garner any attention or draw alarm to a situation that has ramifications for all of us.

     THIS ….is the alarming thing.

     And its no good just blaming the little people such as the bureaucrats…these more petty types only get their authority by those higher up – either by tacit approval or due legal process.

     So it doesn’t wash that we can simply point the finger at these minions…minions can be silenced very quickly and have their activity’s curbed very smartly by those of higher rank.

     Yes ,…you may get joy by taking on ‘ town hall’ at the lower levels – but the point REMAINS – the real culprits are those higher up who have ENABLED these circumstances to flourish.

     There needs to be an inquiry held about this and similar circumstances to prevent future abuses such as this.

     Anything less is just leaving it for the next guy to undergo and sort out.

     This is NOT acceptable in this country. At all.

     • I appreciate what you say. The ministers, the parliament and the ceo have failed in their oversight and it seems clear that’s what’s going on is well outside a section 165 examination.

       I have alerted the Official Assignee for New Zealand and the CEO of MBIE. They refer me back to the staff who I am complaining about and profess their confidence in them.

       I have complained to Minister Hon Paul Goldsmith. He has suggested the Ombudsman and that I get legal advice. The Ombudsman has agreed to investigate but with stretched resources has yet to start. The lawyer in have spoken to suggest eye watering expense.

       I have complained to my local MP and have emailed the opposition shadow minister.

       I have made public the extent of what I know.

       I will keep at it. It seems always to me when civil servants step supposedly this far out of line there is a need for political oversight not endless and wasteful litigation.

       I have started up some basic questions that any MP could submit to check for proper accountability in the use of these powers.

       The Official Assignee is refusing to answer them so it is going to take parliament.

       Best

       Rodney

       • I could be wrong yet – if I wanted someone in my corner I think I’d ask Ron Mark. He has excellent teeth…

         From your story you appear to have encountered a pair of jobsworths. It may be the case that their boss further up is weak/busy/has other interests. Those below are left to Run Things Properly and are now ‘way beyond their limits of authority.

         Is the State Services Commission still doing its job? Or has it fallen to the Dark Side? Use your network, for goodness’ sake.

       • I wish you all the best …however I , and other fair-minded people …do not like or wish to see a sole individual battling away in solitude…against a wall of bureaucracy…

         So within reason regards your privacy obviously …please continue to inform the public of developments , – as this is the sort of issue that needs that sort of public backing as it is in the public’s interest .

       • Hah, faith in the Ombudsman is something I have no longer. I have experience dealing with them, and so have others I know, they are just another Office slapping around wet bus tickets, if it even goes that far.

         Discretion, discretion, endless discretion is written into the Ombudsmen Act, the Health and Disability Commissioner’s Act and other statutes, and they use it most the time, to do damn little.

         And that backlog, yes, if you are lucky, they will pick up your complaint within six months, perhaps more likely in say 12 months time, and then so much else will have happened, so what you will have written to them will have been overtaken by many other more recent developments, making the complaint rather “redundant”.

         But I guess you know all that already. As a Member of Parliament they do tend treat a person more seriously, and then may speed things up a bit, but when you are just a mortal common citizen, well, line up back at the end of the queue again, Sir.

         Best of luck, Rodney

       • Yes: “express their confidence in them”. This is the problem Rodney. They have not stepped out of line.

         This is exactly what bureaucracy does. Once in motion, every person only knows their little job, and assumes everyone else is doing their job properly. So at Ministerial level, Goldsmith assumes his bureaucracy is working fine, so it is the individual’s job (and expense!) to raise a case.

         Now, this is exactly what is wrong with A) underfunding the state, thinking you are making it “lean, mean, and efficient”, while B) giving the state too much power. Rodney, one of the first things you did when this government came to power was go on Close Up and tell a sympathetic Mark Sainsbury how people should be able to opt out of the Building Code. The issue you raised was very fair – something like, why should a small business be forced to put in a paraplegic toilet just to get consent for a small change to a porch (or something). Your solution was terrible though, throwing more risk back on to the individual laissez faire. The real fix is for if the state wants something to happen, it must pay for it itself. That means it needs a reasonable funding base, and it forces the bureaucrat in charge of hearing the consent to use discretion to decide whether the state really needs to use its funding to pay for that paraplegic toilet. It may even need a sign off from a colleague as well. This is “inefficient”, cost a bit more, but it shields the individual from all burdens, and the bureaucrats have internal protection against making the wrong decision.

         So in your case, if the state wants to mount an investigation, it should be structured and funded to bear the cost of its proceedings. That includes you and others querying it. The bureaucracy then has to justify to itself the merits of its case: “do we really need to push this further?” Rather than throwing all the costly obligations, on to the individual, in this case yourself.

         Because the terrible thing about state bureaucracies, especially ones that are under ideological pressure to cut costs, be lean and mean, dump beneficiaries or catch spies: they get scared. You might like to think it is just one or two bureaucrats stepping out of line – wrong. Typically there is very narrow band of behaviour. No matter how good or nice they are outside work, unless they are a very rare breed, with saintlike principles and nothing to lose, they will take the safe option, which is always not to question. Just to do your little job, whichever is the path of least resistance, and assume if there is a problem, someone else will catch it. Without this questioning, a lean mean bureaucracy will just churn things through to the conclusion.

         This is bad for the private citizen under scrutiny. It is bad enough for an average citizen querying a parking ticket: once the ticket is issued, it is assumed you’re in the wrong. IRD is a nightmare of poor information, stone walls, and inconsistency, particularly under this government, in my experience. It must be even worse for you and your circumstances.

         Now I support a broader role for the state than you might, primarily in ensuring access to human needs, but you can see I also distrust it implicitly. I am sure it grates against all your convictions but bureaucratic churn or bloat, or inefficiency – call it what you like – evolved out of genuine thought and democratic principle: protecting people from the cost of state mistakes. Because when the state makes a mistake it hit hard and hates, hates to admit it – much less fix it. I hope your people come out of your case all right.

   • So a ratbag OA can basically ruin someone’s life and if that person tries to tell anyone that person risks going to jail under s169 of the insolvency act.

10. Those that believe that certain “surveillance” and other “operational” activities by various state agencies, and by “security services”, are all neatly kept separate from persons involved, and persons holding higher office above them, are fools.

    New Zealand is a rather “smallish” country, and our government, and the arms of the Executive, and various administrative offices are run by people who often know each other rather well, have perhaps been to the same school with others in key power positions. Just think of that Ian Fletcher and John Key association again for just a little moment.

    There are also people in the judiciary and the other branches of the state, including some supposed “watchdog” office holders, who know each other rather well, go to the same dinner functions and clubs, and it would be foolish to think, they are always and all so “professional”, as to not exchange some “views” and bits of “information” about certain individuals now and then.

    I also dare to say, that this blog will be well “monitored”, and some commenters may also be “visited” via certain “trojan” bits of programs now and then, so as to check, how “loyal” they really are to the “cause” called “NZ Inc”.

    All this surprises me not one little bit, and I expect to have my online behaviour “checked” on myself, as I would be surprised if they would not do so.

    Sorry to hear what Rodney has suffered, but he will have learned, that the other side of the coin often looks a bit different to the one he once was so loyal to. Best of luck, the more converts we find who realise what goes on, the better.

11. The corporate surveillance police State has been on the cards, waiting in the shadows for the perfect moment to emerge for some time.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0295vks

12. So Rodney have you worked out “WHY” they are trying to get something ON YOU? Just like me if you are a threat or a concern in some way, the tactic is to set about looking for information to use against you – to gain leverage over you and to control you…..to Entrap you…..

    What did you try and expose some time back?
    What do WE all have a have a massive problem with in power circles?
    Why after winning northland – did Winston try hard to push a bill seeking the right to name pedophiles…..
    What is desperately being hidden at all costs…..???

    As far as I can see ONE PERSON to date in NZ was prepared to take a conviction on the chin – and bravely name – names……

    You see the truth will come out eventually, timing is everything – so the “defensive” position is to delay, intimidate, suppress for as long as possible….and try hard to get something over those who could blow the whistle ………thats how the spy agencies are currently being used against the people in NZ……to look for dirt which can be used to destroy you – or blackmail you – entrap you into remaining SILENT. That is my DIRECT Experience……..

    http://beforeitsnews.com/politics/2015/07/british-pedophilia-ring-exposed-2727714.html

    http://real-agenda.com/british-pedophilia-ring-exposed/

    • interesting…agree about pedophilia…the most heinous of abuse crimes on the most vulnerable….guaranteed once the facts are out to bring down MPs and possibly governments

      …the facts should be made known to MPs ….and then concerted and unrelenting questions made in Parliament…where a lot more can be said under privilege….there is also a lot that can be said without naming names in order to force the issue

      ….sounds like a story that needs to be broken …and who was the person prepared to name names?

13. Fantastic. This is really important. An undoubted far right libertarian – with connections and clout, no less – has been made to feel the cold thrust of totalitarian bureaucratic power. Easy to brush off the “intelligentsia” and the hoi polloi complaining about it; very different feeling it. Rodney, like it or not, now “gets it”.

    We need a non-partisan, intelligent alliance to take advantage of this. Hopefully someone he can respect will have a word in his ear.

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