Parliamentary Services are spying on MPs emails??? What the actual?

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No, way – this just can’t be happening….

Parliamentary Service blocked email between MP and Fairfax journalist

The screening and blocking of MPs emails by Parliamentary Service is “outrageous” and needs to stop, says Labour’s Chris Hipkins

An urgent investigation is being called for by Labour after Hipkins had an email he was trying to send to a Fairfax journalist blocked on Monday night.

The email, which contained a document sourced through the Official Information Act, was blocked because “it contained sensitive words that were in violation of Government security classifications”, Hipkins said.

Hipkins said Parliamentary Service told him they blocked the email. He was told it was a “clear breach of parliamentary privilege”.

“That’s outrageous, they have no right to be screening the emails being sent by Members of Parliament. It shouldn’t matter where I got the information from, they’ve got no right to monitor my emails in the first place.”

“I know that National is now cosying up to (Fiji Prime Minister) Frank Bainimarama but that doesn’t mean they can adopt his dictatorial, anti-democratic methods here in New Zealand,” he said.

On further investigation, Labour staff found various other examples in the last few weeks where emails had been blocked – previously they’ve not had any issues.

…this is unbelievable. Why the hell are Parliamentary Services spying on MPs emails? Why are they in effect censoring those emails and why are they blocking them?

How on earth do Parliamentary Services have that power? Do they send those emails to other intelligence departments?

This is a terrifying increase of powers for a department that is supposed to be strictly technical and not political.

If this is what the State will do to high ranking members of the Opposition, what do you think they are doing to us sleepy hobbits?

35 COMMENTS

  1. Parliamentary Service blocked email between MP and Fairfax journalist

    The screening and blocking of MPs emails by Parliamentary Service is “outrageous” and needs to stop, says Labour’s Chris Hipkins

    An urgent investigation is being called for by Labour after Hipkins had an email he was trying to send to a Fairfax journalist blocked on Monday night.

    The email, which contained a document sourced through the Official Information Act, was blocked because “it contained sensitive words that were in violation of Government security classifications”, Hipkins said.

    Looking at this terrible policing intrusion into our democratic political process is staggering.

    My reaction is that we have now confirmed we are inside a dictatorship with all the trimmings of a police action style using “security services” which are really a Government Stazi “black opps” operation helicoptered in to control our Government.

    All opposition MP’s should walk out of parliament and place an injunction in the court charging this Government with interference of our democracy forthwith.

  2. Okay, it was the Chief Statisticians idea, apparently, to shave half a percent off the unemployed figures through THE most Mickey Mouse accounting system. Yeah right!

    Now it’s Parliamentary Services idea to intercept and or block MP’s emails. Only in the history of the Key National government has such questionable behaviour occurred.

    You can bet your overpriced Auckland caravan that those control freaks National are up to their filthy little eyeballs in this and are quite likely getting a copy of those emails too!

    Were I Labour or The Greens I would treat any allocated government space as hostile and unsafe and conduct my business very carefully.

    • Nobody needs or should have the power to interfere with other people’s free and voluntary, public interest speech. I’m wondering about the professional ethics of the ICT people who implemented this policy. Censoring email exchanges with political representatives interferes with journalists and activists ability to inform the public, so they can hold their representatives accountable. Even keyword filtering their email would be treated as a computer crime if it was me doing it:
      http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2003/0039/latest/whole.html#DLM200263
      http://www.lawcom.govt.nz/our-projects/computer-crime

      I’m pretty sure interfering with other people’s mail was a crime long before computer crime laws, and indeed, long before computers. Surely the sysadmins of those mailservers would have known that illegal is illegal, even when it’s the government of the day and/or public servants asking you to do it?

      Am I right in guess that the system used to do this filtering and censoring was an Office365/ Outlook system leased to the government by Microsoft, and that the sysadmins were in the US governed by US law?

      More government ICT work is now being contracted out to local companies. Many of these companies are using free code software, which is good, but they don’t have dedicated legal departments like the corporates do. If they don’t have good legal advice, and refuse illegal requests from their employers, they could end up carrying the can.

    • Do you really expect the compliant MSM to dare raise such “controversial” issues? Spying on the All Blacks would be “newsworthy”, but MPs, those unpopular folk in Parliament?

  3. I’m surprised Parliamentary Services thinks this is appropriate.

    I’m surprised this hasn’t made msm headlines.

    If they can do this to a Member of Parliament, then we are now all potential targets.

    Martyn is correct: this is terrifying.

    • My colleagues and I are comfortable with this.

      “If you have nothing to fear, you have nothing to hide”.

      A member of the coalition (not in the Maori Party, or ACT) was caught out with some dodgy emails to a young journalist (and demoted).

      A potential politician, whose initials are CC and who is currently on the sharp end of a libel suit, also allegedly did questionable things via emails and texts.

      Something smells bad, and it isn’t after-shave (or some other smells), it is corruption and salaciousness in the Beehive. What’s a few civil liberties when corruption and dirty politics are at stake.

      • Yep, you have nothing to fear and nothing to hide, so do you expose yourself naked to the public every day, Mr See No More, from your balcony of patio, perhaps?

      • As long as your e-mails are not being hacked then you and your anonymous colleagues are comfortable with it are you?
        The right-wing mantra – as long as it doesn’t affect ME its OK.
        Your comments get more and more stupid each time.

  4. I seem to recall that Keith Locke and Sue Bradford had similar concerns a few years ago.
    Interesting situation that parliamentary services is run by the Speaker David Carter, so any criticism of that branch is effectively criticism of the Speaker. MPs who criticize Speaker Carter usually end up being banished from the house and/or appearing before the Privileges Committee.
    Another example of how National is subverting parliamentary processes to conduct dirty politics against its political opponents.
    Oh sorry I forgot – it isn’t dirty politics, its “business as usual” – National style.

  5. Looks like we are moving to the American system of government where the elected representatives of the people are figureheads engaged in political theatre while the “real governing” is carried out by unelected functionaries of the corporate elite.
    TV1, TV3 Prime and National Radio source their news from a very limited number of propaganda wholesalers so of course there will be no mention of this from them.

    • Ian,K, you are 100% correct there and the HQ for “a very limited number of propaganda wholesalers” is under the control through the master of Propaganda (NatZ Election Manager) SS Goebbels/Joyce from his bunker at MBIE.

      Germany 1932 revisited right here in NZ plotted by NatZis no doubt.

    • National Radio have covered it actually, look again. Still scary and scarier. Claiming this has been operating for several years seems completely untrue too. No doubt this is part of the GCSBs new powers since the recent upgrade. What a circus and post truth politics just takes a turn for the truly putrid.

    • Yep, get rid of John key and his cohorts in crime and the brakes will be put on to much of NZ’s problems. Then let the clean up begin!!

  6. I suspect it is due to some technical flaw, where documents are classified, or rather were classified, so their system kind of picks this up and blocks them.

    But then again, system administrators will have abilities to “look into” emails, sort of, who knows how far that lot in power may go yet?

    Never entrust the fox with looking after the goose.

    • Algorithms are the electronic mechanisms that capture specific words used such as gun, kill, key, ect’ but its up to the programmer to restrict the focus here to capture only some few specific emails, and not many as I suspect is occurring here.

      Today it was Winston that asked the obvious correct question of the Minister here;

      “Can you describe any other occasion where this blocking of a Ministers email’s has ever occurred before in the history of this parliament”?

      No answer was ever given and Winston and Winston has upset at this low quality service of this government and later was treated unfairly again by this rogue speaker on another issue and Winnie was dealt to and was ordered our of the chamber afterwards by the speaker.

      This was clearly showing a true lack of proper fairness of equal procedure from this errant Speaker not to keep parliament control under a high standard.

      So this David Carter said on RNZ news before parliament that he would consider Chris Hipkin’s complaint.

      But when it came to front this he just blocked discussion on this crucial issue and he only failed miserably in his duty to uphold the highest standards of his office and should be sent out of Government himself, and sacked.

      Disgraceful man he is, just another traitor to our country and democracy. Winston was probably one of the only MP’s left with such a long history of recalling that this had not occurred before to flag this issue.

      • Winston was asked to leave “the Chamber” yesterday AND today, also the MSM mentioned stuff all, NADA, about this.

        Those who have not got the picture yet, please look again, the reporting by our MSM is damned BIASED and pro Key and pro government. I saw it again today, big feature first up, with Minister of Transport at Auckland, releasing funds for the City Rail Link. Next came the court hearing about the dismantling of once popular Colin Craig, Conservatives leader, with the Taxpayers Union’s top dog – and his former girl friend – doing the nasty work.

        Welcome to DIRTY POLITICS series number 2, it is all on, well planned in the lead up for election 2017!

        I sense Winston is furious, Andrew is furious, and many others like Hipkins et al are furious also what goes on under this almost dictatorial government we have.

        The MSM is under control by the government, TVNZ and RNZ more or less directly, due to financial dependence and certain heads there being friendly to Nats, and the rest are “commercial” and private operator servants to mammon, which is just like the perfect extension of the business lobby and so forth, also firmly aligned with Key and his gang.

  7. This is getting decidedly evil.

    We have seen many instances of evil double motives from this Key led govt. This form of so called ‘government’ is not for New Zealand. It is alien to us. It does not belong here.

    Generals gathered in their masses,
    Just like witches at black masses.
    Evil minds that plot destruction,
    Sorcerer of death’s construction.
    In the fields the bodies burning,
    As the war machine keeps turning.
    Death and hatred to mankind,
    Poisoning their brainwashed minds.
    Oh lord yeah!

    Politicians hide themselves away,
    They only started the war.
    Why should they go out to fight,
    They leave that role to the poor.

    Yeah!

    Time will tell on their power mind,
    Making war just for fun.
    Treating people just like pawns in chess,
    Wait till their judgement day comes.

    Yeah!

    Now in darkness world stops turning,
    Ashes where the bodies burning.
    No more war pigs have the power,
    Hand of God has struck the hour.
    Day of judgement God is calling,
    On their knees the war pig’s crawling.
    Begging mercy for their sins,
    Satan laughing spreads his wings.

    Oh lord yeah!

    • It sure does Mary and this country has been turning into one under this government.
      The last time was under Muldoon but the press eventually turned against him in 1984.
      The NZ herald has announced Key has already won next year so my vote is wasted before i have cast it !

  8. TV ones news are now the puppets of the gnats they do as they are told they are setting our public channel up to fail then make a sale
    Notice how TV one didn’t cover the polls news when Labour were climbing.
    This email thing is exactly what people said would happen a huge invasion of our privacy who are those mugs that said if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear bloody joke and bloody disgusting.

  9. Ssshhh! I’ll type this quietly … they shouldn’t be able to hear me so I think this one will get through? I’ve marked it “C”, you know Confidential. I was told that even the FBI & SS in the US can’t even detect an email marked with the “C” Header? Time for ToR!

  10. Time to go back to pigeon post. They microchip dogs in NZ, now there is talk of microchipping cats – the next thing babies at birth will be microchipped with a tracking device etc before they leave the delivery suite. 50 years time it is likely it will be a reality – and I am not a tin foil hat wearer.

    • Orwerian regime this is forced upon us by very sick individuals and Global Corporation’s and NaTz plotting together.

  11. From what I understand this has been in place since 2007. Rights or wrongs aside, Chris Hipkins has tried to link this back to John Key. No other attack has worked for past ten years, why would this. Instead of barking at every passing car, maybe Chris should focus on the things that count

    • Hah, it has been in place for so many years, oh yeah, what does that mean? Perhaps it took our slow thinking Kiwi MPs so damned long to notice. Going by what I observe daily, the majority of people in this country are rather slow thinkers, never revolutionaries, certainly not scrutiny applying citizens, there are too many sheep, with two legs, that is the problem, and the constant brainwashing by MSM does not help.

    • This “doesn’t count”, Monty?

      Would you be so blase if it was a Labour government in office and this was revealed?

      The fact it was “in place” since 2007 is meaningless. The then-government may or may not have been aware of it.

      This is yet another instance of the gradual erosion of privacy. Even MPs and Ministers are not beyond the all-seeing eye of The State.

      Where will it end? Surveillance cameras in our homes?

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