Corporate spies vetting public information – how has it come to this?

So on top of the mass surveillance powers the SIS and GCSB have gained (and repeatedly abused).

On top of the extensive search and surveillance powers the Police have (and repeatedly abused).

On top of state agencies spying on activists, sexual assault survivors, earthquake survivors, political Parties and Iwi  for their own ends.

On top of State Agencies learning how to create fake social media accounts to spy on NZers.

On top of all that, we learned last week that the very corporate spies now under this scrutiny were paid to vet the extent of their spying before it was released to the Labour Party…

Megan Woods seeks answers on Southern Response’s use of private investigators
Greater Christchurch Regeneration Minister Megan Woods is seeking a “please explain” from government insurer Southern Response after it paid a private investigation firm more than $2000 to review information before it went to the Labour Party.

In January 2017, when Woods was the opposition spokeswoman on the Christchurch quake recovery, Thompson & Clark Investigations Ltd (TCIL) invoiced Southern Response $2070 for reviewing a response to an Official Information Act request from the Labour Party research unit on its use of TCIL.

…NZ is a tiny nation with very few of the checks and balances built into other modern democracies.

When we were handed the Eye of Mordor in the form of the 5 Eyes mass surveillance spying network, we didn’t have the ability to responsibly use that power and that corruption of power seems to have cascaded into every state agency.

While the mainstream media focus ridiculously on a band of littering tourists, real questions about the power of the deep state in this country go utterly ignored.