Spy debacle the result of Key's lax oversight

John Key has sole democratic oversight of our spy agencies but his lax attitude towards that responsibility has been exposed by the debacle surrounding the unlawful snooping on Kim Dotcom, says Labour Leader David Shearer.

“In response to my questions in Parliament, John Key revealed GCSB only recognised its error 5-7 days before it notified him of its unlawful actions last Monday. It simply beggars belief that it wasn’t discovered until seven months after the surveillance took place.

“It’s something that Justice Helen Winkelmann has expressed concern about in the High Court today and that many other New Zealanders will find it hard to believe.

“What’s of even more concern is that John Key’s own deputy knew about GCSB’s involvement in the Dotcom case a month ago but failed to tell him.

“When Bill English signed the Ministerial Certificate to suppress the GSCB’s involvement in the case he stated that ‘[Disclosing] the information requested would likely prejudice the security of New Zealand’.  You would have thought that a matter of national security might be something Mr English would want to mention to his boss.

“The failure to recognise the unlawful spying is incredible when you look at the facts. Not  only did Kim Dotcom throw a $500,000 fireworks display to celebrate his residency last year, but a simple Google search throws up literally millions of references to his residency status.

“Kim Dotcom’s residency status has been front page news and he even tweeted about it earlier this year saying the New Zealand government was treating him unfairly as a New Zealand resident.

“Something has gone seriously wrong here and the buck stops with John Key. He is meant to have democratic oversight of those agencies but has taken his eye off the ball. New Zealanders will be disappointed by his failure of leadership,” said David Shearer.