Hone Harawira
Leader of MANA and MP for Te Tai Tokerau

21 August 2013

Repeal the GCSB Bill ASAP

“MANA will push to repeal the GCSB Bill when there’s a change in government” said Hone Harawira, Leader of the MANA Movement and MP for Te Tai Tokerau following the passing into law of the GCSB bill this afternoon. “The police and the SIS already have the ability to spy on New Zealanders. We don’t need another one, especially one paid for and answerable to an overseas government.”

“Thanks to UK whistleblower Katharine Gun, we now know that while NZ was opposing the invasion of Iraq, the US was directing its international spy network, including the GCSB, to spy on members of the UN Security Council in an attempt to pressure them into supporting a US resolution to invade.

“And now the powers of the GCSB are being widened even further to suit the goals of the US, even when those goals are in direct opposition to the policies of the NZ government.

“We stand alongside the huge majority of New Zealanders who oppose this bill not because we have anything to fear, but because we value the rights and freedoms that our fathers, uncles and brothers have fought and died for.

“New Zealanders should have the right to challenge their government or to oppose corporate mismanagement, without ending up on an American terrorist watch-list and having the contents of their emails and phone calls sold to international spy networks.

“New Zealanders don’t accept the Prime Ministers assurances that the new powers of the GCSB won’t be abused, and neither should we have to accept legislation that further erodes our independence and our sovereignty.

“MANA supports the repeal of the bill and calls for New Zealand to withdraw from the FIVE EYES international spy network run by the US.

“We have far more important issues to be spending our time and money on, like feeding the kids, creating jobs, and building homes for New Zealand citizens.

ENDS

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