14 JUNE 2013
Coming up this weekend

on The Nation

• Dr Peter Gutmann, Dept of Computer Science, University of Auckland on cyber security --- who is watching who?

• Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy on the booming rural economy and its future.

• Green cpo-leader Russel Norman. Why no more Mr Nice Guy?

Prying Eyes

Revelations of US spy agency, NSA, intercepting metadata and communications using the programme PRISM have received word wide attention. Leaked documents claim to show that the NSA has been directly accessing the servers of Google, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft. A claim which all companies have all denied. New Zealand learnt earlier this year how valuable metadata is to spies, when the Kitteridge Report revealed the GCSB had been looking at Kiwi’s metadata.
So how much control do we really have over who sees our digital communications? And can we be online and anonymous?

Peter Gutmann is a researcher at the Department of Computer Science at the University of Auckland and has an international reputation for his work on cyber security. He will be with Rachel to talk about PRISM, the GCSB and your computer.

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Field Days Special --- Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy.

The Ministry of Primary Industries outlook report was released this week and, despite the drought earlier in the year, things seem to be looking fairly good for the agricultural sector. The drought made the sector decline by $1.3 billion for the year till June, but next year, revenues are expected to increase 2.2%, and grow at a compound annual growth rate of 7.4%.

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy joins us fresh from Field Days to discuss the future of the agricultural industry.

But is there an end to the golden weather? Can we sustain the projected 7.5% growth in the primary industries each year? We ask Mr Guy whether water resources and the recent trade issues with China are likely to restrict our agricultural growth.

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No more Mr Nice Guy. Why are the Greens mean?

Greens Co-Leader Russel Norman seems to have had a personality shift. At the Green Party AGM at the start of this month, Dr Norman compared Prime Minister John Key to Sir Robert Muldoon, and called the government “rotten”. This week, he responded to the NSA leaks by saying: “We have now progressed to the world George Orwell only wrote about fictionally... of a total surveillance state.”

The Greens used to claim they focussed on policy rather than personalities. But Dr Norman is becoming an outspoken opponent to the government – who isn’t afraid of making personal attacks.

Dr Norman will be in the studio this weekend, discussing the comments he’s made over the past two weeks, as well as the direction he sees his party heading in.

ENDS

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