Sir Palmer: GCSB made 'egregious error'

Sat, 29 Sep 2012 1:38p.m.

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The Nation spoke to Sir Geoffrey Palmer and asked about the relationship between security agencies and the Prime Minister.

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30/09/2012 4:55:05 p.m.

michael wrote:

Palmer he was prime minister for 6 weeks i think , stop living of the gravy train and get a real job .these people are stooges to the establishment.

30/09/2012 3:34:08 p.m.

Robert M wrote:

With his background as PM and a Labour Party nominal head of the GCSB, Palmer does a competent job of explaining that intelligence work is by its nature secret and can not be exposed too clearly or accurately with definite authority.
But in terms of the current National administration even more than Helen Clark's Government which was expected to be somewhat left, Key, English and Grosser have failed to point out in strong general terms that the GCSB largely exists to serve the interests of the West generally and Australia and the USA in particular. Most of the GSBGs electronic, survellance and wireless targets will not relate to NZs immediate interests and will often be monitoring military and intelligence movements in the North Pacific and North Asia. Among other things the US has a particular interest in submarine communications and also monitoring the activities of its official friends like Japan and Israel for obvious reasons. There have been suggestions from reasonably informed sources that some of the GSCBs NZ based work does involve monitoring of Japanese activity as well as those of former Communist nations and terroritst suspects. Anything done on behalf of the NZ police will be of rarest occasion and only really justified when the suspect is capable of degree encyrpting communication beyond the obvious capability of the Police or SIS.
To have any real ideological or political credibilty as a right centre Political Party the National Government has to admit that the basing of the GCSB here is largely a reflection of a strong ideological identification with the interests and the cause of the United States. The National Government has progressively lost all credibility because it will not admit that it should be primarily a supporter of the US and Israel. The problem even more than regional trade is that the power of left here meams that anyone who thinks that Ryan, Rice (Condi), Reagan or Romney might be right and intelligent are derided and snubbed.

30/09/2012 8:49:26 a.m.

dennis wrote:

Leave the GCSB boys alone Paul Holmes. As Robert points out these are effectively military personnel. This is Justice Collins' baby. What do you expect them to do when the Solicitor General asks them to do a job? He will immediately threaten to sue MediaWorks if you post this, as he has done before. Let him sue. It will put him in prison should he do so, so he won't need much spending money