Flavell Te Ururoa: Government Communications Security Bureau Amendment Bill Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Amendment Bill Intelligence and Security Committee Amendment Bill — Third ReadingsText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeFlavell Te Ururoa: Government Communications Security Bureau Amendment Bill Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Amendment Bill Intelligence and Security Committee Amendment Bill — Third Readings[Sitting date: 21 August 2013. Volume:692;Page:12708. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Government Communications Security Bureau Amendment BillInspector-General of Intelligence and Security Amendment BillTE URUROA FLAVELL (Co-Leader—Māori Party):Tēnā koe Mr Speaker. Kia oratātou katoa. OnMonday night 1500 or so New Zealanders gathered at a public meeting in the Auckland Town Hall and came together in opposition to this legislation arising from the Government Communications Security Bureau and Related Legislation Amendment Bill.I was not there but that does not mean that the issues and concerns raised have not been expressed already by the Māori Party. I understand that speakers at that event talked about this legislation as a threat to fundamental freedom. I am told that one of the challenges put to the hui aside from digs at Dr Rodney Harrison QC was that according to him through this bill the nation was “sleepwalking into a surveillance society”. That was his quote from his speech. Today the Māori Party stands as we have at every single stage of this legislation to oppose the virtual nightmare in its absolute entirety.While the crowd was gathered in Auckland I was with representatives ofwhānauhapū and iwi atTūrangawaewae. I know that you arrived there not long after I arrived supporting them in I suppose the seventh-year celebration of the famouskoroneihana—the coronation—of KingTuheitia. Just for a second I would like to acknowledge the incredible organisation the devoted commitment and the inspirational momentum that that hui represents to the heart and soul of tangata whenua. If you did not know since 1858 theKīngitanga—the Māori King Movement—has stood strong to survive intense challenges wars land confiscation poverty and destitution. It has endured two major global conflicts and several bouts of severe economic crises.It is the Māori Party’s submission that the introduction of mass surveillance must surely be seen as yet another injustice that our iwi have had to withstand. Tangata whenua are saying today in this House that we will never ever agree to submit to surveillance by the Government’s spy agencies. Each of our iwi have horrendous stories to tell of the experiences that we have been put through in the name of colonial rule.I have listened to whatTūhoe leaderTāmati Kruger has said about the impact of this bill.Tāmati told the nation thatTūhoe know all too well about injustice resulting from Crown suspicion as highlighted by their fraught historic relationship. It was his advice that extending the powers of the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) will only fuel the Crown’s suspicions of New Zealanders and contribute to further injustices. Indeed according toTāmati if the legislation is made lawTūhoe and by default all other iwi must find ways of protecting themselves by being vigilantas their privacy is no longer respected. I have seen logs of surveillance on innocentTūhoe people. TheTūhoe raids are a blight on New Zealand society.TheMāori Party has put out there from the moment that this legislation was floated that we will oppose it because it is intrusive and it lacks justification for what we believe is an extraordinary extension of theGCSB’s powers. This is absolutely consistent with our vigilant opposition to all of the other variations of legislation that have paved the way to this legislation. In 2011 we opposed the Video Camera Surveillance (Temporary Measures) Bill which was being pushed through under urgency and called for all of our constituents and the public to make submissions. It was such an issue of importance yet New Zealanders were given 24 hours to have their say. We also opposed the Terrorism Suppression Amendment Act 2007 introduced by Labour which was passed post - Operation Eight to justify and validate the actions of the police during Operation Eight.The Māori Party believes that this latest legislation is inconsistent with the rights of freedom of expression and freedom from unreasonable search or seizure under our law and that it will merely validate actions like those of Operation Eight where some police actions were also deemed illegal. As this House knows full well the Independent Police Conduct Authority report on Operation Eight found that in some areas police had acted “unlawfully unjustifiably and unreasonably” during those raids. All that this legislation does is increase the powers of the GCSB and it makes it easier to spy on New Zealanders. Last year we opposed the Search and Surveillance Bill for similar reasons because we believed that the search powers vested in police officers under the bill were too broad and we were concerned that they did not require a search warrant. That bill allowed more Government agencies to carry out surveillance operations changed the right to silence and allowed judges to decide whether journalists can protect their sources or not.Earlier this year theKitteridge report revealed that 88 New Zealand citizens were subjected to surveillance by the GCSB. In the interests of transparency the Māori Party requested that these names be revealed. However this request was declined. I think this is one of the key issues of concern for all of us in the Māori Party and indeed forMāoridom generally. Why on earth Māori would believe that the State through its agencies would act honourably when history suggests otherwise is a little bit beyond me.I want to conclude this debate by referring to an issue I spoke of earlier in the second reading debate and that was the claims made in 2004 in a newspaper article by Anthony Hubbard and Nicky Hager. Their claims were that SIS spies were investigating Māori activists perhaps me and others and Māori in general including the Māori Party. The articles revealed the campaign coded Operation Leaf in which the SIS was told to gather intelligence on internal iwi business negotiations finances and Treaty of Waitangi claims as well as inter-tribal communications. The article went further to suggest that agents were instructed to watch for dirt on Māori leaders and that computer geeks had been hired to plant bugs in the computers of Māori organisations.I think it is important to further describe the context of the time. This was the heyday of Don Brash and his infamousŌrewa tirade attacking special treatment for Māori. My co-leader Tariana Turia crossed the floor in abject opposition to the Foreshore and Seabed Bill. The mighty Māori Party was born and took four seats at the 2005 election. Then to cap it off an ancient charge of sedition was taken out by Labour against Tim Selwyn a young man accused of throwing an axe through Helen Clark’s electoral office in protest at the Foreshore and Seabed Bill. Selwyn was later charged under the Crimes Act for the act of sedition defined as “speech writing or behaviour intended to encourage rebellion or resistance against the government”. Selwyn was charged with thepublication of a pamphlet his crime being the opportunity to incite procure and encourage violence lawlessness or disorder through the publication of that said leaflet. It was the first prosecution for sedition in at least 75 years and drew considerable controversy. I took us back to that history lesson on a decade ago because the Māori Party has an extremely powerful objection to any such power of the State. We believe that all that these Acts do is invite abuse of our rights to freedom of speech.To conclude let me put two facts on the record. Firstly as a result of the extreme agitation in Māori communities about Operation Leaf Tariana Turia called for an independent inquiry writing to the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security. Her statement at the time was that an inquiry was needed as New Zealanders take for granted that our freedom to live in an open democracy is a basic standard of living for our nation. In April 2005 the official investigation overseen by Justice PaulNeazor concluded that there was nothing to suggest that the allegations around Operation Leaf were true and the SIS director of the time Richard Woods assured Mrs Turia that there was no cause for concern. The second development was that of the crime of sedition—inciting insurrection against the State. This was eventually thrown out by Parliament in October 2007 by an overwhelming majority of 114 to seven. The only party to vote against it was ironically New Zealand First.This history is a vital backdrop for the GCSB legislation that we are debating today. We do not need to waste time on fixing something that is not worth salvaging. It is for that reason that we came out yesterday and declared our universal opposition to amendments put up by parties. We will never contribute to an environment in which a surveillance and siege mentality is overall. We must be free to associate with whomever we want wherever we want whenever we want. This legislation threatens our basic human rights. It is invasive and intrusive and we will never support it.