O'Rourke Denis: Privilege — Consideration of Report of Privileges Committee Question of Privilege Regarding Use of Intrusive Powers Within the Parliamentary Precinct Consideration of Report of Privileges Committee Question of Privilege Concerning the Agreements for Policing Execution of Search Warrants and Collection and Retention of Information by the New Zealand Security Intelligence ServiceText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeO'Rourke Denis: Privilege — Consideration of Report of Privileges Committee Question of Privilege Regarding Use of Intrusive Powers Within the Parliamentary Precinct Consideration of Report of Privileges Committee Question of Privilege Concerning the Agreements for Policing Execution of Search Warrants and Collection and Retention of Information by the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service[Sitting date: 22 July 2014. Volume:700;Page:19343. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]DENIS O’ROURKE (NZ First):This report follows on from the report of the Privileges Committee into the Henry inquiry following the Kitteridge report leak. New Zealand First endorses the recommendations in the report concerning the amendment of the agreements for policing execution of search warrants in a way consistent with the proper functioning of Parliament and the collection and retention of information by the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service. Anyone who gives a damn about democracy—and New Zealand First certainly does—will consider this an important report in terms of New Zealand’s constitutional and parliamentary integrity.We must never have a repeat of the shambles that was the Henry inquiry. That exposed that there was indeed something rotten in the State of New Zealand. We had confirmation that what we in New Zealand First had been saying from the outset—that Mr Henry was not qualified in any way shape or form for the inquiry—was correct. Mr Henry was in fact a completely inappropriate appointment. Anyone could see that his record could not possibly have qualified him for the job. Of course that was precisely why the Prime Minister picked him for the job—just another example of the kind of tricky dick behaviour we have come to expect from this Prime Minister. And—surprise surprise—the Henry inquiry actually provided no answers; it just left more unanswered questions. The Henry inquiry was therefore more than anything in my view an indictment of John Key and of his contempt for democratic process.Our democracy is not just the right to vote every 3 years as we are about to do. Real democracy is a complex web of spoken and unspoken rules and conventions that give it true meaning—not just the semblance of democracy not just a veneer to keep the public calm and quiescent. The privacy of media communications is one of those aspects that are vital to an effective functioning democracy. It is a privilege that must be cherished and must not be abused and is one of the core elements that underlie our democratic State. The Privileges Committee made it clear that there had been contempt for this principle not just by Mr Henry but by senior parliamentary officials. If they are not guardians of democratic practices who is? The interim report talked of “errors of judgment” by parliamentary staff. That must be the understatement of the century. Mr Thorn fell on his sword and to his credit he accepted his accountability and left.But John Key was deeply implicated in this absolute mess as well. Where is the acceptance of accountability from him? Of course we have learnt not to accept any such accountability from this Prime Minister. This report is a wake-up call showing how easy it is for the essential props of democracy to be kicked away. One thing is for sure: when John Key is around hyper-vigilance is necessary. Mr Key and his cronies will unthinkingly trash our democracy just like they are trashing so much else in this country at the present time. That is the real message to be learnt from this whole sorry affair.