The designation of national liberation groups like the PKK as terrorist organisations, and the scrapping of a planned Law Commission review mean the legislation could be abused again, writes Cameron Walker. The 10th anniversary of the so-called “Urewera raids”, which saw armed police descend on Māori, environmental activists and anarchists, has seen a numbers of important reflections on … Continue reading Cameron Walker: A decade after Urewera the Terrorism Suppression Act remains a threat to civil liberties

Ten years ago, with new anti-terrorism powers under their belt, police swooped on the people of Tūhoe in what has come to be known as the Urewera raids. They set up two unlawful road blocks in Ruatoki and Taneatua, detained innocent people and searched private property while hunting for people they believed were involved in … Continue reading Radio NZ: Ten years on from the Urewera raids

Protesters at Tuesday's defence industry forum in Wellington claim police used inappropriate force to disperse crowds. One of the organisers said he witnessed a man dragged by his hair until his scalp bled, and another said she was shoved into the path of a truck. Police have denied using excessive force, and said they were "extremely … Continue reading Stuff: Protesters at Tuesday’s defence forum in Wellington make accusations of police brutality

A medical professional investigated for inappropriate contact with young female patients - including at least one teenager - both in New Zealand and Australia has been granted unsupervised access to his two daughters by the Family Court - despite the pair's protests. The man, identified as Mr A for the purpose of this story, lives … Continue reading Newsroom: Sisters stage online protest against Family Court

A 13-year-old was held in police cells overnight before being transferred to court where hours later the charges were withdrawn. RNZ understands the boy was held in court cells with violent offenders until about midday today. By then police had withdrawn the charges but the boy was still in the court cells. It was not … Continue reading Radio NZ: Boy, 13, spent night in cells with adults

There has been so much attention on the election, incredibly important stories like University of Canterbury Professor, Anne Marie Brady’s, critical analysis of the influence Chinese business interests have over the National Party has been missed and so too this shocking revelation that People Against Prison’s Aotearoa activists have been spied on by the Police. People Against Prison’s … Continue reading The Daily Blog: Wait, what? Can we just go back to that story about Police spying on prison activists?

Fifty-five years ago ( 1 October 1962 ) New Zealand appointed its first Ombudsman.  This was the first such appointment outside of Scandinavia.  Empowered by Parliamentary Commissioner (Ombudsman) Act 1962, a “simple” 29 section Act, the Ombudsman was charged with investigating and reporting to Parliament on maladministration in Departments of State.  The Ombudsman could respond … Continue reading NZ Ombudsman established 55 years ago

The number of Public Service departments went up again on Friday when substantial parts of the Security and Intelligence Act 2017 came into force. As s 7 of the Act states, the NZSIS is now a department of State – adding it to the other 29 listed in Schedule 1 to the State Sector Act. … Continue reading NZSIS comes in from the cold – spying with integrity