Glenn Greenwald claims New Zealand planned to spy on its citizens
■ New Zealand was preparing to conduct mass domestic surveillance last year, a US investigative journalist said yesterday, five days before the country goes to the polls, provoking immediate denials from Prime Minister John Key. Glenn Greenwald's accusations were based on evidence disclosed by former US National Security Authority (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden that Key's centre-right government planned to exploit amended spying laws to sharply widen domestic spying. Greenwald said the NSA documents showed New Zealand's electronic spy agency took the first steps towards the surveillance in a project dubbed "Speargun", by tapping into an undersea telecoms cable into the country, while waiting for the legal authority to do so. "Phase one entailed accessing that cable, tapping into it, and then phase two would entail metadata probes," Greenwald said on Radio New Zealand National.
■ Key said Greenwald, who was brought to New Zealand by millionaire internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom, was being used to try to influence voters ahead of the election. In media interviews, Key has repeatedly dismissed Greenwald as "Dotcom's little henchman". Greenwald told 3 News: "I've done reporting of surveillance all over the world and a lot of governments haven't liked what I've said, but I've never seen a head of government lose their dignity and get down in the mud and start chucking names to discredit the journalist in order to discredit the journalism." Dotcom, who is fighting extradition to the US, on charges of internet piracy, copyright breaches, and money laundering, has paid for Greenwald's trip to New Zealand.
RT.com: Snowden: If you live in New Zealand, you’re being watched