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Protest
marches against GCSB bill across NZ
protest in Auckland. Easily a couple thousand here
27
July, 2013
Kim
Dotcom's recognisable figure looms head and shoulders above a crowd
of several thousand people gathered in Auckland's Aotea Square this
afternoon to protest extensions to the powers of the Government's spy
agency.
Protests
were held in 11 towns and cities around the country today.
Traffic
was at a standstill in central Auckland as protestors, many wearing
masks and waving signs, spilled across the streets.
Police
were diverting traffic away from the area.
Labour
Party leader David Shearer said it would be an "uphill battle"
to stop the passage of the GCSB bill.
"It'll
be difficult to do but we'll do everything we can to oppose it.
"There's
now a lack of confidence by New Zealanders in our intelligence
agencies," he said.
Kim
Dotcom told the crowd spies had invaded his privacy and "if they
can do that to me they can do that to any of you".
Another
speaker at the Auckland march was Dr Rodney Harrison, QC, who called
the planned legislation the "Dunne Deal" - referring to the
United Future MP.
WELLINGTON
In
Wellington, more than 500 protesters held up buses and cars as they
marched in a crowd more than 200m long from Cuba St to the steps of
Parliament.
Many
wore masks or held signs aloft as they chanted "we don't want
your spying state'' and "surveillance is for war" as they
marched along Willis St and Lambton Quay.
They
were met at the steps of Parliament by speakers including Green Party
co-leader Russel Norman, Labour MP Chris Hipkins and Council of Trade
Unions president Helen Kelly.
Vikram
Kumar, the chief executive of Kim Dotcom's new Mega website and the
former head of Internet NZ, was met with a resounding "no'' when
he asked the crowd whether they should be spied on for marching
today.
"This
was a country that stood up and said no to nuclear power, it said no
to apartheid. And what do we say today? No!
"The
land of the long white cloud becoming the land of the NSA spy cloud?
No!''
Dr
Norman called on everyone at the protest to file an Official
Information Act (OIA) request with the GCSB asking how many people
were at the rallies across the country today.
"Maybe
if they're so tied up dealing with 10s of thousands of OIA requests,
it might give them less time to go around spying on us with their
special powers.''
Civil
liberties campaigner and Tech Liberty co-founder Thomas Beagle said
the GCSB bill was about ``mass surveillance''.
"It's
about spying on everyone, no matter what they've done, no matter what
they're gong to do,'' he said.
"This
sort of mass surveillance changes the balance of power in our society
away from the people and towards the state.''
Mr
Beagle said it was wrong to suggest people who had done no wrong had
nothing to fear from surveillance.
"I
believe in the right to privacy, I believe in the right to sit in my
house and call my friends on the phone without the Government
listening.
"I
believe in freedom of expression and freedom of association, for
people not being scared into silence because they are being watched
by Government spies.''
protest in Auckland. Easily a couple thousand here
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