NZ
to attend Five Eyes meeting
Radio
NZ,
15 January
2015
New
Zealand will attend a meeting of the Five Eyes spy network in London
next month to discuss the fight against terrorism in the wake of the
Paris shootings.
The
United States, Australia, Canada and Britain are also part of Five
Eyes.
Canadian
Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney revealed the meeting in an
interview this week, a surprising move given the usual secrecy around
such events.
Mr
Blaney said the partners would discuss serious matters, with
terrorism on the agenda.
The
meeting had been scheduled before the Paris attacks but those events
are now likely to be a key focus.
The
New Zealand Government would not confirm the event, saying it never
comments on the details of Five Eyes meetings.
However,
it said the partners meet from time to time and New Zealand is
represented.
The
five nations that comprise the group divide the world into
eavesdropping target sectors and share the results.This
is just days after the resignation of John Keys’s man in the GCSB
Spy
chief's resignation 'out of the blue'
Andrea Vance
14
January, 2014
The
abrupt departure of spymaster Ian Fletcher comes as his troubled
agency faces its second major overhaul in two years.
Fletcher's
resignation was announced yesterday and he will finish up at the end
of next month after three years as director of the Government
Communications Security Bureau (GCSB).
Chris
Finlayson, the minister responsible for the GCSB, said Fletcher was
stepping down for "family reasons".
Both
men refused to elaborate and declined interviews yesterday.
In
a written statement Finlayson said Fletcher was "instrumental"
in "significant improvements" at the foreign spy and cyber
security bureau.
Its
spooks have been embroiled in a series of scandals, including illegal
spying, contentious new powers, and allegations by US whistleblower
Edward Snowden of it engaging in mass surveillance.
A
recent performance review suggested resources were also stretched.
A
statutory review of the security services was due to begin shortly
and the resignation immediately sparked intrigue.
An
insider said Fletcher's departure came "out of the blue"
and speculated that Fletcher had seen the terms of reference for the
review.
There
are fears within the agency that it may lead to proposals for a
merger with the Security Intelligence Service (SIS), a move
previously floated but ruled out by the Government.
There
is also a view that SIS director Rebecca Kitteridge, a former Cabinet
Secretary, is closer to Finlayson and is "flavour of the month".
Notably,
Finlayson's statement announcing the resignation made much of the
upcoming review.
He
said it will "likely herald a further period of change".
"Mr
Fletcher has decided that opening the door for a new director now
means the same person can be involved in the review process, as well
as in subsequent decision-making and implementation, rather than
changing leadership mid-programme."
Opposition
politicians seized on this.
Labour
leader Andrew Little said he met Fletcher before Christmas, and was
given no indication of his decision.
"It
comes very much as a surprise.
"This
makes me think that maybe they [the Government] have indicated
something to him about what they want to achieve from the review that
he doesn't like, and so he's going now," he said.
Fletcher's
appointment, in January 2012, was mired in controversy.
Despite
a lack of military or intelligence background, he was shoulder-tapped
by Prime Minister John Key who has known him since boyhood.
Fletcher
was the only candidate interviewed by an independent panel, after Key
scrapped a shortlist of four prepared by a recruitment panel.
The
Green Party called for cross-party agreement on the appointment of
Fletcher's replacement.
"He
has been director during a period of unprecedented politicisation of
the intelligence services," MP Kennedy Graham said.
"It
is crucial that there is cross-party support for the appointment of
any future director and that the GCSB, and its director, are seen to
be scrupulously politically neutral."
Finlayson
would appoint an acting director.
The
State Services Commission would run the recruitment of the next
director.
Tech
mogul Kim Dotcom, the best-known victim of illegal spying, greeted
news of Fletcher's exit by tweeting that he is "leaving the
sinking ship GCSB"
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