ALERT: Prof Kelsey goes to court over TPPA Official Information Act request

Secrecy of TPPA documents heads to court

Scoop,

31 July , 2015

Friday, 31 July 2015, 3:53 pm Press Release: Professor Jane Kelsey

Secrecy of TPPA documents heads to court

A legal challenge to the secrecy of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) negotiations will be launched in the High Court next week.

An urgent application for judicial review will challenge Trade Minister Tim Groser’s blanket refusal to release any of the categories of information sought by University of Auckland Professor Jane Kelsey under an Official Information Act request on 25 January this year.

The request reflect the categories of documents recommended for the release in an own-initiative report by the European Union Ombudsman into the secrecy of the parallel negotiations for a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the US and EU.

Co-applicants in the proceedings include Consumer NZ, the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, Greenpeace and Oxfam, among others.

Under the Official Information Act, the Minister’s refusal to release documents must be reviewed by the Ombudsman before it can be judicially reviewed. That process has taken four and a half months. The final report from the Ombudsman was only delivered two days ago, on 29 July.

‘While we would have preferred to bring the case earlier, it remains crucially important to secure release of information before any deal is done and dusted, and to clarify the rules for future negotiations’, Professor Kelsey said.

ENDS

A week's events in New Zealand politics and society

New Zealand's transition to fascism

Seemorerocks

Today I have to take a break from chronicling the collapse of human industrial society and the headlong rush of a collectively-insane humanity towards self-destruction and ecocide to reflect on what is happeniаing in my own country.

We have had such fast-moving events in the last few weeks and months - in short since the last election - that it is hard to keep up.

I wrote about this at the time of the election, warning that by re-electing the Key government despite the revelations of deep corruption, cronyism and dirty politics would mean that New Zealanders were sleepwalking into fascism.  Nothing that has happened since has led me to revise that conclusion in any way In fact, events have only reinforced what I felt back in November.

Putting the fox in the hen house in charge of investigating the crime scene - Dirty politics and deep corruption in New Zealand

New Zealanders sleepwalk into fascism

We are witnessing the continuance of democratic institutions in name only, and the rapid erosion of any form of democratic oversight or holding an extreme government beholden to its Wall St and Washington overlords.

We have seen rapid changes in these areas:

• Parliament and democratic procedures of governance
• The independence of the judiciary
• The media

Just in the past few days I have been to a farcical "consultation" fronted by public service officials who were left by the Minister who should have turned up, to take the heat and face the anger and distress of people of people cognisant of the dangers of climate change.

This was a clear example of the erosion of participatory democracy in this country, The last time this government "consulted" prior to NZ helping the rich nations throw climate change action under the bus and opt for non-action, the then minister, Nick Smith turned up to the meeting.

The attitude after six years of National Party government has turned to arrogance and disdain for any opinions or advice that counters their right-wing agenda of "drill baby, drill!" and playing the game of pretend and negotiating to avoid any sort of responsibility.

For more on this individual see the following:

How spy agency homed in on Groser's rivals

Groser’s gross diplomacy creates ‘Grossing’ verb

New Zealand is a laughing stock on the international stage yet again with revelations Tim Groser’s unbecoming and undiplomatic language has led to a new term, ‘Grossing

Just yesterday we saw an example in parliament as to how those in power taunt and laugh as the very partial Speaker, David Carter, throw out Labour MP, Grant Robertson from the chamber for his insistence that the Minister of Finance answer some very relevant questions on the state of the nation's finances while, all the while turning a blind eye to the taunting antics of the government side of the chamber.

For those that don't already know, Question Time in parliament is the chance for the opposition benches (and by extension, the public).

But ministers in this government are using all tactics at their disposal to avoid any questions, whether it be by MP's or the media, unless it is to their advantage.

In the area of the judiciary we have seen that initial court decisions in favour of Kim Dotcom or convicting fraudster (and ex-government minister) John Banks have all gone the government's way on Appeal. Likewise, an inquiry by the government set up in the wake of the Dirty Politics revelations cleared minister of Justice, Judith Collins of any collusion with right-wing blogger, slimeball, Cameron Slater.

Coincidentally, the only person to  have had their case investigated by the police in the wake of the Dirty Politics revelations was Slater himself, which led to a police raid on investigative journalist Nicky Hager who still has his court case to get his computer and materials back from the police in front of him.

Last June then ACT Party leader and government minister John Banks was found guilty of filing a false electoral return (in anyone's language, fraud). John Banks, despite the clear-cut evidence against him, was exonerated and found not guilty on appeal, based, as I understand it, on a technicality of the Crown withholding some evidence.

John Banks' 'lonely and punishing' legal fight

John Banks won't face retrial

Dotcom threatens Banks with defamation suit

I am not familiar with what goes on behind the doors of power and so can't make any provable allegations of corruption in the judiciary system, but I can say that judges are chosen (unless I am mistaken) by the Attorney General (at present, Chris Гindlayson).

While I would have accepted that previous Attorneys General have made politically- neutral decisions in the past, I have no such confidence that the present incumbent, Chris Findlayson (now also the minister in charge of the GCSB, the spy bureau) would do so.

Recently the ex-pat blog site, Lauda Finem revealed that :

"retiring Supreme Court judge Sir John McGrath spoke of his concerns for the rule of Law in New Zealand. – that the National party government had been playing with the statutes to such an extent and in particular the governments proposed removal of democratic safeguards, that he held very real fears for the rule of law."

McGrath’s full speech can be read here.

In recent weeks the popular TV3 current affairs program,Campbell Live has had the axe held over it based allegedly on low ratings and a desire of TV3 to move away from current affairs. In recent years John Campbell has been the last bastion of decent investigative ('left-wing') reporting that held Power to account, not only on television but increasingly, across the media.



The news has come in the last few hours that Campbell Live is dead and has been axed.

On this my thoughts are best reflected by these Facebook comments by Razalin Silvera

"As each new day passes, New Zealand under John Key is turning more and more into a fascist dictatorship. 

"With John Campbell gone, the National party will now, more or less, have free reign over the media. 

3 News is basically the last major (left-wing) media outlet left. 

If 3 News goes, then New Zealand will officially become a dictatorship."

US fund poised to take 100pc of Mediaworks

Now the last vestiges of socially responsible (not to say, empathetic) journalism have gone.  I don't believe for a moment that this is purely a corporate decision. It means now that the Right rules the roost. The likes of Mike Hosking on TV1 and Sean Plunket and the rest of them - are all, at present, obnoxious Right Wing presenters singing from the government's song sheet.

At the moment this government can rule by bullying, lying and manipulations (not to say refusing to respond to any criticisms or attempts to hold them to account) as well as continuing to be elected through manipulation happily repeated by a compliant media (and even, arguably some electoral fraud)

With a complete economic breakdown or crisis caused by a panic when people finally realise what is facing them in terms of abrupt climate change, all the pretence is likely, in my opinion, to be dropped, the key turned and New Zealand will become a fascist tyranny.

Pentagon preparing for mass civil breakdown

In those circumstances the obnoxious right-wing current affairs presenters will be there to develop the government's Orwellian message.

For now, listen to a sample from Mike Hosking (here denying there is a housing bubble).  

This is the Brave New World that awaits us without any competition to hold fascist politicians to account

Last year the other great right-winger, Sean Plunkett told our best living author, Eleanor Catton "an ungrateful hua" and a "traitor".  Imagine what we've got to look forward to!

Fascist broadcaster, Sean Plunkett

Hear Plunkett's comments HERE

Oh, and by the way we just had a Budget that took away with one hand what it gave with the other to the poor and disadvantaged and also kept alive the myth of growth in the economy without any acknowlegement of the very real problems.



A slightly more realistic assessment from the Washington Post:

New Zealand fails to deliver promised budget surplus

Fears for the future of the judiciary in NZ expressed by retiring judge

This is something the government and its media lapdogs don't want you to know about

Retiring judge fears for the future of the rule of law in NZ

Retiring High Court Justice John McGrath

http://laudafinem.com/2015/04/22/sabin-sexual-assault-case-the-shroud-of-political-corruption-and-coverup-moves-to-new-zealands-high-court/

There’s another very disturbing factor in what has now morphed into another serious judicial fiasco and the pattern of corrupt political behavior around it – the role that the country’s judiciary appear to have performed in this case is seriously questionable; begging the question, is the New Zealand judiciary now at the beckon-call of the country’s seriously small political elite?

Just thirteen days ago retiring Supreme Court judge Sir John McGrath spoke of his concerns for the rule of Law in New Zealand. – That the National party government had been playing with the statutes to such an extent and in particular the governments proposed removal of democratic safeguards, that he held very real fears for the rule of law.

McGrath’s concerns never made a half serious newspaper column, nor did any of the country’s editors pick up on his warning. Instead the best that could be done was a flippant piece penned by Mr jocular himself, Jock Anderson, in his weekly column “Case Load” for the New Zealand Herald:

Dumping rule of law worries retiring judge

9:30 AM Friday Apr 10, 2015

A statutory provision affirming New Zealand’s commitment to the rule of law will soon disappear from the statute book – and retiring Supreme Court judge Sir John McGrath (70)doesn’t like it.

In his recent retirement speech, Sir John – a former solicitor general – expressed concern at the removal of a provision on the rule of law from legislation governing the Supreme Court.

Sir John said though the Constitution Act 1986 provided for Parliament to be the supreme law-making power of the nation, there was no equivalent provision stating the role of the judicial branch “or indeed the underlying concept of the judicial function which is to uphold the rule of law”.

He said the gap was filled to some extent by the establishment of the Supreme Court in 2003. The establishing legislation stipulated that nothing in it “affects New Zealand’s continuing commitment to the rule of law and sovereignty of Parliament”.

But he said the statutory provision would be repealed if the Judicature Modernisation Bill, which recently had its second reading, is enacted in its present form.

“If that happens, in the new statute providing for senior courts, we will no longer have this meaningful statutory recognition of both the judicial and legislative roles,” Sir John said.

Source: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11429540

If the Sabin abuse case is anything to go by it would seem that at least one of those “rule of law”fears may have already started to manifest – the current New Zealand government believing itself to be above the law.



Justice McGrath’s full speech can be read HERE.