Dom Post on leaks

The Dom Post editorial:

Leaks are a vital safeguard against the abuse of power. In recent years they have been the means by which the public learned that New Zealand’s diplomatic efforts were being compromised by indiscriminate cuts within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and that some of the country’s richest people and companies were using offshore tax shelters to avoid paying their fair share of tax.

More recently they were the means by which the public learned that the Government Communications Security Bureau had run off the rails.

Labour leader David Shearer’s call for police to seize UnitedFuture MP Peter Dunne’s emails and question him under oath about the leaking of the GCSB review suggests he has a remarkably short memory. It is little more than a year since Labour colleague Phil Goff used leaked Mfat documents to reveal that cuts within the ministry were undermining New Zealand’s diplomatic capability. The Labour leader’s comments also show a worrying lack of understanding of important principles. Is Mr Shearer really suggesting the police should have the power to seize material from anyone suspected of embarrassing the government?

That is exactly what Shearer and Robertson have been saying. And if they become the Government, we can only assume they will be trying to get leakers arrested.