Dunne affair: Labour, Greens draw flak over 'chilling' police inquiry call
The Greens, Labour and NZ First have shown that they stand opposed to leaks to the media, academic says.
Labour and the Greens are illiberal in pushing for a police inquiry into the Peter Dunne affair, and have revealed themselves as anti leaks to the media, says Bryce Edwards.
"It's incredibly surprising to see Labour and the Greens have called on the police to intervene over the leak of the GCSB," the Otago University lecturer and commentator tells NBR Online.
"There's always problems when the police get involved in the political and media realm. It can have a very chilling affect on politics and journalism," Dr Edwards says.
Threshold not reached
Generally, those who regard themselves as politically liberal will not want the police involved unless utterly necessary, says the Politics Daily compiler.
"Therefore, the threshold for calling the cops into Parliament and newsrooms should be very high. It's hard to see that this threshold has been reached in this case," Dr Edwards says.
"Normally, those who call the police in on their political opponents are from an authoritarian political philosophy. By contrast, liberals generally regard those that leak government department reports as heroic whistleblowers who are enabling the freedom of information and the right of the public to know what those in authority are doing."
The Greens, Labour and New Zealand First have now shown that they stand opposed to leaks to the media, says the lecturer.
Whistleblower or mid-life crisis monkey?
Beyond Labour and Green MPs, liberals are split. Some see Mr Dunne as a whistleblower protecting the public interest by bringing the GCSB report on surveillance of 86 NZ residents including Kim Dotcom.
Others say the report was going to be made public within days anyway. They speculate Mr Dunne is embarrassed by some of the content of his emails with Dominion Post reporter Andrea Vance.
Jane Clifton at the NZ Listener has speculated Mr Dunne is in the throes of a mid-life crisis - which may have seen the Ohariu MP trying to impress Ms Vance with his access to secrets. [UPDATE: Winston Peters now claims to have sighted the pair's email correspondence, which he labels "personally embarrassing."]
They also point out it's hypocritical for the United Future leader to vote for the GCSB Bill allowing the spy agency to read New Zealanders' emails, while maintaining standing on the principle - in the face of a possible Crimes Act breach - that his own are private.
Call the cops
Yesterday, Green Party co-leader Russel Norman said the inquiry into the leak to Fairfax Media does not confirm whether Mr Dunne in fact did it, and police need to investigate and force Mr Dunne to release his email exchange with Ms Vance.
Dr Norman says a key issue is whether the appendix to the inquiry was leaked. Unlike the body of the report, which was always scheduled to be shared with the public, the appendix is secret - and breaching it could constitute a breach of the Crimes Act.
"Clearly (inquiry head) David Henry didn't have sufficient powers to make Peter Dunne release the emails. If the police are investigating a Crimes Act offence, then they do have the powers to get Peter Dunne to release the emails," the Greens co-leader says.
Labour leader David Shearer has called on police to seize Mr Dunne's emails. His deputy, Grant Robertson, says Mr Dunne should be compelled to give evidence under oath.
Less surprisingly, NZ First leader Winston Peters also called for a police investigation.
The Greens' Dr Norman implies Prime Minister John Key is going easy on Mr Dunne, as it has relied on his support some legislation - such as the asset sales law that passed by a single vote.
"He is having to cobble together a coalition of the disgraced," Dr Norman says.
NBR staff
Sat, 08 Jun 2013
Sat, 08 Jun 2013
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Dunne affair: Labour, Greens draw flak over 'chilling' police inquiry call
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