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Marching against Big Brother Protesters at a rally against the proposed new legislation that will give the New Zealand Government greater power to collect private information about it's citizens. Photo / Chris Loufte |
1984 Arrives in New Zealand
New Zealand "conservatives" try to ram through a
Big Brother spy bill.
Governments are the same the world over. Governments FEAR their own people and set up Police State spy systems to protect the Ruling Elites..
It does not matter if it is the "Conservative" GOP in America, the absolute monarchy in Saudi Arabia, the Chinese Communist Party, the UK Conservative Party or now the ruling conservatives in New Zealand. Everyone is spying on their own people.
Now we see thousands of people marching in protest of a new bill that would grant the New Zealand’s government sweeping spy powers. The "conservative" Prime Minister John Key has been playing down the nationwide protests claiming these simple common people are "misinformed" and Big Brother spying is good for them..
The surveillance bill, which is expected to be passed in parliament, would allow New Zealand’s Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) free rein to listen in on citizens’ phone conversations.
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Kiwis took to the streets on Saturday in 11 cities and towns in what has been dubbed as an “uphill battle” to stop the bill from going through reports the New Zealand Herald.
Comparisons with George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984 were rife, with many people holding placards saying "1984 was not supposed to be an instruction manual” and "This is 2013, not 1984."
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| Big Brother is Always Watching You. |
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.''
David Fraser, who came from Waipara to take part in the protest, chose to use "nein", the German word for "no" on his placard to express his sentiment towards the bill.
"I wanted a short punchy message to make people realize this proposal by John Key is so similar to the East German Stasi [the secret police in communist East Germany during the Cold War] and before them the Nazi Gestapo where there was excessive state involvement in everybody’s privacy.
"Myself, my son, my wife, my father and grandfather all served the military to stand up for the New Zealand way of life; to stand against the likes of the Stasi and repressive regimes."
(RT News) (stuff.co.nz/national)
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| New Zealanders protested in 11 cities against spying. |
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| "Myself, my son, my wife, my father and grandfather all served the military to stand up for the New Zealand way of life; to stand against the likes of the Stasi and repressive regimes." David Fraser |
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| Comparisons with George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984 were rife, with many people holding placards saying "1984 was not supposed to be an instruction manual” and "This is 2013, not 1984." |
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| . “Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimetres inside your skull. ” ― George Orwell, 1984 |
