16 March 2016

John Key and his spies mislead New Zealanders…again

Revelations that John Key and the SIS mislead the public about Muslim women leaving New Zealand to go ISIS controlled areas in Syria and Iraq is the latest example of the Prime Minister misusing the spy agencies for his political purposes, said the Green Party.

Official Information released to Radio New Zealand shows that no Muslim women have left New Zealand to go to ISIS controlled areas.

“This is the latest misuse of the spy agencies by John Key. It seems whenever he needs a headline he uses the spy agencies to divert attention,” said Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei.

“The Prime Minister has previously used the spy agencies to discredit Phil Goff in the 2011 election and on again during the 2014 election when he suddenly declassified spy documents to make his case against Kim Dotcom.

“John Key lied by omission. He could have said there was evidence New Zealand women living in Australia were going to ISIS controlled areas. Instead he created the very real impression that there were a significant number of women in New Zealand leaving. That was simply not true.

“These comments came at the time the Government launched a review into the spy agencies. It is my belief the comments were used to whip up fear in order to justify far reaching extensions of spy powers by the review panel.

“John Key’s comments last December cast a paranoid shadow over Muslim women in New Zealand. He should apologise to Muslim women for the untrue stigma he placed on them.

“There are also questions as to why the SIS is spying on New Zealand women living in Australia, given its role as a domestic spy agency.

“This situation highlights why it’s a bad idea to give the spy agencies more powers, when they provided inaccurate and misleading information to the public,” Mrs Turei said.

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