Saying No to the GCSB and TICS

Press Release: ACT on Campus

ACT on Campus Vice President Guy McCallum has today voiced his concerns over the government's spying legislation.

“As a member of a party that has supported a government wishing to expand the surveillance powers of intelligence agencies, I am often asked an obvious question: do I support the GCSB or TICS bills?

“No, I don’t. I’m not an expert, either, in the fields that these bills affect, but it doesn’t take an expert to figure out that they’re bad news.

“ACT leader John Banks thinks a balance is possible; if democratic principles and human rights restrictions are included, then expanded surveillance powers are acceptable. In other words, we just need to find the right balance between freedom and security.

“It’s a well-meant offer, but neither he, nor John Key, nor the Labour Party (which launched this mess in the first place) can guarantee that the next person with the keys to the Cabinet will be so just. Nor can they guarantee that those at the top won’t give in to the obvious, inevitable temptations that come with this power – the power to watch you without you knowing and without having to tell you why.

“It is incumbent upon all of our political leaders to oppose these bills. Not just because they will lead to the most obvious of places – state tyranny – but because politicians should be standing up to anyone who claims that such immoral and perverted powers are necessary.”

ACT on Campus President Taylor Warwood confirmed the group’s opposition to the controversial spying legislation, saying:

“We believe that the bills are an unnecessary expansion of state power. While Labour’s original legislation does need changing, people must be mindful that freedoms traded for security are rarely recovered.”

McCallum’s full article, written for Otago University magazine Critic, can be read here: http://www.critic.co.nz/columns/article/3194/saying-no-to-the-gcsb-and-tics--opinion

ENDS

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