When the NZ Herald is concerned about giving the State more power, you should shit your pants

Law Society alarm at erosion of rights
THE PRESIDENT of the Law Society has expressed concerns about the partial removal of the right to silence under proposed laws, describing it as the result of a trend to right-wing populism.

The Search and Surveillance Bill will give greater powers to authorities investigating complex financial and organised crime, including the introduction of "examination orders", compelling people with knowledge of serious fraud-related offences or gang crimes to speak to police. Interviewees will retain the right to remain silent if to speak would incriminate themselves.

Last week the Herald ran an editorial deeply critical of the Search and Surveillance Bill which will grant the Police and 70 other Government departments vast new spying powers that will erase the right to silence, oblige people to hand over information and greenlight domestic spying by a third party. It will also grant the police the ability to spy on anyone for 3 days without a warrant.

Now I don't wish to sound cynical whanau, but why the bloody hell should we allow the largest erosion of our civil liberties ever to go by totally unchallenged?

It doesn't matter if you are left wing, right wing, in the middle, white, brown, yellow, green, gay, straight, trans, male, female, Christian, Muslim, Hindu or Jedi

You don't have to be a socialist humpty-dumpty to see that we should limit power as vast as this because the State is there to serve us whanau, not spy on us.

You'll be reassured to know Simon Power would also like to take a look at the Bill of Rights because he says it could and I quote, 'benefit from a rethink'. Cue music of the Emperor marching from Empire Strikes Back.

Don't let the state have these powers.