liberation

Top tweets about NZ Police suppression of academic research

Here’s some of the more interesting and insightful tweets today about revelations from Jarrod Gilbert about the role of the NZ police in suppressing his attempt to carry out research – see: The police have deemed me unfit to undertake crime research because I know criminals. The tweets are roughly in reverse chronological order (ie the most recent tweets are first), and some have been tidied up to remove repetitive URLs, mentions etc.

 

Hamish Keith ‏@hamish_keith  

BREAKING Police announce they have disarmed a leftie thesis in Lambton Quay

 

Shane Cowlishaw ‏@scowlishaw 

Police media release on @JarrodGilbertNZ research access: Yeah, we did it. So what?

 

Tim McKinnel ‏@timmckinnel  

Has @WoodhouseMP ever said anything substantive about NZ Police #everythingisoperational

 

Meg ‏@mfsloan  

Dr @JarrodGilbertNZ's work is of considerable value to both police and policymakers. Why make it so hard for him to get info?

 

Metlink Pax ‏@metlinkpax  

So @nzpolice can't be straight up with anyone who knows a criminal. Could explain their poor clearance rates.

 

Richard Easther ‏@REasther  

Watching @nzpolice shoot themselves in the foot today, I'm glad they are not routinely armed

 

Richard Easther ‏@REasther  

Hey, @nzpolice – hope you are sorting this @JarrodGilbertNZ debacle. Strong organisations learn from dissenting voices.

 

Duncan Garner ‏@DuncanGarnerNZ 

@JarrodGilbertNZ totally support what you do and the great work you have done - this decision is dumb, ignorant and stupid from Police.

 

Sam Boyer ‏@SamJBoyer 

This would be unbelievable if it wasn't so utterly believable.

 

NZ Civil Liberties ‏@civillibertynz  

Those in the Police hierarchy who came up with and approved such a policy have shown they're incompatible with democratic government.

 

NZ Civil Liberties ‏@civillibertynz  

The Police actions are contrary to the principles of open government and the Official Information Act and must cease immediately.

 

Steve Braunias ‏@SteveBraunias  

White Ribbon Day - NZ Police is REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED

 

Tracey Barnett ‏@TraceyBarnett  

If police don't back down on @JarrodGilbertNZ, perhaps we could all ask our Twitter followers to request their police files? Just a thought.

 

Giovanni Tiso ‏@gtiso  

Prediction: somebody is going to smear @JarrodGilbertNZ real soon. He's going to get the Rashbrooke treatment.

 

Jarrod Gilbert ‏@JarrodGilbertNZ 

I'm out of town about to present to a conference so largely offline but by goodness Twitter has been a comfort this morning. Thanks so much.

 

David Clendon ‏@DavidClendon 

I meet with Jarrod occasionally, and often visit inmates in prison - making me an 'associate' and therefore dodgy?

 

Steve Braunias ‏@SteveBraunias  

Incredible column by @JarrodGilbertNZ

 

Idiot/Savant ‏@norightturnnz  

I see a fruitful vein of #OIA requests for any journalist who wants to ask them.

 

Idiot/Savant ‏@norightturnnz  

Which invites the question: how many other researchers have @nzpolice blacklisted, and what were they working on?

 

Idiot/Savant ‏@norightturnnz  

So instead of policy being shaped by the data, its shaped by what the police want. If data doesn't back their policy, @nzpolice will veto it

 

Idiot/Savant ‏@norightturnnz  

What's also disturbing about the @nzpolice censorship story is that they're censoring research for govt policy debate

 

Lynnette Williams ‏@LynnW192 

Those who govern and manage the NZ Police should remember it is a PUBLIC SERVICE.

 

Peter Dunne ‏@PeterDunneMP 

@JarrodGilbertNZ I assume Police will now stop providing information to Courts, Judges, Prisons probation officers etc on same basis??

 

John Parkinson ‏@profparkinson  

Really angry about NZ police control of academic @JarrodGilbertNZ. Tip of iceberg? Assault on #academicfreedom http:

 

Dougal McNeill ‏@Lismahago  

This story needs shared far & wide. Outrageous assault on academic freedom, research, public discussion by the cops.

 

Idiot/Savant ‏@norightturnnz  

Dear @nzpolice every time you do this, it erodes your social licence to operate http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11550680 …

 

Lizzie Marvelly ‏@LizzieMarvelly  

Omg New Zealand Police. In this and in dealing with sexual violence: DO BETTER.

 

Lynnette Williams ‏@LynnW192  

This is an outrageous abuse of power

 

Ali Ikram ‏@AliIkram  

Ali Ikram Retweeted The Press Newsroom

Went to uni w Jarrod he was the only one of us who knew what he was doing. Trust him he's a doctor!

 

Jolisa Gracewood ‏@nzdodo  

@cdlanderson @JarrodGilbertNZ Or a tongue twister: How many crimes can a crime researcher research if a cop shop shuts up shop?

 

Ruth Dyson ‏@ruthdysonmp  

What are they hiding @JarrodGilbertNZ ?

 

Drum Vader ‏@ignis_raendl  

Is this really happening in modern day N.Z!! Is it police or political interference??

 

Ben Ross ‏@BenRoss_AKL  

I dont think even Muldoon would block academics to crime data given Muldoon worked to understand the plight of the gangs

> Ben Ross ‏@BenRoss_AKL  

Actually conservative Muldoon would have arse carded the Minister AND Commissioner pulling such a stunt

 

Xas ‏@_Xas_ 

Honestly, what a complete load of cack this Police action is. It would be laughable if it weren't so dangerous.

 

Morgan Godfery ‏@MorganGodfery  

This is unacceptable in a democracy, @nzpolice, shame on you.

 

post-scott ‏@buzzandhum  

This seems to suggest that @nzpolice don't like evidence, unless it's evidence they've created themselves.

 

RachelNZ ‏@3RachelNZ3  

This is a real concern! Are we moving to dictatorship?

 

stuart ‏@stuartayeates  

if you don't like what the @nzpolice are doing to @JarrodGilbertNZ go to https://www.fyi.org.nz/  and ask them some hard questions

 

Kirsty Johnston ‏@kirsty_johnston  

This piece by @JarrodGilbertNZ on how police seek to control research is so bloody important. And terrifying.

> Tim Murphy ‏@tmurphyNZ  

@kirsty_johnston These policy bits are the most worrying - beyond even the direct targeting of @JarrodGilbertNZ

 

Craig Ranapia ‏@MusePABlog  

I disagree with @JarrodGilbertNZ on a lot of things, but Police need reminding they work for us, not vice versa.

 

Amanda McVitty ‏@AmandaMcVitty  

Chilling restrictions on #academic #research by @nzpolice Need to be chllenged if we want evidence not PR 'outcomes'

 

Stephen Keys ‏@SteveKunframed  1h1 hour ago

hey mr plod; "if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear" - right?

 

MissBetseyTrotwood ‏@Suzyiam  

Its appalling & the implications reach far beyond @JarrodGilbertNZ to almost all areas of social research.

 

Sports Freak ‏@Sportsfreakconz  

What's the bet @JarrodGilbertNZ gets access to the information today? Suspect there's a bit of scrambling going on in the background

 

Chris Hipkins ‏@chrishipkins  

Govt agencies have no right to question how official information will be used by requesters. It's undemocratic

> Chris Hipkins ‏@chrishipkins  

The National govt make a mockery of the Official Information Act. They are possibly the most secretive govt we've had since 1981

Trevor Mallard ‏@TrevorMallard  

@chrishipkins about time the State Services Commissioner pretended he had s backbone

 

Jason Mackie ‏@jasonmackie12  

nonsensical that in a democracy with a BOR Act that police would exert such control over academic freedom

 

Rangi Kemara ‏@Te_Taipo 

Redacted police profile? At a guess - some of those you interviewed were probably being bugged http://bit.ly/21eteKY 

 

Heather Warren ‏@HdizzyDizzle  

I'm glad Twitter is really mad about academics being told the can only be the critic and conscience if it suits. I'm mad about it too.

 

Ben Ross ‏@BenRoss_AKL  

That is the mark of a Fascist Police Force and Fascist State Mass sackings required starting at the top

 

Marianne Elliott ‏@zenpeacekeeper  

This is outrageous.

 

Nicola Gavey ‏@NicolaGavey  1h1 hour ago

@JarrodGilbertNZ 's experience of institutional constraints on publicly relevant research - critic & conscience?

 

Nicola Gaston ‏@nicgaston  

Another day, another challenge to #CriticAndConscience or to public good research in NZ ...if the govt don't get it why would the police?

 

Megan Woods ‏@Megan_Woods  

this govt has no regard for academic freedom. Ed act amendments (uni councils) demonstrated that

 

Maria Sherwood ‏@MariaSherwood2 

You don't need to have curfew and armed police on the streets to be a police state, as this shows

 

ActionStation ‏@actionstation  

Have NZ police gone to the dark side? Crime researcher @JarrodGilbertNZ denied access to records

 

Sue Bradford ‏@suebr 

Thx @JarrodGilbertNZ for exposing the tip of a very large iceberg: chilling effect of govt control of research

 

Tim Murphy ‏@tmurphyNZ  

Disgraceful censorship and control freakery.......good to go public @JarrodGilbertNZ

 

Richard Easther ‏@REasther  

If @nzpolice have evidence of wrongdoing by @JarrodGilbertNZ they should tell him. If not, we have a big problem...

 

Hamish Keith ‏@hamish_keith  

Now NZ Police are actively limiting free speech are we surprised after the events of the last seven years - stop this NOW

 

Patrick Crewdson ‏@PatrickCrewdson  

This is shocking behaviour by police. Unacceptable.

 

Luke Goode ‏@LukeGoode  

This is appalling censorship, bullying & abuse of power. Universities should jointly and vigorously oppose this.

 

David Slack ‏@DavidSlack  

This is outrageous.

> Lynnette Williams ‏@LynnW192  

@DavidSlack Everyone should be asking to see their police file.

 

Graham Cameron ‏@mvlgrimace  

Disturbing attempt to muzzle academics by NZ Police

 

Clare Curran ‏@clarecurranmp  

This is serious.

 

Paula Penfold ‏@paulapenfold  

This, @JarrodGilbertNZ, is frightening.

 

Tim McKinnel ‏@timmckinnel  

NZ Police attempting to control data access, academic research & threatening blacklisting?

 

 

 

 

Andrew Little is killing Labour's identity politics

The New Zealand Labour Party's 2015 annual conference will be remembered for the various policies that were jettisoned. But the other major trend from the conference is the discernible shift away from social liberalism on display. This was a point that I made this morning on TVNZ's Q+A programme, and so here's a quick elaboration about this point, via a few quick notes (while in transit):

 

• For the last decade – especially under Clark, and then Cunliffe - the Labour Party became more associated (rightly or wrongly) with social engineering, social reforms, and identity politics rather than with class politics. This is beginning to change.
• Andrew Little has succeeded in re-orientating the Labour Party from being a party strongly associated with social issues to that of a party more in tune with public concern with traditional economic concerns.
• The party is more focused than ever on traditional left concerns: the economy, the working class, economic inequality, employment, housing, education, health - these are the main topics being discussed this weekend
• The social liberals have been marginalised under Andrew Little and Matt McCarten; the identity politics agenda has nearly been erased from the agenda (or at least strongly de-emphasized)
• This is why Jacinda Ardern could not be appointed to the deputy position – she’s seen as the "chief twitterati" politician in Labour – she’s associated with social issues and those old ideas of the nanny state, gender politics, ethnic agendas etc. In contrast, the other rising star, Kelvin Davis, is seen to be more in line with shift away from "beltway twitterati" politics.
• Similarly, Grant Robertson, who’s from that same social liberal background as Ardern, has now been channelled into a more social democratic economic focus. Traditionally Robertson has had no great interest in economics – being more of an identity politics activist – but is now acting more like Jim Anderton, or Norman Kirk – focused on traditional leftwing issues of work, employment, inequality, etc.
• Unlike a year ago, today there’s no real chance of Little – or anyone else – apologising for their gender. Such identity politics and social liberalism has been nearly exorcised from the public view.
• The social liberals are still a huge part of Labour, but Little and his chief enforcer Matt McCarten have managed to suppress it.
• There are still all sorts of social liberalism evident, and sometimes it's making it's way through to the conference floor, but just not in the heavy way that it used to.
• The new sugar policy could be regarded as typical of social engineering type policies of the Labour liberals. But in many ways this might be seen more as an "ideological burp" rather than a core part of what Andrew Little is attempting to push. In fact, the policy was quite a compromise, especially given that a "sugar tax" was essentially ruled out. And Andrew Little was visibly uncomfortable in his selling of the sugar policy.
• Little has made numerous statements in the past about his intention to shift the party in a direction away from identity politics and social liberalism. And he appears to be succeeding in his goal.
• Obviously the dynamic of social liberalism and identity politics is hardly a black and white situation - and there's plenty of room for debate about whether this shift is a good one or whether it's necessary, but there should be no doubt that something interesting is going on.

 

 

 

Cartoons and images of the Politics of the Rugby World Cup

Here's some cartoons and photos relating to New Zealand's involvement in the Rugby World Cup.

Slane - Listener 5 November 2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Politics Crowd Goes Wild (for rugby)

Recently Sky TV's Hayley Holt interviewed various leftwing politicians in New Zealand about the Rugby World Cup - here's an except from the programme it screened on:

 

 

 

 

Some thoughts on the politics of rugby in 2015

The political left has a problem with rugby in New Zealand, and various leftwing bloggers often outline some of the more negative history and culture associated with the game. Much of this seems somewhat out-dated and puritanical. So here are some brief thoughts about how rugby in 2015 is a very different beast to that of, say, 1981.

 

1. There are many aspects of the game that the left should find easy to embrace: the emphasis on the collective team effort over individual achievement (despite corporate pressure to single out stars), the massive number of non-commercial and community based democratic organisations most rugby players belong to, and the spirit of solidarity team and club activities engender.
2. The reality is that a huge section of working class New Zealanders love rugby. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Indeed, an enormous number of New Zealanders are stuck in jobs that have very limited creative potential, and rugby provides a joy outside of often menial employment. They ‘work to live’ rather than ‘live to work’. It is their family and what they do at the weekend where they find freedom and expression.
3. Many of the reasons given for taking an oppositional stance to rugby are either no longer relevant or rapidly being eliminated from the game. At the 1995 Rugby World Cup Nelson Mandela turned the image of rugby on its head overnight. Rugby went from being seen as a supporter of apartheid to being a powerful force for a post apartheid South Africa.
4. Similarly, anyone who watched rugby even a decade ago is in no doubt these days that there has been a culture shift. Violent behaviour, even of the accidental kind, is not tolerated. We have seen talented players left out of teams explicitly because of their excessive drinking and players convicted and publicly condemned for alcohol fuelled anti-social behaviour. Players are routinely flown home to attend to important family matters. The message from the top is that there are things more important than rugby.
5. While winning the Rugby World Cup three times is impressive, New Zealand’s womens’ rugby team has, of course, already won it four times. It will be the women’s team who will have the first (and arguably best) opportunity to win an Olympic gold medal in rugby for New Zealand and the massive growth of sevens and touch rugby has seen a huge increase in girls and women playing rugby over the past decade. Male dominance of rugby is being challenged on the ground and women’s achievements in the support should be recognised in the media and in official roles.
6. Rugby is seen by many on the left as a distraction from the “real issues”. But does being a rugby fan really render you unable to critically evaluate the world around you in a way that attending jazz and film festivals, renovating an old villa or walking the Heaphy track doesn’t?