Developinent Educa Box rust coc, FOREIGN CONTROL WATCHDOG CAMPAIGN AGAINST FOREIGN CONTROL IN NEW ZEALAND Number 51 December 1985 Comalco - New Zealand's No 1 Bludger Moans Again Water Exporters Flush Avay Yanks - and Bring in Aussies IUD = IOU. OK? Obituary ~ Gideon Tait SIS - A Bad Case of Laryngitis "Home on the Range" Spies and Lessons from the "Achille Lauro" Affair Naui Gas Options Book Reviews ~ "No Place to Run" and "RTZ Uncovered” Vietnam Update Coromandel - Fighting Gold Fever Don't Wc cry About the U.S. Navy..., and miscellany Sutch Memorial Seminars Labour Welcomes Foreign Investment... Labour Party Conference Pickets (enclosed leaflets) *** For a new magazine on the S.I.S, and N.Z. Intelligence agencies write to Box 1666, Wellington. NAME CHANGE, THIS IS IT. You have until 31 March 1986 to tell us which one of the following three choices you prefer: Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa (CAFCA. No, not Kafka) Campaign for an Independent Aotearoa (CIA - yes, we know) Aotearoa Independence Movement (AIM ~ we've hired Dougal Stevenson for the TV ads) Let us know by 31 March, The new name will be launched at the 1986 AGM. ISSN 1110896, Registered at Wellington PO as a Magazine. Published by CAFCINZ, PO Box 2258 Christchurch, New Zealand, ‘The material in this issue may be reprinted provided the source is acknowledged. A copy would be appreciated.COMALCO NEW ZEALAND'S NO. 1 BLUDGER MOANS AGAIN When CAFCINZ published internal Comalco documents in 1980, revealing its extensive domestic and international armtwisting in the mid '70s to overturn ‘the Muldoon government's intent to dramatically increase the power price for the Tiwai Point smelter, did we get any thanks from Piggy? No, he called us "fanatics" (to which we can only say, "Come in No. 38, your time is up".) Undaunted, we're putting the spotlight on Comalco again. Why? Because the bastards are up to their old tricks again. It all started with the 25% increase in power prices from 1 April. Comalco found out to its shock that unlike previous increases that fell on domestic users, this one included bulk industrial users. And at approximately 13% of the entire electricity generated in New Zealand 365 days per year, Tiwai Point is bulk. The very bulkiest in fact. ‘This wasn't going to be taken lying down, certainly not by a conniving multinational like Comalco, which has an absolutely privileged place in New Zealand industrial history (its power price is secret to this day and media attempts to secure it under the Official Information Act have been rebuffed by the Ombudsman). Firstly it announced that it wouldn't replace pots that shut down for repairs. At that stage (april) it solemnly swore that redundancies were out of the question. In reply to a letter in the "Press" by CAFCINZ stalwart, Bill Rosenberg, Comalco's general manager M.B. Bevvett, stated "Comalco is not trying to renegotiate its present power prices..." (24.4.85). There was more to Comalco's manceuvrings than simply New Zealand power prices - the world aluminium market is depressed and Comalco has incurred substantial debts by buying a U.S. smelter from U.S. multinational Martin Marietta. So the "Star" (22.4.85) had a headline "Comalco warns on future profit trends". ‘The pressure stepped up in June. The "Press" (6.6.85) stated "Fifty pots may be shut down"; the "Star" (19.6.85) "Comalco ‘not bluffing’ on power" Mark Rayner, Comalco's chief executive said "You don't bluff with people's jobs", Remeber that quote. The talk was all of redeployment and a sinking lid policy. It sounded like the public service under Muldoon. By July things were looking up for Comalco, The "Press" (12.7.85) headlined “Tiwai smelter power price agreement". It said: "The agreement will restore, in part, the principle of the smelter paying less for its power in times of depressed world markets - such as now ~ and vice versa. Neither the company nor the officials would go into details but they agreed the new price indexing system was fair and equitable. It will not mean any immediate change to the smeltevs policy of not rebuilding pots as they burn out, however..." So the pressure was still on. In August Comalco went on the offensive. The "Star" (3.8.85) headlined “put power in private hands"; "A powerful private sector group has advised the Government that private ownership of New Zealand Electricity is thebest way to run the country's power.... The New Zealand Business Round- table has presented a package of recommendations for running N.Z.E. more efficiently. ‘The group's chairman is Sir Ronald Trotter, also chairman of Fletcher Challenge and most of its members are managing directors of New Zealand's largest companies. Tt claimed its recommendations would drive down the price of electricity to that of March 1984. They would also drive efficiency into the electricity system. The submission was prepared by member companies, Comalco and a number of independent consultants..." Watchdog could do an article on the New Zealand Business Roundtable itsel£. So New Zealand big business lined up with multinationa’. surprise, surprise. In September the offensive was in full swing, running media junkets through the smelter and releasing its own specially commissioned "national economic benefits of the smelter", done by consultants Brown, Copeland and Co. Ltd. The headlines told the company's story: “smelter seeks new deal on power supply" ("Press" 7.9.85); "Comalco curbed by high prices" ("star 7.9.85). The "Press" story detailed how Comalco wanted the power price remgotiated - a mere 5 months after its general manager stated in the "Pres" that it didn't want to renegotiate. ‘he consultants’ report put the returns from the smelter over its projected lifetime at $1.36 billion and stated that the third potline was the only Think Big project to exceed the Treasury's guideline of a 10% p.a. profit margin, Kerry McDonald, its general manager of business systems (former head of the N.2. Institute of Economic Research), bewailed the fact that the smelter's power price had gone up 900% since 1970, including Muldcon's 450% hike in 1977 (the subject of all that previous armtwisting). It still rankled that the Government had "reneged" on its agreement to raise Manpouri during dry spells (The Save Manapouri petition was then the biggest in New Zealand's history). But the media had to take all this on trust because Comalco still refused to reveal its power price (on grounds of commercial sensitivity. Political embarrassment would be more likely.) The "New Zealand Times" decided to analyse this consultants" report which it did in two stories (8.9.85). It was revealing: "Using Comalco's admission that it pays 50% tax on profits, the consortium therefore makes a $1 billio: profit. However the profit is obviously much higher - at least $1.5 billion when the tax contribution to the stated 103 return is taken into account. ‘The consultants' report had claimed that New Zealand was reaping a bonanza from poor old Comalco - in actual fact it’s laughing all the way to the Swiss bank. The "New Zealand Times" analysis was scathing: “But the Comalco analysis is also thin on detail. Assumptions are made about obvious variables: labour, foreign exchange rates, inflation, aluminium costs, power prices and so on, to determine the net project value. But yet again the consortium has shrouded in secrecy the key details needed to check the analysis. Nowhere for instance are the operating costs, wages bill, sales income, output figures, tax payments, or the amount the consortium takes by way of profit. For reasons of commercial sensitivity these have been withheld." "New Zealand Times" pointed out that the consultants’ report was timed to influence the Government: "It's a standard Comalco tactic in the negotiating game. A similar study was commissioned from Brown Copeland on Comalco's Boyne Island smelter to underline the importance of that project to Australi: “New Zealand Times" taclied some of Comalco's figures, particularly the projected aluminiun price of $US1,300 per tonne, pointing out that the consultants" report said that a 10% cut in this would wipe $NZ340 million Off the smelter's current net value. Similar discrepancies exist in the highly volatile field of foreign exchange rates.But Comalco may have met its match in this monetarist Labour government ("May the market forces be with you"). The "Star" (4.10.85) quoted a letter from Lange to the Southland United Council, stating the obvious - that the price of electricity was only one factor in Comalco's decision not to rebuild pots. "I would note that the Government is in the business of selling energy, not in the business of the production and marketing of aluminium". He pointed out that the secret power price was "very compet- itive on an international basis", and said the Government was concerned- with the longer relationship, not the currently depressed spot market for aluminium. Comalco then played an old card - international pressure. New Zealand Aluminium smelters Ltd (the operators of the smelter) is 58.7% owned by Comalco (now mainly Australian but still significant British ownership) and 41% by two Japanese companies. So sure enough the Japan-New Zealand Business Council (a twin of PBEC) meeting in Christchurch, expressed deep concern at power prices for the two big Japanese joint ventures here — Tiwai Point and the Carter Holt-Oji Panpac pulp mill ("Press" 19.10.85). Having said it wasn't bluffing with people's jobs, Comalco now proceeded to show it wasn't, The "Star" (11.10.85) headlined "smelter cuts salaried staff by 27", It was very decent about it, providing taxis to and from the smelter for relevant whitecollar workers to be ushered up the back tairs and told they were immediately redundant. It hasn't finished there. sorman Jones, National MP for Invercargill, claims "the top brass" told him up to 200 jobs could go ("Star" 4.10.85). So in a few months, Comalco has gone from saying it doesn't want to renegotiate its power price to doing its darndest to achieve just that. From saying nobody would be made redundant to actually sacking staff. CAFCINZ should feel no sympathy with the staff - we remember the huge "Piss Off" banners hung out by workers when we've protested there. But we don't like to see any workers, New Zealand or otherwise, used as pawns in a cynical Power struggle by an unscrupulous multinational, one with an appalling worldwide track record (see the "RTZ Uncovered" review in this issue). Don't worry about quibbling about the power price - it's time the power was cut off, and Comalco shut down. This massive ripoff has gone on far too long. We remind readers that we still have for sale our Comalco comic "The Amazing Adventures of New Zealand's No. 1 Power Junky" (1982 edition). It costs $1.50, with a one-third discount for orders of 5 or more. This gives the whole amazing history of this parasitic growth on New Zealand. It's like watching a python eat a rabbit - fascinating, horrifying and definitely very bad table manners. Remember, if you haven't paid your sub, we sell your name and address to the Rev Jerry Falwell, And if you can't bring yourself to send money to us, send it to Citizens for the Demilitarisation of Harewood (CDH), Box 2258, Christchurch. It's broke and its work is invaluable.WATER EXPORTERS FLUSH AWAY YANKS And Bring in Aussies Watchdog has previously chronicled the curious scheme to turn beautiful Doubtful Sound in Fiordland into New Zealand's largest harbour, with super- tankers regularly calling to take away loads of fresh water for export. This scheme has been widely opposed on obvious environmental grounds. Now the ownership of the project is about to change. ‘The "star" (31.10.85) announced that a New Zealand owned consortium, headed by the Goodman Group and two other unnamed partners, was going to buy out the U.S. Triune Resources Ltd, with the latter's sole involvement henceforth to be in marketing. The "Star" story was revealing: "Part of the anti-Triune feeling was caused by the dislike of an American company exploiting a New Zealand resource and to neutralise this, Triune earlier this year was arranging an increased N.Z. input into the project. But the plans had been suspended and the application for government approval "put on hold' pending the creation of the new joint venture company. Triune’s directors had agreed to negotiate ‘a 100% .N.Z. buyout’, The American @irectors recognised that it was going to be a difficult proposition to develop the project. "....8n international engineering company, Fluor Construction, was brought in by Triune last October ('84) to develop, build and operate the Deep Cove facilities for the project. Fluor would still be consulted because of its knowledge of international shipping requirements and for marketing, but it would not have major involvement in construction. Tt was inevitable that there would be a shift in emphasis towards using N.Z. companies and expertise". Water could be bottled for export within two months of the new venture being finalised. Leaving aside the Fluor Corporation (which Watchdog has looked at before), let's study this much ballyhooed transfer of ownership from American multi- national toN.2. big business. Who do these jokers think they're kidding? Goodmans is as N.2. as a kangaroo. “Goodman is just one component in a complex web of cross-shareholdings involving N.Z. and Austzlian companies. As at 31 March this year, Goodman held 148 of Elders IXL (Australia), while Elders held 22% of Goodman. Goodman held 33% of Wattie and Wattie 25% of Goodman. While Goodman has no holding in N.Z. Forest Products it indirectly has an interest, through its holding in Wattie, as that company held 248 in N.Z.P.P. (N.Z.F.P. had a reciprocal 24% interest in Wattie)." This is known to sharemarket analysts, in technical parlance, as pissing in each other's pockets. "According to Goodman's 1985 annual report it held, indirectly, positions in Amotts Ltd (Australia), Waitaki NZR Ltd, Newmans Group Ltd, Mount. Cook Group Ltd, Aulsebrooks Ltd, United Dairy Foods Ltd, Saudi New Zealand Capital Corp. Ltd, Fermentation Industries (NZ) Ltd, and Waihi Gold Company. ("Press" 2.11.85).Tf this tangled web of trans-Tasman big business wasn't enough, the very same "Press" story announced that Australian-based food group, Fielder Gillespie Davis Ltd, was making an outright takeover bid for Goodmans, whose managing director, Peter Shirtcliffe, said that Fielder's move fitted in with Goodman's "previously expressed philosophies". Fielders is a flour miller, starch and gelatine products manufacturer, pig and poultry marketer. It made a simultaneous takeover bid for the Australian owned Allied Mills Ltd, which is a flour manufacturer and owner of bakeries. “Fielder said the merged group will be the largest food group in Australia and New Zealand with a combined turnover of $NZ1.57 billion... It said the merged companies will hold a number of major investments in other companies, including 20% in Arnotts Ltd, 14% of Elders IXL, 32% of watties and 24% of Newmans.... The merger is designed to assist in rationalising the Australian and New Zealand food industries". ("Press" 2.11.85). This translates as monopoly. Quite apart from this Australiaised New Zealandising of the water export scheme, it is an environmentally bad concept, regardless of who is proposing to do it. But to replace a U.S. company with an Australian one and try to call it a New Zealand one is just blatant nonsense. IUD - I0U. OK? If Dante's "Inferno" was to be updated, the lowest depths of Hell would be reserved for drug companies. watchdog has previously chronicled the horror story of Debendox, the morning sickness drug, which has resulted in child deformities. At present 600 Anerican wonen are suing British firm G.D. Searle claiming they have been injured by the firm's copper 7 intra-uterine contraceptive Gevice (Tu). New Zealand wonen affected by it are awaiting the outcome of the American case. ‘The most publicised IUD atrocity of the last decade is the Dalkon Shield. After much prodding from the women's movement, the Government duly prodded its U.S. makers, A.H. Robins, to launch a publicity campaign telling New Zealand women to get it removed (this is a full decade after its horrifying effects were first widely known). But now Robins has adopted an old tactic of multinationals being sued in American courts - it has gone bankrupt (a sort of judicial contraceptive). It's a trick it learned from asbestos companies in a similar situation. Where this leaves New Zealand women is that they only have until December 31st to file a claim for damages against Robins. After that date any claims will be invalid, regardless of the extent of the woman's injuries. This is very similar to the Derek Bunn case. He was the schoolboy who was kicked in the face by a police dog handler at the 1972 Mt John demonstration. He sued, his claim was upheld, and the judge said he was going to award him damages BUT because one had to file a claim again the police within 12 months of the event and he hadn't, then the court wouldn't give hin a cent. Tough about the broken jaw Derek. Robins are trying to pull the same stunt. They mustn't be allowed to get away with it.OBITUARY - GIDEON TAIT Readers who have seen "Islands of the Impire" will recall that one of the film's most vivid images is old black and white NZBC footage of Owen Wilkes talking to a reporter after the 1973 Harewood/Weedons demonstration Vivid because he had an ugly gash dominating one side of his face. The film then cuts to modern day Wilkes (in colour) explaining that that wound had been personally inflicted on him by Chief Superintendent Gideon Tait, commander of the Christchurch police district at the time. Wilkes has only recently discovered who i$ was who assaulted him. (At the time of "Islands" world premiere in Christchurch in May, the "Star" asked Tait about it. He denied it). This was symptomatic of Tait, who died recently in Auckland, aged 69. After working in the freezing works and on the railways, he joined the police in 1937. He distinguished himself in the Hutt Valley by relentlessly hounding gambling and after hours drinking (this was the time of the 6 o'clock swill). In the '60s he commanded New Zealand's United Nations peacekeeping contingent in Cyprus (it was a police operation). He came to Christchurch from Dunedin, heading the Christchurch district from 1970- 74 inclusive. He went on to greater things, rising to Assistant Commissioner and Auckland police district commander, before retiring in 1975. The "Star" obituary said about his Auckland command: "He was wellknown for his opposition to rowdy behaviour in hotels and instituted regular patrols of public bars.... the incident of complaints about street violence in that city fell significantly within months of his arrival". Translation - his brainchild, the infamous Task Force, harassed and terrorised Maori and Islander pub patrons, institutionalised racist harassment that led inexorably to the infamous police sweep of “overstayers", after his retirement. But as a Christchurch group, CAFCINZ most fondly remembers Tait's years here, His tenure was anything but dull, As the Wilkes episode shows, not for him the quiet life in the office. He personally commanded the police detachment that turned up to subdue a drunken soldier who stripped naked and ran amok in the Square (all police commanders in Christchurch solemnly promise to "clean up the Square"). in 1970 he told the "Press" that "whining Pon" school teachers were responsible for kids having no respect for the police. He considered the 1969 Narcotics Act with its no-warrant-required procedures "the best piece of legislation we've had in 100 years". It may well be forgotten that the much vaunted Kirk Labour government. was elected on a law and order platform, including the solemn promise to "take the bikes off the bikies". As second cousin to Mick Connelly, Minister of Police, and a fellow ideological dinosaur, Tait was just the man for the job. later wote a book splendidly entitled "Never Back Down", in which he said his two greatest achievements were the mass arrest of bikies in Christchurch in late 1973, under the new unlawful assembly law, and the tactics he adopted in dealing with the 1973 Harewood demo. One could fill a long article about the bikie case. Suffice to say that all 80 plus of then were acquitted on appeal.‘The March '73 Harewood demo was seen by all as a dry run for the Springbok tour scheduled for that year. (Tt is particularly timely to remember that postgonea, 4 that tour, and he did so not because of any moral objection to apartheid but because the Commissioner of Police advised him that the police couldn't handle the expected mass disorder. ‘That demo saw a number of new police tactics. People were arrested at Weedons under 100 year old unlawful assembly laws (updated in time for the bikies). ‘That whole operation was massive (over 400 police) and heavily militarised. Police were flown into Christchurch on RNZAF planes and practised their tactics in King Edward Barracks. RNZAF personnel were used in large numbers to guard Weedons. The police stampeded the Iabour City Council into declaring all the airport environs offlimits to everyone except passengers. Public roads were blocked off, RNZAF helicopters were used to transport police and actively harass demonstrators (e.g. by deliberately drowning out speakers, hovering overhead. Peace Squadron activists will know the feeling). Those arrested were handcuffed for long periods and "processed" on the spot, all tactics used in '@1, They were kept all weekend without bail. Tait whipped up media hysteria about a bomb being found, "an extremely dangerous weapon". when finally viewed the next year, it turned out to be a homemade smoke bomb. The systematic, coordinated use of police violence was a feature that marked this demonstration off from those that went before (where police violence was uncoordinated). Demonstrators were cleared from the road by police marc anto them - the front row rhythmically kneed people in the balls, the next one punched them in their faces. All of them chanting "Move, move". Add Intons and helmets, and you're 8 years ahead. Tait's own worgs, from his book ".... 100 police, all marching in close formation and chanting in rhythm. ‘They were a formidable sight. Some of the demonstrators turned and fled. Those who did not move - voluntarily - were pushed back or fell over, trampled on if they did not move fast enough.... I could see real terror on many of their faces". This is what this man described as his finest hour. ‘The Harewood demo was also marked by police tactics of infiltration and spying. In a 1973 "Canta" interview, Tait said "We have penetrated them completely. We knew what they were going to do beforehand. Some of their own leaders didn't know what others amongst them were going to do". CAFCINZ has in its possession an academic research essay hy a serving policeman that details some of the police infiltration of protest groups in this period. Tait distinguished himself in retirement by attending meetings organised by the fascist League of Rights. He must have deeply regretted missing the "@1 tour. He would have fitted perfectly into the South African police. He was a thug, which is no great rarity in the New Zealand police, but much more dangerously he was an ideologically motivated one. A racist wowser who hounded Polynesian drinkers, a militarist who used the police to fight his own private wars. He won't be missed. Just when diehard reactionaries 1ike Thatcher and Reagan have implemented some token sanctions against South Africa, featuring a ban on the importation and sale of Xrugerrands, along comes Good 01 Boy John Kirk who pleads guilty (among uther things) to taking krugerrands out of N. Z But then political sensitivity was always John's forte. Country and Western is welcome to him.SIS > A BAD CASE OF LARYNGITIS What is a polity? Ana why did the Ombudsman bark? Watchdogs 49 and 50 detailed CAFCINZ' unsuccessful attempt to secure our file from the Security Intelligence Service. Having bought the script cheap from the U.S. Navy, it "refuses to confirm or deny" the existence of any S18 file of any individual or organisation that asks. This policy was endorsed by the Ombudsman. So we went public and contacted Garry Arthur of the "Press" features section. He initially asked why we had bothered to ask. After all the SIS is a secret body, the identities of its staff, etc. protected by law, so what else could we expect to happen to our request under the Official Information Act? He answered his own question in a "Press" feature (30.7.85) entitled "SIS bound by Official Information Act - but its lips are sealed". The article began: “As it is a secret organisation it is somewhat surprising to find the SIS listed in the schedule of organisations subject to the OIA. But as it is on the list, this means that if anyone asks the SIS for information under the Act, they are bound to give it - unless there is a good reason for withholding it", And there's the Catch-22. The SIS permanently justifies its “neither confirm nor deny policy" on grounds of the security of the state. SIS Director John Smith refused to be interviewed, requesting written questions, with "quite uninformative answers". He said the SIS had released information under the Act, but he wouldn't say what sort. Nor did he see any fundamental conflict between the secret nature of the SIS and the OIA (nor should he, with the Ombudsman rubberstamping his ludicrous non-policy). Garry Arthur contacted the Chief Ombudsman, Lester Castle, and was startled to be "barked" at. He thought it might have been the mention of CAFCINZ that did it, specifically the name of its Secretary, Murray Horton (who has plagued the Ombudsman under at least 3 different guises). He was an uncom municative as Smith. When asked if the SIS had ever released anything under the Act, he replied: "My investigations are conducted in confidence, it is not my prerogative to say so". He also brusquely asked Arthur if he'd read the Act. And that was it from Lester (Woof Woof) Castle. It later transpired, and has been confirmed in writing by Smith, that the SIS did release some file material to various individuals for a period of a few months, immediately after the OIA came into effect in July '83. But by November '83 this had been stopped (Smith wrote to CAFCINZ "I am convinced that meeting any such request is likely to damage security by making the Service vulnerable to a systematic collection plan We'll give details in the next Watchdog. ‘The “Press” feature summarised CAFCINZ dealings with the SIS and the Ombudsman, mentioning the Don Carson case that touched off our inquiry. It also dealt with the individual request of CAFCINZ activist Richard Suggate, then of Hokitika. Suggate was manager of Wellington's Resistance Bookshop in the early '70s and wanted to know what the SIS had on his file from then (there is no truth in the rumour that he was trying to find pieces of his penis bitten off by a police dog at Mt John, and rumoured to be displayed in the SIS canteen).He got the same runaround, although Smith's letter went further. “A response in these terms is necessary to prevent any longterm intelligence collection plan being implemented by a terrorist or subversive organisation, OR A FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SERVICE (our emphasis)..... A clear example would be in confirming to a terrorist group that members of its team or individuals it intended to impersonate had not come to the notice of the Security Service." Yes, one can imagine Prieur and Mafart writing from Paris asking if the SIS had anything on them. More plausibly, the DGSE rang its liaison man in the SIS and suggested he take a sickie on 10 July. ‘There being nothing else to do in Hokitika, Suggate decided to annoy large numbers of MPs and Ministers about his getting the bum's rush from the SIS. He got it from them too. Lange, Minister in Charge of the SIs (translation - chief beneficiary of political gossip) even made the following extraordinary suggestion: "If you (Suggate) are concerned that the SIS may have a false impression of you, you might consider taking the initiative and provide them with an account of the events that worry you". What a pity the Ouvea crew didn't do this. But the French were never very keen on cricket. Richard Suggate, now of Wellington, presented his individual case in great detail at CAFCINZ' W.B. Sutch Memorial SIS Seminar in September (as did Don Carson, also of Wellington). With the true journalistic persistence born. of covering countless borough Council subcommittees, Garry Arthur approached another branch of the bureaucracy. His feature said "However Mr Suggate's submissions appear to have been a waste of time. Miss Ailsa Salt, chief executive officer of the Information Authority, says the SIs* response to requests under the Act is not one of the areas under review at present. Other areas have higher priority - the lack of protection given to commercial information in the private vector, secrecy provisions of the Act, and che ‘whole area of personal infurmation collected by Government departments’ ". “When it was pointed out that it was this personal information, collected by the SIS, that some people were seeking and not getting Miss Salt said the SIS was refusing in the interests of the security of the State - ‘one of the most important considerations that the polity has’ ". Like most of us Garry thought a Polity was a nasty growth up your nose, but Miss Salt (who is obviously worth hers) explained that it's actually a smartarse Polsci graduate term for the body politic. "she added that the Ombudsman had supported the SIS in its refusal to supply information and.he was the review body under the Act. Asked if the SIS should perhaps be removed from the schedule or organisations bound by the Act since At routinely refused to supply any personal information, Miss Salt said that although the Information Authority could add new organisations to the schedule, only the Government could take any off." So there we are. The most apt image that comes to mind is of the recent excellent TV series @n the Mafia-newsreel footage of gangsters taking the Sth Amendment on every question asked them by Congressional committees, on the ground of sel.f-incrimination. CARCINZ hasn't finished with the STS by a long shot (see elsewhere in this issue). We leave you with a couple of gems. Don Carson, the '@1 tour radical and/or subversive who sued them and won, has offered his services to the SIS, He is a leading activist in the Wellington Palestine Group (correspondence between the SIS and the Israeli Embassy was amongst file material they refused to release for his court case). ‘The female French spy who infiltrated Greenpeace prior to the Rainbow Warrior bombing disappeared from Israel into Lebanon when tipped off that the N.%. police wanted -her. ‘The lamentable M. Tricotsaid he wouldn't bring her in from the cold because she had performed dangerous spy missions in the Middle East and a Palestinian hit quad was after her. Carson has offered the services of the PLO to deliver her to New Zealand. What do you say, Smithy? Wait until the Mssad liaison officer hears that one. And in the Freudian slips department. A recent "Star" report on likely U.S. destabilisation efforts in New Zealand referred to the CIA as the Criminal Intelligence Agency. We can't top that. “HOME ON THE RANGE’ Malcolm Praser was arguably the most repulsive Australian Prime Minister in recent history. He had only three things going for him - he hated South Africa, he hated Muldoon, and he hated to lose (so after his snap election he pissed off pronto). But from the time the 11 November 1975 constitutional coup d'etat gave him the job, he was the creature of the Americans, And he has resurfaced in this role. The "star" headline (31.10.85) says it all - "Spy bases in Australia jeopardised - Fraser". In a Washington address to the American Enterprise Institute ("a conservative thinktank"), Fraser spilled the beans. New Zealand's nuclear warships ban and the U.S. reaction to it have rendered ANZUS inoperative (CAFCINZ believes it should be rendered down), As a result the legal justification for America's 3 strategically vital bases in Australia (North West Cape, Pine Gap, and Nurrungar) has been removed. " australia Labour government (he distinctly Fraser agonised that a future "radica excluded the Hawke government from this) could use this ANZUS inoperability to kick out those bases. Without ANZUS, those bases (and numerous others) exist only on bilateral agreements or goodwill. So Fraser has bluntly stated the Realpolitik reason why Reagan and Hawke regard the N.Z. nuclear free policy stakes as being so high. Don't worry about domino effects in Japan or West Germany. This bastard Lange could get us kicked out of Australia. CAFCINZ reminds readers who are interested in the whole U.S.-Australia politico/ military/intelligence relationship, that we still have available for hire the excellent Australian video "Home on the Range". It costs $10 to hire, plus postage. Write to us or ring Bill Rosenberg at 899.055. Those of you who've seen the Hollywood movie “The Falcon and the Snowman" will be intrigued to hear that Christopher Boyce is frequently referred to init (in the Australian film "Allies", Boyce has a lengthy interview - in prison). "Home on the Range" is the perfect companion piece to "Islands of the Empire", Ideally both videos should be seen together.SPIES ‘The French have got their priorities right. They've arrested those held responsible for leaking evidence of DGSH responsibility for the "Rainbow Warrior" bombing, but refuse to arrest the 3 DGSE agents sought by New zealand on an international murder warrant. As they say, no country allows its own citizens to be extradited and anyway it's all right, they were only obeying orders. You do understand, don't you Fernando? Ignoring the fact that the sun is regularly blotted out by planeloads of Aussie and Kiwi crims being given free trips across the Tasman to stand trial, let's examine France's very own precedent. Currently languishing in Lyons gaol is Klaus Barbie, former head of the Lyons Gestapo, wanted to stand trial for murder and various other war crimes. france went to considerable lengths to gét him extradited from Bolivia. But surely his numerous crimes are OK too, as he was only obeying orders and in wartime too? Anyway the KGB must be delighted to have it so publicly demonstrated that another country has got an intelligence service that is more murderously stupid than it. At least the Eastern agencies carry out their killings with a bit more panache e.g. the plutonium tipped umbrella used to kill a Bulgarian defector in London in 1978. But limpet mines! How gross. While Owen Wilkes has been having legal problems recently in Canada this be what the TV ads mea when they say "Canada, what a discovery?") , it's worth remembering that while Norway went to great trouble to convict him and fellow peace researzher Nils-Fetter Gleditsch for telling the Norwegian people what NATO was really up to in their country, that there really was major Russian spy in Norway. Only, and this is the embarrassing part, he was a Cabinet Minister. He was a KGB agent for years and when arrested boarding a plane with a briefcase full of secret papers, was en route to meet a KGB general in Vienna. He got 20 years, but is still turning a profit. His book on the whole affair was a placegetter in a Norwegian literary contest. Maybe he took so long to catch because he didn't wear leather shorts and ride a bike. LESSONS FROM THE ACHILLE LAURO AFFAIR Every country that hosts U.S. military bases (e.g. New Zealand) should note the following. When U.S. jets hijacked the Achille Lauro hijackers to an Italian/U.S. base in Sicily, there was a Cldi starlifter on hand to fly the Palestinians straight to the US (yes, the same planes that fly in and out of Harewood every day). This is despite the fact that as the crime had been committed on Italian territory (the ship) Italy had undisputed legal jurisdiction. The U.S. was only frustrated by the arrival of a large contingent of Italian military personnel, who threatened a shootout with their allies. When the plane flying the Palestinian commander to Rome flew out, the U.S. special forces general illegally chased it in his own jet. This naked display of U-S. political muscle has compromised Tunisia (the U.S. persuaded it to refuse entry to the plane carrying the Palestinians),42, outraged Egypt (whose plane was hijacked by the U.S.), and led to the fall of the Italian government. Geoffrey Palmer made a telling point in saying that New Zealand would respond quicker on the Achille Lauro affair than the U.S. did on the "Rainbow Warrior". But then, what else would one expect of a country which routinely endorses State terrorism by South Africa and Israel and practices its own brand in Nicaragua? MAUI GAS OPTIONS This is our submission to the Energy Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Energy. The Government has announced three options for the future use of Maui gas ~ allow Fletchers to export it as Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) through a specially built port; use some of it for electricity generation; or leave it in the ground for future use. After prodding by Maui Futures, a specially set up coalition, the Government called for public submissions, allowing only one month for them. All submissions were to be restricted to the three options of the Government's choosing, no other use was to be considered. Incidentally "Star" columnist Ian Templeton has called people (i.e. us) who suggest it be left in the ground "flat earth specialists". Our submission is quite simple and brief. Of the 3 options outlined for public input (the limit of 3 options is in itself highly debatable), we plump firmly for leaving the gas in the ground for future use. This echoes our longstanding position on the export of Buller coal. New Zealand is only just reeling away from the bloated excesses of Think Big, so we are totally opposed to the Fletcher proposal involving building a port and infrastructure for the export of LNG. We believe export-led growth to be an economic fallacy in itself, and can see no justification whatsoever for extending this export mania to natural resources, such as coal and gas. Particularly when the beneficiary is New Zealand's very own multinational, Fletchers, Likewise with the proposal to use up to 60PI for electricity generation. ‘The entire Muldoon period was characterised by learned argument as to whether N.Z, @id/id not have a "surplus™ of electricity to sell to multinationals, such as aluminium consortia. Are we going to create another such "surplus" to benefit only foreign and N.Z. big business? We note that the country's single biggest (and most secretive) user of electricity, namely the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter, is currently laying off staff and letting production run down. Among reasons given is that the Company's secret price for electricity supplied by the state is too high. So who is going to use this extra electricity, and who is going to benefit? Let's not be in a mad rush to export it, sell it, burn it up. Leave it where it is until it can be put to the best possible use for the benefit of all New Zealanders.BOOK REVIEWS Watchdog has paying subscribers in countries as diverse as Australia, the U.S., Norway and West Germany. And no, they're not all homesick Kiwis. We also have exchange deals with a number of international organisations ranging from U.N. bodies to Swedish and U.S. magazines. Our most recent exchange deal came out of the blue from the U.S. and not from New York or Los Angeles, but Tennessee. Aren't they all in the Klu Klux Klan there, we thought) And as it's called the Highlander Center, did this mean they danced around flaming bagpipes? The Highlander Center turns out to be a 50 year old civil rights institute, with an impeccable track record and firmly committed to internationalism. It wanted to know about Union Carbide's New ‘aland operations for its booklet "No Place to Run". We had very little on file and a check with Greenpeace and the NOrthern Stores and Packing Union revealed that its Auckland plant (the only one in New Zealand) has a clean environmental and industrial slate, But we sent off what we had (it has a New Zealand monopoly on torch batteries, Gladwrap, etc) and duly got credited in the booklet. We also helped co-finance a video on similar chomical plants in the U.S., but the deal fell through as it was of an appalling technical quality and too American in content. More's the pity. But we now have an active exchange deal with Highlander, and as a welcome spinoff, they're helping promote "Islands of tho Empire" in the U.S.A. Good thing too, as Public Broadcasting (PBS)TV has rejected it as "one sided"! “wo prac To Ron” It was like a war, which killed up to 15,000 people and left many times more disabled. But it was a war by a small group of moneymakers on a defenceless people desperate for jobs. Or it could have been a natural disaster, driving people from their homes and killing their livestock. But this disaster was unnaturally made possible by a deliberate manipulation of inexperienced officials, an apathetic government, and legal loopholes. There was nothing people could do to protect themselves from death. They had no warning, and could find nowhere to hide from it. No words could placate it and no fence was possible. When the gas smothered the people of Bhopal. "No Place to Run" is the aptly named booklet about the Bhopal killings, co-published by the Highlander Center and the Society for Participatory Research in Asia (India). Subtitled "Local Realities and Global Issues" it explores, in a clear ana easily-read manner: - the response to the disaster by the Indian Government, Union Carbide and by inhabitants of other Union Carbide localities. - the effects of methyl isocyanate (the gas released at Bhopal) - other Union Carbide operations and "accidents" ~_a discussion of the transportation, storage, regulation and testing of hazardous substances - ending with questions of information access and of how necessity, convenience, powerlessness and profit making intertwine to create a rope to hang us."No Place to Run" has only the limitations of its booklet size and an instance of breathtaking sexism. A paragraph describing the desperate situation of the "sick people" goes on to say that "their womenfolk are not physically fit to cook their meals"! Aside from this, an excellent publication. order fro Highlander Center, Route 3, Sox 370, New Market, Tennessee 37820, USA. Tt costs $US6.00. ¥ RTZ_ UNCOVERED New Zealanders doing the Colonial Cringe and seeking examples of gracious English country houses, should stay away from 218 Liverpool Road, Islington. ‘the social realities of London may be a bit much to stomach - no hot water and an odds on chance of one of the city's 30,000 homeless sleeping outside your door. But if it's unparallellea hospitality you're after, then make a beeline for its occupants, the brothers Moody, Pete and Roger. After a night at the opera, regardless of the time you get back, Roger has a scrumptious vegan meal waiting, topped off by Pete's favourite Guinness. For CAFCINZ people in London, 218 Liverpool Road is a must because it's the address of PARTIZANS (People Against Rio Tinto Zinc and its Subsidiaries). This is the only Watchdog subscriber anywhere to receive its copy airmail. Why? Because in 1981, it paid for then CAFCINZ chairperson, Bill Rosenberg, to tour Britain speaking on Comalco. We have a long memory when it comes to our friends. Rio Tinto Zinc is one of the biggest, and arguably the nastiest, mining multinationals in the world, This British giant personifies the brutal arrogance of the species, and in its treatment of indigenous peoples worldwide, exemplifies everything wrong with multinationals. As the ultimate parent of Comalco, its New Zealand connection is the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter (see elsewhere in this issue for the latest on that). PARTIZANS has produced a report "Uncovering RTZ". It's an anti-report, inspired by PARTIZANS' regular and vocal presence at RIZ AGHs in London. ‘The report has been sponsored by the Greater London Council (yes, the notorious cic). Tt thoroughly covers RZ history and its record of shameless exploitation in Britain, Spain (from whence it got its name), Canada, Southern Africa, Namibia (the infamous Rossing uranium mine), Panama and most viciously, Australia. In its relentless quest for gold, diamonds, uranium, bauxite, etc, etc, it has screwed Panamanian Indians, Aboriginals... and successive New Zealand governnents. The report highlights some priceless quotes from RIZ leaders over the years: "Since the mining region was occupied by General Franco's forces, there have been no further labour troubles... Miners found guilty of troublemaking are court martialled and shot" (1937) ... "there were two or three of us who were always available if somebody came in with something exciting. . We didn't wait for a boara meeting or any nonsense of that kind" (1978).... “.., one battalion of paratroopers is worth countless numbers of United Nations resolutions" (1982).And here's our favourite: "what really broke the class barriers with me was when I found out that headhunters in Borneo were human, and from that I deduced that the English working class were human". (Lord Shackleton, TZ Vice-Chairman at the time, quoted in the London "Daily Mirror" 25.6.81). ‘his is the same Lord Shackleton, son of Antractic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton who will be making his first Antarctic trip this season. But what brings him to New Zealand in the first place? What the papers call “business interests", ie, Comalco's attempts to pressurise the New Zealand government yet again. Tt was Shackleton who came to Christchurch for the opening of the Canterbury Museum's Antarctic Wing, yet was in the country in the first place to take a leading role in Comalco's psychological war with Muldoon over the smelters power price in the mid-70s. Tf you want a copy of the full report, send CAFCINZ $5.00 to cover photocopying and postage. If you want to contact PARTIZANS direct, the address is 218 Liverpool Road, London Ni 1LE, England, phone (01)609-1852, To subscribe to its newsletter Parting Company (6 issues p.a.) costs £3. And if you're in London visiting Buckingham Palace and other famous ruins, contact Roger Moody. He loves Australasians - he reckons he can always tell them a mile away by their bare feet. Here's a clessic from "Time" (21.10.85). "The invasion of Grenada was a walkover gaid Senator Nunn, but only becuuse the defenders were few and poorly armed. Coordination among the services was abyssmal. Nunn cited the case of one Army officer who, unable to reach the Navy because of incom- patible communication systems, had to use his A.?. P. credit card to phone his office in North Carolina to pass along a request for naval bombardment”. So if a nice polite Marine knocks on your door and asks to use your phone, he may be arranging to have your house blown off the map. _VIBTNAM UPDATES Watchdog has previously chronicled our(almost entirely unsuccess- ful)attempts to secure material on N4's involvement in the Vietnam war.Qur dealings with the NZ bureaucracy are long over,but Imperial washington takes its time. In October 85 we received a letter from the US State Department, Which blithely began:"urther to our letter of April 30,1984..." In that we had requested,under the US Freedom of Information Act, the "Guidelines for Policy and Operations-New Zealand". State's latest letter said they'd found something relevant,but that they were refusing release on grounds of defence and foreign polivy. At least they didn't ask us for §U3900,as did the US Information Agency. Here's the punchline. State's letter,written in July 85,told us we had 60 days to appeal this refusal.But they send their letters surface(on nuclea> warships?),and we didn't get it until October, We have appealed,stating that US/NZ relations are of current great interest to the US public, thus meeting USFOIA criteria. (in previous letters, Sate had told us there was no such public interest. That was pre-Lange). Sometime in 1986 we expect a reply. Don't hold your breath.COROMANDEL - Fighting Gold Fever This article by Catherine Delahunty, of Peninsula Watchdog, arrived just too late for our Watchdog 50. So although some of the details may now need updating (particularly the constantly changing interlocking ownership of mining companies) it presents an excellent overview of the Coromandel situation. Pensinula Watchdog can be contacted direct at P 0 Box 74, Coromandel. - Ed. We are five years on in our struggle against multi-national mining companies on the Coromandel Peninsula. Our battle is one of endurance, confusion and growing cynicism. Peninsula Watchdog has challenged some of the most powerful companies in the world and we have checked a tide of innappropriate mining developments by our actions in court, in politics, and face to face with then in the hills. However we face new and more serious challenges this year in the form of two mining licence applications on the verge of fruition. at Waihi and Waiomu (Thames Coast) the miners await the auditting of their Environ- mental Impact Reports, reports that have serious defects. These defects are related to the lack of base line data about water quality and tailings disposal plans that experienced people feel are unsafe in the long term. These two projects have gathered momentum despite the fact that their claims to economic viability have never been properly proven or even analysed. Added to this are a plethora of prospecting licences and applications covering over two thirds of the Peninsula, in Forest Parks, catchment areas and coastal, scenic zones. Watchdog is currently conducting a Peninsula wide survey of local attitudes towards mining and although it is yet to be completed figures Like 98% opposed to such developments are coming in from rural communities such as Colville and Kuaotunu. Hearings before the Planning Tribunal are now attended with a well proven pessimism as the importance of such things as social impact and a respect for Maori sacred sites are given lip service airing before the granting of licences. Nevertheless over five years we have managed to get the consent of landowners to prospecting, separated from an automatic right to mine and we now have a government committed to a review of the Mining Act. Labour's much touted ban on open cast mining over 100,000 tonnes per year, is still a cold comfort. Environmental protection under existing law resembles a lame sheep surrounded by killer dogs. Our chief legal objective at this stage is to get mining under the Town and Country Planning act as are all other land uses already. This may be achieved in the legal review but in the meantime there is an increased offensive fron the mining companies both on the PR and prospecting application fronts. It is interesting to note that these companies are required to pay no royalities to the Crown and have many forms of tax exemption available to them. Despite this and their powerful lobbying resources in Wellington a nunber of large companies are expressing disillusionent and scaling down their New Zealand operations because of the restrictions looming up and the hardening of local opposition. Meanwhile up here on this stormy narrow stretch of rock a siege mentality shadows our lives. We have grown deeply suspicious of brand new Toyota land- cruisers and smiling chaps with new boots and maps. Our opposition in the north of the Peninsula is strongly committed if geographically scattered. We have found that peaceful direct action is a powerful force for slowing down company programmes and communicating the depth of our commitment to our47 land as it stands. In Whitianga in March a mass of green spots appeared in the shops proclaiming that miners were not welcome and the roads to prospecting sites were blocked in action against Gold Mines New Zealand (South African links) and B.P. are very concerned about their public image and currently are finding it abhorrent to enter private land against the will of the landowner. At Colville we have monitored the actions of geologists working for Renison and Consolidated Goldfields (now Mineral Resource territory) and left them in no doubt of the commitment of our community against their presence. such actions require getting up very early in the morning and wasting many unpaid hours but also create strong bonds between the people involved. In other areas where there is a high concentration of elderly people there is the same level of opposition to mining but a greater vulnerability. ‘The whole Peninsula is also vulnerable to violent rainstorms which have included loss of life and homes this year. This does not dampen the ardour of the miners who propose further earthworks and tailings ponds in what is already flood prone, eroded and unstable ranges. Waiomu is a classic example of such a valley. The problems associated with the Waihi open cast proposal include dust, noise and a potential for water pollution but Waihi with a strong mining tradition may wake up too late to the long term implications of modern mining. Long after the company have left town. : Who are these companies? They are a tangled web of associated multi-nationals and New Zealand front companies. Behind names such as Waihi Gold, Spectrun and Gold Mines N.%, we have Mineral Resources (Australia), Amax, Consolidated Goldfield (London/South Africa), B.P., Amoco, Homestake USA, Newmont USA, Anglo America, Circular Quay and lately a mysterious Mr Atkinson whose address is in Perth and he has some prospecting licences close to Coromandel township. Spectrum (who used to be Crusacer) who waat to mine at Waiomu, are a New Zealand company whose directors are all ex-multi-national employees. The links of many of these companies with the South African mining giants make their presence even more abhorrent. Also their track records for environmental common sense do not bear much scrutiny. Tt seems that local people will have to remain watchdogs of the economic, environmental and social welfare of the Peninsula for an indefinite period. Our local council and catchment board are not financed or experienced in the kind of monitoring and forward planning required in response to the multi- nationals already amongst us. We can also have little faith in government generalisations while Mr Tizard is Minister of Mines and the Commission for the Environment makes no clear declaration for real environmental planning and protection before it is too late. ‘The Peninsula must be protected so that the sustainable industries now developing can go ahead. Farming, forestry, fish farming, fishing, crafts and a growing tourist industry cannot flourish hand in hand with tailings, dams and torn up hillsides. Prom up here the imported gold fever of the 1980s reeks of an exploitative short sighted mentality contrary to the long term interests of Aotearoa. The parallel for me is that this is a neo colonist thrust and we are opposing the sate greedy wholesale approach to these hills that our forbears inflicted upon the Maoris, 100 years ago. It is to be hoped that something has been learned, by some of us at least.DON'T WORRY ABOUT THE U.S. NAVY the Aussies We've Got To Watch Out For the Fentagon can argue, quite correctly, $NAr 02 actual harm has happened to New Zealand as a result of U.S. Novy warships nuclear or otherwise, being $n New Zealand ports. Not so with ovr anaac mates, the Australian Navy, however: once again the headline says it al}: east. Navy zaps computer" “Press” sree oles), The HMAS Hobart whilst in Post jn Wellington, illegally turned ee ies radar, which tracks aircraft \P £9 600 Kilometres. It interfered with Stereos, radios, TVs and phones. | Nore Seriously it knocked out the computer srecp rana all Post Office Savings Banks in New Zealand. post office spokesmen said no ship 35 allowed to turn on radar in port, without Post Office permission, but said the RAN Gmldn't be prosecuted. "It's rather eeticklish one politically. The maximus Senalty under Post office regulations as $200". the Post Office man also said: | “mhe radar emits extrenely highpowered pulses — comething in the order of megawatts. Tr people got too close to the radar they'd have their eyeballs turned into poiled eggs". te it's good enough to charge French SP°6% with wilful damage, then why shoulé the Ruesies get avay with buggering oP 9 Souputer, the sacred cow of the "S05? Throw the Book at them. Fine then $200. actually, we think there's EVO possible scenarios, The Bank Offices’ union tet subverted the Australian Navy £° he sceure the POSB goes out in sympathy. or that Mike Moore is testing the Saudi market for boiled eyeballs. (ohis item was inserted by Computer professionals for the Prevention of Radar - © MISCELLANY national Party President Sue Wood recently addressed a Liberal Party function Natsmeralia, She said Australia had @ 1 eevealistic view of Communism becsse at the Zastorn Furopean perspective © ite society and regretted that if didn't vist in New Zealand. Yes, its beet & pity New Taland hasn't Deen 2 haven oe Groat war criminals and Ustashi terrorists, with powerful links 21 politics Of intelligence agencies. How sad erive miseed the bombings and killénge- ane wouldn't it have livened things © Ye our attorney General had been Forced no lead a police raid on our major intelligence agency, because it wae withhold, jetormation on these terrorists? 5 che way Jim Tanalised Timber "Lay's poen acting lately, Sue must have BY int hin back 2 recent Aussie Bit record. Te's called "I'm Tough". Another country dressed its unemployed in uniform, taught them marching and Anothedine. only it ain't call them tho Foreign Legion ~ it called them the Nazi Party.SUTCH MEMORIAL SEMINARS The late Dr W.B. Sutch was an inspiration to the founders of CAFCINZ in 1975. In fact his book "Takeover New Zealand" was a constant resource, until we built up our own. And he was a Watchdog subscriber in the few months between our founding and his death. 1985 seems to be a year of anniversaries - WWII, Vietnam, TVNZ(!), even CAFCINZ had a 10th birthday bash back in February. And a very good bash it was too. To mark the 10th anniversary of Sutch's death, we decided to hold two one day seminars. One, central to his life, was an analysis of Labour's economic policies (Bill Sutch must be turning in his grave at Rogernomics). The other, central to his death, on the SIS. They were held on 28/29 September (the exact 10th anniversary) in the Christchurch Tcade Union Centre. To explain. We were fully aware that a full scale memorial should have been held in Wellington, but his widow wasn't happy at the adverse publicity such occasions could cause (Muldoon's infamous "guilty as sin" remark is one exanple) and the person we invited to organise a fullblown Wellington conference said no. $0 we opted for what we could do in Christchurch, specifically not having a memorial for Sutch the man. "press" feature writer Garry Arthur did an excellent spread on Sutch the day before the first seminar (due to a colour malfunction, that morning! s paper was literally the yellow "Press"). It was an utterly sympathetic coverage of Sutch's life, beliefs, and books (he's definitely not in fashion among the Rogernauts). Even the photo caption spoke volumes - "Dr Sutch: Opposed foreign control in New Zealand". This excellent article suddenly attracted a lot of media interest, even fron the "Press" newsroom, which had steadfastly ignored it up until then, Radio NZ was particularly good, sending a reporter to thoroughly cover several sessions of both seminars. Unfortunately it also attracted unwanted attention - the economics seminar was gatecrashed by a writer who demanded to address us on his personal relationship with Sutch. Not only that, but bringing along his 79 year old Mum to add her bit too. Having very reluctantly allotted him some time, neither he nor Mum were evep seen. La vie boheme! The only other incident was the sudden collapse of ne participant with a vertisinous nausea attack, leading to him being taken to hospital in an ambulance. Somebody unkindly suggested ‘that it was the only way to stop Wolfgang Rosenberg speaking. The three keynote speakers for the economics seminar were Rob Steven (polotical scientist), Wolf Rosenberg (economist and lawyer), and Rosemary Novitz (sociolog Those who think that a Campaign Against Foreign Control is somehow against foreigners will be heartened to know that they are two South Africans and a German. Rob presented a lively paper stating that the land is the only thing of constant value in any real "human" view of economic history, and that women and Maoris had been omitted from the traditional Left view of economics. Wolfgang stated that the Golden Age of N.Z. economics was from 1936-67 (when N.Z. joined the International Monetary Fund), and that full employment was a good in itself. Rosemary, along with Del Small, outlined the Women in Economics Group's plan for a guaranteed living wage for everyone, wage worker or not.20 COPIES OF KEYNOTE PAPERS CAN BE OUGHT FROM CAFCINZ FOR $5.00. The most succinct summary of our view of Labour's economic policies is in the white leaflet enclosed with this Watchdog. The SIS seminar had a different emphasis. It involved out of towners, and it was expected to produce something concrete. Contrary to expectations, more people attended the economics seminar than the STS one. We had invited all of the "radicals and subversives" from Muldoon's famous "€1 Tour list, plus others personally affected by SIS action, e.g. Rob Campbell, Trevor Richards, etc, etc. Not surprisingly most didn't even reply when we explained that they would have to come at their own expense. But 3 did come from Wellington. Richard Suggate gave a very detailed account of his fruidess attempt to secure his SIS file. Owen Wilkes talked about his mail being tampered with by Customs on behalf of the SIS (plus a hilarious off the record yarn). Don Carson detailed his court action against the Crown as a result of appearing in that '81 list. He appealed to the Commissioner of Security Appeals and won, then sued the Crown and gained an out of court settlement (plus a substantial chunk of his SIS file). It provides a fascinating insight into the minds of our very own spies. The keynote speaker was also a Wellingtonian, Hugh Price, of the N.zZ. Council for Civil Liberties. He provided a gyphic 40 year history of the SIS, under its various previous names, and proved one thing. Consistency. They've been consistently paranoid and stupid throughout. and vindictive, viz their hounding Sutch into the grave. Concrete results did emerge from the ensuing lengthy discussion. A SPECIALIST MAGAZINE ON N.Z. INTELLIGENCE MATTERS WILL NOW BE ESTABLISHED IN WELLINGTON. WRITE T0 PO BOX 1666, WELLINGTON, FOR ALL DETAILS, IT NEEDS MONEY AND SUBSCRIBERS TO GET IT GOING. IT HAS OUR FULLEST SUPPORT. The favourable publicity didn't finish with the seminars, The "Press" ran another excellent feature, under the startling heading "Is the SIS subversive?" quoting extensively fron Professor Bill Willmott, of the Canterbury Council for Civil Liberties (which co-sponsored the seminar), Because our resulting press statement gave the impression we were about to publish lists of SIS agents, the "Sunday News" rang to sep if we were prepared to go to prison and if so, could they have the scoop! tt ran a quirky little story, quoting former "Cock" editor, Chris Wheeler, as saying that the SIS is regarded as a joke overseas. Wheeler, who improbably described himself as "a motor mover repair man" (well, who'd want to admit to being a journalist?) fully supported CAFCIN2' call for a commission of inguiry into the SIS. We find ourselves in company with the National Party, which wants to investigate the SIS part in the Rainbow Warrior bombing. We also want the current Government review into external intelligence extended to include the SIS. All in all the seminars were very successful. ‘They honoured sutch; they discussed economics, that most mystificated of subjects; and they shone the spotlight on a nasty stain on the carpet. We urge all Watchdog subscribers to subscribe to this new magazine.