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Key's payback to Hager?

Although John Key romped home in last month's general election, despite the revelations of dirty politics disclosed in Nicky Hager's book of the same name, it would appear that the government is still not best-pleased.

One would have to be incredibly naive to believe that last week's raid on Hager's home was solely motivated by altruistic imperatives on the part of the National government.

According to reports, police executed a search warrant on the house while Hager himself was giving some lectures in Auckland and as a function of that raid, they seized a number of documents and a good swag of electronic devices, including phones and computers.

The justification for the warrant and subsequent raid was allegedly the need to try and identify the hacker known as Rawshark, apparent a new priority for police, in the wake of the election.

This raid poses a whole lot of very serious questions that the public of NZ ought to be asking.

Should Hager, as a journalist, have a right to protect his sources (Rawshark)?

Why has the identification and prosecution of "Rawshark" suddenly become such a priority?

Why were those who unlawfully accessed Labour's computer systems not tracked down and prosecuted -- if hacking is such a heinous crime?

Could this move on the part of police actually be a form of intimidation and "payback", driven by a government which is clearly miffed at having had its dirty laundry aired in public by Hager?

Why is it that the likes of the GCSB, SIS and police are legally allowed to hack the computers of NZers when it's "in the public interest" yet, when a member of the public does the same ("in the public interest"), so much police resource is thrown at catching them?

Why is it that the GCSB were allowed to *illegally* spy on NZers and NZ police were allowed to illegally hold Kim Dotcom and a good bunch of people in the Ureweras at gunpoint for hours -- yet we haven't seen anyone held to account over this in the way that the government now seeks to hold Rawshark to account for his deeds?

One could say that hacking is a crime and must therefore be punished -- but in a case such as the publication of the facts uncovered by Rawshark one must weigh the effects of the crime when deciding on the importance of bringing its perpetrator to justice.

From where I stand, crimes of violence (such as holding NZers at gunpoint or taking millions of dollars their possessions by force) are far more worthy of prosecution than simply exposing the dirty-dealings of a vengeful government and one of its ministers.

However, those who pay the piper call the tune -- and the NZ Police is clearly under the iron fist of the NZ government. Now that government is miffed that they were exposed as underhanded dirty-dealers so they're out for revenge.

If you're an Aucklander who's been burgled and lost irreplaceable items of sentimental value -- tough cheese!

If you're a local retailer with video footage of the people who've stolen your stuff -- forget it!

It's far more important that police now raid the messenger's house and find the evil bastard who discovered the real truth about those who claim they have the ethical and moral fibre to lead this nation.

Another day in NZ -- situation normal I'm afraid.

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