The Wellington Cables

11:27 Dec 12, 2010 406

Nicky Hager, in London, has helped the Sunday Star Times obtain some of the 1500 Cablegate documents that refer specifically to New Zealand. Their contents are largely unsurprising -- but shouldn't we have known that our collaboration with US intelligence agencies was "fully restored" in August 2009? Why did both governments consciously keep the news quiet?

The eight cables released today are here in a single PDF, or separated into single documents here.

Bear in mind: Simon Lyall has already noted that:

08WELLINGTON356 explicitly names the “Deputy Director of New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS)” which is illegal as explained by the Ministry of Justice site.

Feel free to discuss ...

406 responses to this post

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3410, 11:33 Dec 12, 2010

Why did both governments consciously keep the news quiet?
Umm... Didn't want China to know?

Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report
Paul Williams, 13:17 Dec 12, 2010

There may be reasons, I can't think what they are or how they'll be reasonable or justifiable? A delay to permit a big announcement, sure, but withholding the information this long and from Parliament? Absent a great explanation, you have to wonder what intelligence was shared before there was proper oversight?

Sydney • Since Nov 2006 • 2273 posts Report
Sacha, in reply to Paul Williams, 14:09 Dec 12, 2010

But Paul, proper oversight means just the boys club in charge. Daddy knows best, after all.

Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report
nzlemming, 15:11 Dec 12, 2010

There’s a couple of things in the Clinton visit cable that are interesting:
Our intelligence relationship was fully restored on August 29, 2009 (which should not be acknowledged in public)
According to those doing the work, it never went away – they just stopped talking about it.
After substantial restructuring and sale of government-owned enterprises in the 1990s, New Zealand is now one of the most open economies in the world and is ranked 5th in the world on the Heritage Foundation’s economic freedom index
I don’t know anything about the Heritage Foundation except that it’s a conservative think tank, but I find it interesting that, even under a Democratic president, the USG is looking to neo-conservative economic theory.
A Science and Technology cooperation agreement between the US Department of Homeland Security and New Zealand, relating to enhancement of each country’s domestic and external security capabilities, is slated to soon be signed.
I may not have been watching but this was a complete surprise to me. Anyone know about this?
The SAS is slated to return to support internal security requirements during New Zealand’s hosting of the World Rugby Cup in 2011, and future rotations to Afghanistan are undecided at this time.
Worth noting.

Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report
3410, 15:22 Dec 12, 2010

The eight cables released today are here in a single PDF,
Bad link. PDF is here.

Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report
Simon Grigg, 17:25 Dec 12, 2010

We share the US assessment there is no requirement for the advice of the outcome of the US review to enter the public domain.
so said Simon Murdoch.
Yep - it's not as if the relationship between the US and NZ has been a very controversial cornerstone of NZ's foreign stance since, ohhh, 1984. This guy needs to be tossed out to the wolves.
Is it just me that sees a fatal conflict between our claims to openness and the way this government does business in our wee democracy?
Gone by lunchtime indeed.

Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report
Kumara Republic, 18:02 Dec 12, 2010

And if anything needs a WikiLeak right now, it's the BRT and the RTF.

The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report
Russell Brown, in reply to 3410, 18:25 Dec 12, 2010

Bad link. PDF is here.
Gah. Sorry.

Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report
Russell Brown, in reply to nzlemming, 18:31 Dec 12, 2010

I don’t know anything about the Heritage Foundation except that it’s a conservative think tank, but I find it interesting that, even under a Democratic president, the USG is looking to neo-conservative economic theory.
To be fair, it's probably something NZ officials have briefed to him. Our long run near the top of the Economic Freedom Index bolsters our stance as an already-open economy in discussion of economic and trade relations.
Also, there aren't that many league tales we can brag about.

Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report
John Farrell, 18:37 Dec 12, 2010

We rank way ahead of the USA in education.
http://www.geographic.org/country_ranks/educational_score_performance_country_ranks_2009_oecd.html

Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 499 posts Report
Russell Brown, 18:38 Dec 12, 2010

Scoop is rockin' the Wellington cables, nicely formatted.

Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report
Sacha, in reply to John Farrell, 18:38 Dec 12, 2010

We rank way ahead of the USA in education.
Don't worry, Tolley will fix that..

Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report
John Farrell, 18:41 Dec 12, 2010

I wonder if there are cables about that......rather than improve your own ranking, depress others'.

Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 499 posts Report
3410, 20:17 Dec 12, 2010

Scoop is rockin' the Wellington cables
Did either ONe News or 3 News cover this at all ?

Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report
Kumara Republic, 20:32 Dec 12, 2010

Does Orwell's "ownlife" come to mind?
The best definition of privacy I've heard is the "right to be left alone", but this is a form of freedom the state – in all its faceless and mechanistic anonymity – seems unable to tolerate. As with the SIS amendments, the Search and Surveillance Bill is a manifestation of this sleepless need of the bureaucracy to be constantly expanding its monitoring and control of the unruly populace. Glib reassurance that you've nothing to fear if you've done nothing wrong might comfort the terminally infantilised, but the rest of us are right to be wary of plans to make it easier for the cops to install covert cameras in people's houses, or tracking devices on their cars. Especially when the agencies so keen to win these powers seem so resistant to scrutiny and transparency themselves.

The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report
Kumara Republic, 21:05 Dec 12, 2010

And while we're at it, the intentions of this latest scheme are noble, but if it's abused, it'll be a dis-spiritual successor to the Department of Mental Defectives.

The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report
Danyl Mclauchlan, 21:34 Dec 12, 2010

Did either ONe News or 3 News cover this at all ?
Not surprising if they didn't. It's a political story and the house was under urgency until midnight Friday and 9 PM Saturday, and it was a beautiful day in Wellington. Today was a day on which our entire political class switched their cell-phones to divert.

Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 927 posts Report
chris, 22:00 Dec 12, 2010

When the U.S. Administration decided in March of 2009 to seek a seat on the UN Human Rights Council, NewZealand, which was also on the ballot, withdrew its name so the United States could run uncontested
When on January 12 Duty Minister Jim Anderton issued a blistering critique of the President's plan to send more troops to Iraq, Clark quickly disavowed the comments and removed Anderton from duty within the day.
If there was any residual doubt. The content of these cables confirm that New Zealand is little more than a US lackey. Wellywood no longer seems inappropriate, slap it on top of the Beehive.
The metamphetamine problem in the region can be traced to China,
not Millie Elder...

Mawkland • Since Jan 2010 • 1302 posts Report
Ross Mason, 22:42 Dec 12, 2010

Why did both governments consciously keep the news quiet?
1. Helen would have had to admit it and that would not be a good Labour look before the election. Far better to just let things ramble along as if we were real mates but not look like we were assisting. 2. People carving up balloons in Spy Valley. Especially with the Govt throwing the naughty boys the compensation bill. It too makes a good look to the yanks. And for local consumption we couldn't have it coming out in the middle of the court case could we.
What it does show is that the Govt(s) cannot trust it's citizenry. And that is sad and bad.
Thanks Nicky. You done good. Keep it up.

Upper Hutt • Since Jun 2007 • 1590 posts Report
3410, 22:56 Dec 12, 2010

What it does show is that the Govt(s) cannot trust it's citizenry.
It does make you wonder who they think they're working for.

Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report
Ross Mason, 23:36 Dec 12, 2010

From a leak:
When the U.S. Administration decided in March of
2009 to seek a seat on the UN Human Rights Council, New
Zealand, which was also on the ballot, withdrew its name so
the United States could run uncontested.
How timely...just af ew months later it was August 29th 2009.
And
located just six miles from McMurdo Station in the Ross
Sea region)
The US mile seems to be only about 1/3 of a NZ Mile.....Hmmm...
Admiral Keating visited in
September 2009,
Timely visit that one.
The SAS is slated
to return to support internal security requirements during
New Zealand's hosting of the World Rugby Cup in 2011
I ain't going anywhere near a stadium now. Eh? What ARE they expecting??
Her (Helen's) desire to improve relations with the
Administration may be due in part to the influence of
Foreign Minister Winston Peters,
Holy shit. Which way was the influence?
For example, NZSIS had for
months resisted housing equipment needed to implement a
possible HSPD-6 agreement with the United States. Soon
after his arrival, Tucker ordered NZSIS to be the host,
paving the way for negotiations.
So this is the bit that looking for the potentials in NZ huh? Thanks!
New National leader John Key is charming and
confident, but has been in Parliament for only five years
and his practical agenda remains fuzzy.
Got something right!
The ""Matrix"" process has also been helpful in
enabling both sides to stay joined up in response to other
events, such as ensuring that the recent fire on board a
Japanese whaling vessel in Antarctic waters would not lead
to an environmental disaster.
How do you do that in the deep southern OCean from the USA??? Satellites of course. They are quite good at reading number plates these days. So an oil slick is eezy peezy.
Clark will likely announce during her visit that
New Zealand will extend its deployments to Afghanistan
through September 2009, the longest extension since the
Afghan war began.
There's that date again.
GNZ officials praised USG efforts to improve
intelligence sharing, particularly with respect to imagery.
I hope you all smiled. :-)
Ha!
A/S Fort's message focused on the
increasing sophistication of commercial search engines and
the growing number of open source analyses available to
policymakers. In the future, the intelligence community must
find ways to differentiate their products and provide value
added to policy makers, argued A/S Fort.
Great name for a spy eh what?
And it looks like they are worried about their keeping an analysis role because Googel and Yahoo are pretty good at allowing policy anaylysts to find information.
The metamphetamine problem
in the region can be traced to China,
Nothing like an FTA to "Free" things up.
....Israel is likely to strike
if the government of Israel believes Iran has met their red
lines; an Israeli strike against Iran would be more complex
than those launched against Iraq and Syria.
Ouch!
Clark is no shrinking violet. Even before
hard-edged, grizzled union men put her through the fire in
her early days in the Labour Party, she was a forthright and
resolute student activist. Clark was at the forefront of a
group of iron-willed feminist MPs who stormed the Labour
party in the early eighties despite their male counterpart's
skepticism. Many of these MPs remain in politics and sit at
the right hand of Clark.
So there!!!!
and
Simpson, often referred to
as the second most powerful person is New Zealand, would
walk across hot coals for Clark and is so close to her that
she can often speak on the behalf of Clark, privately of
course).
Two heads are better than one???
There are some great descriptions of BRash in there
Downer and his Senior
Adviser Haynes mentioned that IAEA DG ElBaradei had
said Pyongyang could have as many as six, based on the
number of fuel rods the North Koreans possessed. LaPorte
thought the DPRK had the capacity to make more than two
or three warheads, given the amount of plutonium
""harvested"" before the 1994 agreement and based on the
DPRK's own claim of having reprocessed the 8,000 spent
fuel rods after the agreement had ended.
And one at least has gone bang
In closing, Downer
remarked, ""let the whole place go to s--t, that's the best
thing that could happen."" Speaking off the top of his head,
he added that aid should not be given that would prop up
the infrastructure. If U.S. officials wanted to hear the
""bleeding hearts"" view of ""peace and love"" with respect
to North Korea, Downer joked, they only had to visit his
colleagues in New Zealand.
Maaaate!
XXXXXXX likened his
Department to the National Security Council in terms of
breadth of coverage and responsibilities. He noted that
EAB's operations are highly compartmentalized and EAB
reports are tightly held within Cabinet, with few Ministers
seeing them.
Awww gee. Love the trust. Isn't absolutely fascinating that bureaucrats can see this shit and our elected govt can't.
Often there are significant differences with
Australia, he added, as New Zealand is a more Pacific
country than Australia and the latter is not always attuned to
Pacific developments.
Analysis: we are watching the Islands.

Upper Hutt • Since Jun 2007 • 1590 posts Report
Ross Mason, 23:40 Dec 12, 2010

Damn. There is a problem with the Preview that comes up with an ERROR! box and I can;t see what I have writ. So there are a few bits out of order from the PDF.

Upper Hutt • Since Jun 2007 • 1590 posts Report
Russell Brown, in reply to Ross Mason, 23:45 Dec 12, 2010

Some of this stuff just rubbish, frankly. Why did they get all the good writers and humanitarians in the dangerous places?
The meeting of the association of security professionals or whatever certainly isn't the Dagestan wedding, is it?
I feel cheated.

Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report
chris, 23:53 Dec 12, 2010

If U.S. officials wanted to hear the “"bleeding hearts"” view of “"peace and love"” with respect to North Korea, Downer joked, they only had to visit his colleagues in New Zealand.
That puts a smile on my face. Frankly I'm quite impressed with some of the writing in these cables.

Mawkland • Since Jan 2010 • 1302 posts Report
Craig Ranapia, 23:58 Dec 12, 2010

Some of this stuff just rubbish, frankly. Why did they get all the good writers and humanitarians in the dangerous places?
Sorry to prick some egoes, maybe in Foggy Bottom Wellington isn’t exactly considered the most effective allocation of the A-list talent? :)

North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report