Tag: new zealand

New Zealand Keeps Doxxing Registered Gun Owners

A data breach in New Zealand exposed the personal information of some of the country’s gun owners, and not for the first time. It’s another indication of how even well-intended government policies can become civil liberties nightmares.

After the 2019 mass shooting at a Christchurch mosque, the country enacted a series of reforms intended to prevent such tragedies in the future. Along with a ban on most semi-automatic firearms and a gun buyback that netted more than 50,000 weapons, one provision empowered New Zealand’s Firearms Safety Authority to “effectively regulate the legitimate possession and use of firearms.” In other words: a national “firearms registry” that will “link firearms to licence holders, so there is a clear picture of the legally held firearms in New Zealand and improved ability to trace firearms,” according to Executive Director Angela Brazier.

Last week, a joint email went out from the Firearms Safety Authority and the Auckland Central Police District to 147 registered gun owners, advising them that their addresses might need to be updated. Unfortunately, the emails were all listed in the CC field instead of the BCC field, which would be hidden. As a result, each recipient of the email not only saw every single other recipient’s email address but, in many cases, first and last names as well.

As The New Zealand Herald noted, “The visible addresses included various prominent Auckland residents, including lawyers, company directors, police officers and government officials.”

This is not the only, or even the most severe, breach of New Zealand gun owners’ data in recent memory. During the 2019 gun buyback, the government set up a website for gun owners to register their weapons for relinquishment. Police later admitted that visitors to the site could easily access other registrants’ personal information, including names, addresses, dates of birth, and bank account information. And in 2022, thieves stole as many as 400 gun owners’ records from an abandoned police precinct after police officials neglected to destroy the files before moving operations to a new building.

In the U.S., national gun owner registries are prohibited by federal law, though they do exist in some form in certain states, and some progressive lawmakers and advocates support wider adoption. Giffords, the gun control advocacy organization named for former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D–Ariz.) who was shot and nearly killed while in office, says registries are “a useful method of curbing illegal gun activity and encouraging responsible gun practices.” Sen. Cory Booker (D–N.J.) proposed a national licensing system for gun owners in 2019 as part of his presidential campaign platform.

Gun owners would have reason to fear that a registry today could be used to confiscate guns tomorrow. Not to mention, a plan like Booker’s would require the federal government to keep accurate and copious records so as not to accidentally arrest the wrong person—not exactly its strong suit. There’s also the issue of noncompliance: In New Zealand, it’s estimated that somewhere between one-third and one-half of all newly forbidden weapons were actually turned in. In neighboring Australia, often touted as an example of gun control done well, only about one-fifth of banned weapons are estimated to have been turned in.

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‘Disgusted’ New Zealand Surgeons Now Required To Consider Ethnicity Of Patients

Surgeons in Auckland, New Zealand are ‘disgusted’ over a new policy rolled out in February which requires them to address “historical disparities in healthcare access” for Māori and Pacific Island communities, which will be factored into a new ranking system that determines priority for surgical procedures.

According to leaked documents obtained by the NZ Herald, the new initative, implemented by Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand, uses an “Equity Adjustor Score” algorithm to assign priority based on clinical urgency, waitlist duration, geographic location, ethnicity and level of deprivation.

Patients of Māori and Pasifika backgrounds receive higher rankings, while European New Zealanders and other ethnicities are downranked.

Several surgeons spoke with the Herald, one of whom said he was “disgusted” by the new system.

“It’s ethically challenging to treat anyone based on race, it’s their medical condition that must establish the urgency of the treatment,” said the surgeon, adding “There’s no place for elitism in medicine and the medical fraternity in this country is disturbed by these developments.”

A document on the equity adjustor which was leaked to Newstalk ZB shows two Māori patients, both aged 62 and who have been waiting more than a year, ranked above others on the list. A 36-year-old Middle Eastern patient who has been waiting almost two years has a much lower priority ranking.

An email by Te Whatu Ora business support manager Daniel Hayes in April said: “Hi team, Heads up. This is going to be the new criteria for outsourcing your patients going forward. Just putting this on your radar now so that you can begin to line up patients accordingly. Over 200 days for Māori and Pacific patients. Over 250 days for all other patients.” -NZ Herald

Health Minister Ayesha Verrall defended the move, pointing to a Government-commissioned, independent review of the health system conducted in 2018, which found that the system produced unequal outcomes, particularly for populations deemed vulnerable.

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Jacinda Ardern to Become New Zealand’s De Facto Censorship Tsar

These days, it’s hard to find any globalist who will let go of power gracefully, let alone retire from the stage of politics.

This seems to be the case with New Zealand’s increasingly unpopular radical Marxist former Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, who also just happens to also be a World Economic Forum young leader, and mentored by none other than Tony Blair. Undoubtedly, a brilliant resumé for any aspiring technocrat.

Not content with destroying her country’s economy and society over the last three years with her fanatical “zero Covid” lockdown and brutal vaccine mandates, Ardern is now being positioned by the Establishment to become the country’s de facto censorship Tsar…

Bloomberg News reports:

Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will lead the nation’s push for greater safeguards against terrorist and violent content online.

Ardern has been appointed Special Envoy for the ‘Christchurch Call’, a global initiative she set up in the wake of a terrorist attack in the South Island city in 2019, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said Tuesday in Wellington. She will report directly to Hipkins and has declined to receive any remuneration for the role, which will commence on April 17, he said.

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Jacinda Ardern is tipped for top internet censorship role

Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern may have recently stepped down from that office, but her “internet censorship” days don’t seem to be over at all – in fact, she is likely to “move” her experience relevant to this activity to an international role.

Having most recently made a name for herself outside her own country as one of the most ardent supporters of extremely strict Covid restrictions, Ardern was previously known as the co-sponsor of the so-called Christchurch initiative (along with another politician of a similar and particular ideological background, Emmanuel Macron.)

The initiative (“Christchurch Call“), which critics say is too heavy-handed in censoring social media, with the Christchurch shooting of 2019 taken as its justification, should now apparently be implemented worldwide, and with Macron still serving as France‘s president – who better than Ardern to do it.

The former New Zealand PM has the support for this from the new head of New Zealand’s government, Chris Hipkins. The Christchurch initiative managed to get some 120 countries and Big Tech to agree on how to best deal with, and get rid of what is perceived as online misinformation, disinformation, and extremism.

According to Hipkins, “the Call” is one of New Zealand’s international priorities, and he sees it as a success so far – but one that should be “seen through.”

“There’s potential for Jacinda Ardern to continue to be involved in that work, and in due course we’ll explore what that might look like,” Hipkins shared. The opposition is on board too, it seems – the National Party leader said they would back Ardern “in whatever she chose to do on the world stage.”

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To gain total medical control the New Zealand Government is waging war against the use of Natural Health Products

Just before Christmas our Government introduced the Therapeutic Products Bill for its first reading. Public consultation is being rushed through the summer holidays here in the southern hemisphere and closes on 15 February. The Bill contains 423 pages of dense provisions with countless cross references. I am not sure whether any Members of Parliament actually read it before voting for its acceptance or whether the public could stand to do so. You can view my video summary of its draconian provisions below.

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Is New Zealand A Beta Test For Western Governments Micromanaging The Populace?

In the wake of the covid pandemic lockdowns and mandates, many western nations and states in the US witnessed a new eye opening level of government intrusion into the daily lives of citizens.  Some, however, dealt with worse scenarios than others. 

New Zealand in particular has popped up time and time again over the past couple of years with some of the most draconian restrictions on the public, and sadly the trend has not stopped just because the pandemic lockdowns stopped.  The island nation seems to be intent on setting the standard for authoritarian policies and government micromanagement, and a series of recent laws are driving home the reality that they do not intend to relent.  

Flashback: In 2018, New Zealand banned all offshore oil drilling exploration in the name of instituting a “carbon neutral future”, meaning tight energy restrictions are forthcoming in NZ as the decade progresses.  

In 2019, NZ banned all semi-automatic weapons after the Christchurch mosque shootings, punishing millions of law abiding citizens for the crimes of one man.  Video evidence of the Christchurch shootings is suspiciously illegal in NZ, and anyone caught viewing or downloading the event can be prosecuted.  The gun bans were enforced just in time for the pandemic lockdowns.     

In 2020, the government introduced internet censorship legislation which would give them the power to selectively filter “dangerous content.”  Most of the provisions were ultimately scrapped after a public backlash, but future censorship remains a priority for the government. 

In 2021, New Zealand Prime Minister and associate of the World Economic Forum, Jacinda Ardern, openly admitted to constructing a two tier society in which the vaccinated enjoy normal access to the economy, travel and social interaction while the unvaccinated would be deliberately choked with restrictions until they “chose” to comply and accept the mRNA jab.

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New Zealand Imposes World’s First Ban on Smoking for Next Generation

New Zealand on Tuesday passed into law a unique plan to phase out tobacco smoking by imposing a lifetime ban on young people buying cigarettes.

The law states that tobacco can’t ever be sold to anybody born on or after Jan. 1, 2009.

It means the minimum age for buying cigarettes will keep going up and up. In theory, somebody trying to buy a pack of cigarettes 50 years from now would need ID to show they were at least 63 years old.

But health authorities hope smoking will fade away well before then. They have a stated goal of making New Zealand smoke-free by 2025.

The new law also reduces the number of retailers allowed to sell tobacco from about 6,000 to 600 and decreases the amount of nicotine allowed in tobacco that is smoked.

“There is no good reason to allow a product to be sold that kills half the people that use it,” Associate Minister of Health Dr. Ayesha Verrall told lawmakers in Parliament. “And I can tell you that we will end this in the future, as we pass this legislation.”

She said the health system would save billions of dollars from not needing to treat illnesses caused by smoking, such as cancer, heart attacks, strokes, and amputations. She said the bill would create generational change and leave a legacy of better health for youth.

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New Zealand admits it has direct access to Facebook takedown portal where it can flag content for censorship

New Zealand’s government has officially admitted that it has partner access to Facebook’s controversial content takedown portal.

This portal is designed specifically for government agencies to flag content to Facebook for censorship. According to The Intercept, which reported on the portal in October, government partners can also use the portal to “report disinformation directly” to Facebook.

And in a recent response to a New Zealand Official Information Act (OIA) request, which asked whether the government has partner access to Facebook’s takedown portal, the New Zealand government confirmed that the Department of Internal Affairs has access. While this was the only government department that was confirmed to have access to the portal, the OIA response also said “we cannot advise if any other government agency has access to the takedown portal.”

We obtained a copy of the OIA response for you here.

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New Zealand spy agency uses ‘computer network exploitation’ to take digital information

One of the country’s two spy agencies has revealed it retrieves information directly from where it is stored or processed on computers.

The “computer network exploitation” operations have been a highly-classified secret at the GCSB until now.

US commentators refer to computer network exploitation as a form of cyber warfare, or the “theft of data”.

“Our legislation … allows us to access information infrastructures, which is more than just interception,” the Director-General of the Government Communications Security Bureau, Andrew Hampton, said.

It “also allows us to retrieve digital information directly from where it is stored or processed”.

The GCSB refers to this as “accessing information infrastructures”.

The spy watchdog, the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, Brendan Horsley, cited Hampton’s speech to the Institute of International Affairs in May, for making the revelation.

This had freed Horsley up to be able to assure the public that the exploitation operations were scrutinised, he said in his annual report released on Friday.

Previously, he had had to refer to “certain operations”.

“Although it was subject to oversight, it was not possible to provide any clear public assurance of this.”

In fact, he had conducted a review that found the compliance systems around CNE “to be generally effective and appropriate”.

However, he was still not allowed to go into details “on the bureau’s use of this important capability”.

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95 Percent of Corpses Had Received COVID Vaccination Within 2 Weeks of Death: Funeral Director

A funeral director from New Zealand says that 95 percent of the corpses he has been seeing had received a COVID-19 vaccine within two weeks of their passing away.

“Ninety-five percent of the people who have passed away through the work that I’ve done have been vaccinated within two weeks,” Brenton Faithfull said.

Faithfull has been working as a funeral director for the last 41 years and has been running his own mortuary business for the last 26 years. He recently spoke out about the apparent relationship between the COVID-19 vaccines and the deaths he has been observing.

“It’s very obvious, they die within two weeks of receiving the vaccination, a lot of them … almost appear to have died from anaphylaxis, almost a reaction straight away to the booster.”

Anaphylaxis is an acute reaction of the body to an antigen, such as that of a bee sting, or an injection.

“They die the same day, the following day after receiving the COVID-19 vaccination. This isn’t a one-off case, this is the majority of cases that have come through our facility,” Faithfull said in an interview.

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