Spies spreading like cancer

We thought things were bad enough with two government spy agencies sniffing people's underwear while resolutely looking the other way on Nazis. But apparently MBIE has created a new one practically overnight:

Newly released Official Information Act documents show the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment's (MBIE) intelligence wing, MI, has expanded in the past 12 months beyond immigration to cover the entire sprawling ministry, taking charge of intelligence and operations if there is a national security threat.

Its budget has doubled in one year to $11 million - almost quadruple what it was in 2017 - and its staff has grown to 115.

Its focus is on "national security and intelligence" through a "National Security Intelligence Team", even though the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (SIS), Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) and National Assessment Bureau already do this. Unlike MI, those spy agencies all have outside scrutiny from an independent watchdog; MI has none, only an internal monitoring group.

Immigration has had its own intelligence shop for a while, focusing on "people traffickers" (refugees) and pushing Australian paranoia about "mass arrivals" (which haven't happened in Aotearoa since 1840). But expanding it to cover other business units is new. MBIE is huge, and covers things like workplace relations, research, science and technology, outer space, energy, crown minerals, commerce, and broadcasting. And while you might be able to see a case for immigration to have spies, the rest looks downright dangerous. As a reminder, NZPAM - part of MBIE - was caught in 2018 using private spies Thompson & Clark to spy on the climate change movement, resulting in a government inquiry and a formal ban on such outsourcing. It seems that they've responded to that ban by taking that spying in-house. Meanwhile, their actual enforcement duties - like stopping the exploitation of migrants - seem to have been grossly neglected. Because apparently there's more prestige in empire-building and hob-nobbing with intelligence agencies and "overseas partners" than in doing your fucking job.

This agency needs to be shut down immediately, and its Minister and chief executive hauled over the coals by parliament and forced to explain what the fuck they were thinking. We have too many spies in Aotearoa already. We do not need more.