So whats the big Secret?

Kia Ora,

There has been a bit made about the revealation from Wikileaks that New Zealand used the Waihopai 'spy' base to listen in on Fiji.

So have I missed something here?

What is the big secret?

I was always of the understanding the base was built in the main to provide secure communications for our people overseas with the side benefit of gaining information so we could say we were doing our part.

Sometimes that information could be useful like I would expect the intercepted communication where some of those arrested in the 'terrorist' raids in the North Island discussed an option if George Bush decided to hop across the ditch(Tasman Sea) to visit New Zealand.

That information was more likely to have come from the base than any police operation & would of been responsible for low blast walls appearing at the US base here in Christchurch on the tarmac where the planes parked up.

So why do I think it was more communications initially than anything else?

Well due to our anti Nuclear stance we weren't much part of anything else at least officially for one.

But the other reason was due to anecdotal evidence that came to light in the military towards the end of 1987.
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What came to light was that allegedly two New Zealand Military officers on attachment in Fiji due to our close relationship at the time suddenly realized that a coup was almost certainly going to happen.

They thought it was their duty to report it even if people would not likely believe them. The story then goes they were stopped from doing so, not by Fiji who had no idea, but by another NZ Government department.

It gets better. When they caught a flight out to a neighbouring island group they were stopped at airport because again this other government department told this other Island group they were coming to interfere with their local government. I believe the story went from memory.
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The information, so the story goes, was only passed to New Zealand as a NZ warship came into Suva harbour as part of a good will visit & these two were able to get on board as it docked.

Apparently just a few minutes in front of a platoon of Fijian soldiers.

Only thing was they got the message out as the coup was happening.

I didn't think much of the story until a few years ago when as part of a local community group we asked the local MP why the government was so inefficient since spending properly in one area could save a lot in another.

The answer! Oh they are little empires all the departments & they are very jealous of their budget & areas they have influence over. Trying to get them to work together is almost impossible. Or words to that effect.
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So petty internal politics was supposedly responsible for the country not getting some sort of warning of problems in a close neighbour!

Although the budget one I can understand as the way governments work is if a department doesn't spend all its cash in the financial year its budget is cut the following year to what it did use.

It has resulted in very inefficient departments who have forgot that they are a public service.
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But has Wikileaks let a big secret out of the bag?

I don't think so. Just added to the revealations that governments hide things, are not up front & truthful with each other let alone their own people.

In fact it is something I noticed working in Iraq that most in the US military are no different than any other military once you got past the rah rah USA stuff.

Good honest people who wanted to make a difference. Then the disillusionment set in when they seen all the corruption going on in their name & they were providing the protection/loosing lives over it!
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Some even started to realize why the likes of the British & New Zealanders took the piss out of their politicians etc.

Wikileaks hasn't revealed many real secrets just the information that was already there if people were not following the unimportant things put there to divert our attention.

http://www.foxhoundsecurity.co.nz