One immediate result of David Small’s court victory was a broad based call for a Parliamentary Se-lect Committee Inquiry into political spying by the Police’s Criminal Intelligence Service (CIS). The appeal was headed by Auckland University’s Professor Jane Kelsey, a prominent writer, and joined by a raft of groups and individuals – both trade union groupings, churches, academics, students, etc., etc. (Murray Horton endorsed it, on behalf of both CAFCA and the Anti-Bases Campaign). The ap-peal noted that the Small case revealed that the CIS equates legitimate extra-parliamentary political opposition with criminal activity; and that the CIS operates as a quasi-intelligence agency without even the minimal official oversight afforded the SIS or GCSB.

The appeal was directed to Tim Barnett MP (Labour, Christchurch Central) in his capacity as chair of the Justice and Electoral Select Committee. That committee is already inquiring into Police actions against Free Tibet protests during the 1999 State visit of Chinese President, Jiang Zemin and the role of the Government, specifically the then Prime Minister, Jenny Shipley, in directing those Police actions.

Foreign Control Watchdog, P O Box 2258, Christchurch, New Zealand/Aotearoa. December 1999.