Please Allow Me To Introduce Myself: What would a true master of the dark arts of politics have made of the actions of the Ira Bailey and Keith Ng, who told the MSD about the acute vulnerability of its IT systems? Or of David Shearer, whose bungled handling of leaked information about John Key's visit to GCSB headquarters snatched ridicule from the jaws of embarrassment?
A MASTER of the dark arts of politics would shake his head
in disbelief. A former staffer in the Prime Minister’s office and a radical
environmental activist discover a “hole” in the Ministry of Social
Development’s IT network – and they immediately inform the Ministry, the
Privacy Commissioner and the public.
The first question our black political magician would ask
is: “Why?”
Because it wasn’t a little hole that IT specialist, Ira
Bailey, and investigative journalist, Keith Ng, discovered. No. It was a vast
portal; a royal road to virtually every piece of information the MSD possessed.
“Did it never occur to either of you that this discovery
invested you with extraordinary political power?”
The tone of incredulity in the Political Wizard’s voice is easily
imagined.
“Have you any idea what even an absolutely useless
Opposition politician could have done with this information? Can you not
imagine the havoc it might have created? Paula Bennett would have been beside
herself. The paranoia levels in the MSD would have gone off the scale. Properly
managed, this discovery could have seriously destabilised John Key’s
government. At the very least it would have destroyed the Minister’s career.
“But what did you two upright citizens do? You told the MSD about
their IT vulnerability. You told them! At least you, Mr Bailey, had the wit to
enquire about an incentive. But you, Mr Ng, did not. Presented with an
extraordinary opportunity to do real political damage you acted pro bono publico – for the public good.
Honestly, words fail me!”
Could there be a better testimonial to the basic honesty of ordinary,
decent New Zealanders than this extraordinary incident? Because our Master of
the Dark Arts, in identifying the huge opportunity for political
mischief-making Mr Bailey’s and Mr Ng’s discovery represented, is not mistaken.
All of us, with a little thought, will be able to think of at least one
politician who would have exploited the MSD’s massive failure without
hesitation - or mercy.
We should be proud of Mr Bailey and Mr Ng. Their
public-spirited behaviour was so very different from the sort of behaviour exposed
during the Leveson Inquiry. Would a journalist working for The News of the World have handed such a treasure-trove of
confidential and potentially damaging information over to the UK Privacy
Commissioner? Would Julian Assange have contacted the US Department of Defence
and offered to identify a potentially devastating security breach?
What do you think?
The Bailey/Ng revelations weren’t the only example of
less-than-perfect state security to enliven the past week. It would seem that
the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) has more than its fair
share of “disgruntled former employees” – and maybe even one or two still on
staff.
Once again, however, the recipients’ exploitation of
covertly acquired information was enough to make our Master of the Dark Arts
throw up his hands in horror.
“This is, quite simply, unbelievable!”
We must imagine at this point a shame-faced David Shearer shifting
uneasily in his office chair.
“It’s Political Destabilisation 1-0-1, Mr Shearer. Page One
of The Beginners Guide to Political
Scandals. Evidence first. Evidence second. Evidence above all else. You
never – and I mean never – launch a
political scandal unless you are in possession of all the evidence required to prove it. Do you know what I’m talking
about, Mr Shearer? No? Then, let me spell it out for you.
“If you claim the Prime Minister joked about Kim Dotcom’s
arrest, in a cafeteria full of GCSB operatives, and there’s video evidence to
prove it, what do you absolutely, positively, have to have in your possession, Mr Shearer? That’s right, you have
to have the bloody video!
Did you have the video, Mr Shearer? Did you have any evidence to back up your claim? No,
Mr Shearer, you did not. You walked out to confront the most popular Prime
Minister in New Zealand’s history holding nothing but an accusation. By the battlements of Barad-Dur, Mr Shearer, what were
you thinking!”
To which those past masters of the dark arts of politics:
Michael Laws, Richard Prebble, Pete Hodgson and Rodney Hide would undoubtedly
add: “Amen”
An idealist might argue that Mr Shearer’s ineptitude in
these arcane matters is rather endearing.
A realist would simply conclude that the next victim of the
dark arts is likely to be Mr Shearer himself.
This essay was
originally published in The Waikato Times, The Taranaki Daily News, The
Timaru Herald, The Otago Daily Times and The Greymouth Star of Friday, 19 October 2012.
