Posts Tagged ‘state-owned enterprise’

Government agencies are paying thousands of dollars for inside information from private investigators Thompson and Clark. But as Nicky Hager writes, they could get some of it on Google. …

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry quietly severed its contract with controversial private investigators Thompson and Clark Investigations last year, after the Sunday Star-Times revealed that TCIL’s “corporate intelligence” included infiltrating and spying on community groups….

PRIVATE INVESTIGATORS working for the state-owned coal company Solid Energy have defied a direct government instruction and again tried to infiltrate an environment group that opposes Solid Energy’s coal mining plans….

Twelve months ago the government told state coal company Solid Energy that using paid informants to infiltrate environment groups was ‘not acceptable’ and that it had to stop. Solid Energy is adamant it has complied. The private investigators however appear to have defied the order….

New Zealand Herald article on the closure of Timberlands, see Secrets and Lies The Government has given state-owned forestry company Timberlands the axe. State-owned Enterprises Minister Trevor Mallard today announced the loss-making entity’s assets would be transferred to Crown Forestry. The SOE has hit the rocks in the past two years after reporting financial losses [...]

Nicky Hager reveals a controversial American company behind the South Island’s proposed Project Aqua scheme….

It is not surprising if you haven’t heard of Project Aqua. It is the largest power scheme planned in New Zealand since the Clyde Dam 20 years ago and already it is controversial in the local area around Oamaru. But a lot of state resources are going into trying to silence the opponents and avoid the inconvenience of genuine public debate….

Afterword to the United States Edition of Secrets and Lies The anti-environmental campaign described in Secrets and Lies might have made a depressing story, where the secret tactics and constant lies succeeded in defeating the genuine community groups. However, despite illuminating some of the dark side of politics, the lessons from the New Zealand rainforest [...]

A based on hundreds of leaked public relations papers, the book shows how PR consultants think and act when they are being paid to try to influence politics. It shows the range of techniques used by PR companies to manufacture political support for their clients and dirty tricks they use to stop their client’s opponents being heard.

• Order a copy
• Order US edition from www.commoncouragepress.com
• Read the Introduction to the United States edition
• Read the Afterword in the United States edition
• Appendix “A brief guide to leaking”