And in response, the Leftists — true to form all over the world — accuse him of “using politics of fear.” They can only keep up that kind of nonsense by pretending that the jihad really isn’t rampant all over the world — hence the routine media obfuscations and denial about the actual nature of jihad activity.
“Al Qaeda training has happened in NZ – John Key,” from ONE News, August 1 (thanks to Liam):
Prime Minister John Key says there are people with connections to the Al Qaeda militant group who have trained in New Zealand.
In an interview with radio station More FM this morning, Mr Key justified proposed changes to the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) Bill by saying that he is aware of al Qaeda operatives in New Zealand who have been trained in overseas camps.
“In the real world, in New Zealand, there are people who have been trained in al Qaeda camps, who operate out of New Zealand, who are in contact with people overseas, who have gone off to Yemen and other countries to train,” he said.
However, Mr Key changed tack in another interview this afternoon, saying that he knows of people who have trained for the militant group in New Zealand and “gone off to those camps” in places like Yemen.
“That is just the way things are,” he said. “We live in a global environment where there are real threats, that’s the point we make with the GCSB legislation, it is why Helen Clark passed the legislation in 2003.”
Mr Key would not reveal how many people were involved in such activities, or their names, but said some of them could be New Zealand citizens.
“It is obviously small numbers but there are small numbers of radicalised New Zealanders, who have either gone over into those environments or returned, and I don’t think this is terribly new, I suspect Helen Clark would have signed warrants as well,” he said.
He would not clarify whether or not those being monitored were currently in New Zealand.
“One or two might be, but others are off shore. I can’t share those numbers. Some are still offshore and some are in New Zealand,” he said.
“While it is very narrow and very small in number, the facts of life are that New Zealand is not immune to those potential risks.”
Mr Key added that those being monitored had not necessarily broken the law.
“We monitor that behaviour…. they haven’t necessarily breached the law,” he said. “There are warrants on people, that I’ve signed, who are currently in Yemen.”
“The fact that someone might have a link might be the sort of reason why the government raises a warrant to observe their behaviour. It does not necessarily mean that they have broken the law at this point,” Mr Key explained.
He also said Rebecca Kitteridge’s report into compliance at the GCSB showed that “broadly 88 times” under the previous government or this government, assistance was provided to “other agencies over a 10 year period”.
In response to claims, Green Party Co-leader Dr Russel Norman said that he thinks Mr Key is trying to frighten the New Zealand public.
“John Key is using politics of fear to justify a law change that will give the GCSB, a foreign intelligence gathering agency, extensive powers to spy on New Zealanders,” he said.
“The reality is that our agencies were able to identify and monitor people of concern under the current law. Key’s example shows that New Zealand’s spy agencies are doing their job; it does not demonstrate any gaping hole in our law that needs to be changed.”