Buzz from the Beehive
Ministers have been preoccupied with the country’s overseas relationships since we reported yesterday on goings-on in the Beehive.
Four of the five latest posts on the Government’s official website deal with issues beyond this country’s shores.
They include news of the PM’s plans to travel abroad “to advance New Zealand’s economic interests”.
This includes Hipkins’ attendance at the coronation of King Charles III next month.
Oh – and in July he will be attending the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) leaders’ summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.
NATO is an intergovernmental military alliance between 29 European and two North American states, which raises interesting questions about how New Zealand’s economic interests will be promoted.
Another fascinating Beehive statement announces an extension of New Zealand’s contribution to the multinational intelligence mission in Jordan known as Operation Gallant Phoenix.
This American-led mission – intended to keep us safe from Islamic terrorists – is a hush-hush affair. Defence Minister Andrew Little and Police Minister Ginny Anderson have lifted the veil just a tiny bit in their press statement.
This statement can be found among the latest batch of announcements…
Latest from the Beehive
Costs on learner drivers reduced by 20%
The Government is making it cheaper for Kiwis to get their driver licence through changes to how Waka Kotahi is funded, Transport Minister Michael Wood announced.
The Government is making it cheaper for Kiwis to get their driver licence through changes to how Waka Kotahi is funded, Transport Minister Michael Wood announced.
New Zealand’s contribution to Operation Gallant Phoenix extended
Minister of Defence Andrew Little and Minister of Police Ginny Andersen have confirmed New Zealand’s ongoing contribution to the Operation Gallant Phoenix multinational intelligence mission in Jordan.
PM’s international travel to advance NZs economic interests
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins will undertake a small number of international engagements this year, focused on advancing New Zealand’s trade and economic interests.
Government forms new partnership to support youth in Solomon Islands
A new partnership between Aotearoa New Zealand and the Pacific Community (SPC) will see a multi-country youth empowerment programme delivered, beginning in Solomon Islands, providing opportunities for youth to upskill and access decent work.
Government builds on climate change focus in Pacific
Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni today reinforced Aotearoa New Zealand’s commitment to tackling the threat of climate change together in the Pacific, announcing support for practical climate action in the Solomon Islands.
The PM tells us he will travel with a trade delegation to Australia this weekend to mark 40 years of Closer Economic Relations (CER).
He will travel to the United Kingdom next month to attend the Coronation of King Charles III in May, joined by a delegation of prominent Kiwis and community representatives who will represent the country at the Coronation.
And he has accepted an invitation to attend the NATO leaders’ summit in Vilnius Lithuania in July.
The Government is continuing to pursue a trade focused trip to China later in the year.
“My focus is on the cost of living and cyclone recovery challenges New Zealand is facing. As such I will only undertake a small number of international engagements this year,” Chris Hipkins said.
“When overseas I will look to put trade front and centre in order to support our economic recovery.
“I will be taking a business delegation with me to Australia and will be seeking to advance our trade deal with the UK when in London for the King’s Coronation and with the EU when I attend NATO,” Chris Hipkins said.
But while Hipkins has elaborated in his press statement to tell us more about his visits to Australia and to the Coronation, he is shy about the NATO trip.
The news from Andrew Little and Police Minister Ginny Andersen is that Cabinet has extended the mandate for New Zealand’s multiagency deployment for two years until June 2025.
The statement says:
The number of deployed New Zealand personnel remains fewer than 10.
Is the exact number a secret? Or can’t their officials count?
The statements gives a bit of background information:
Established in 2013, Operation Gallant Phoenix is a platform where partners collect and share information about potential and existing terrorist threats, irrespective of threat ideology. The mission is made up of a large number of countries and agencies, including law enforcement, military and civilian personnel.
Both ministers are fulsome about the benefits of this involvement:
“As we tragically saw in Christchurch and West Auckland, New Zealand is not immune to threats from violent extremism,” Andrew Little said.
“New Zealand is made safer by working with countries around the world to understand and respond to current, evolving, and future terrorist and violent extremist threats.
“The report of the Royal Commission into the Christchurch mosque attack highlighted the value of Operational Gallant Phoenix. I know our contributions are highly valued by partners,” Andrew Little said.
“New Zealand’s deployment to Operation Gallant Phoenix provides Police and other agencies with valuable information,” Ginny Andersen said.
“It helps us to build and strengthen relationships with international partners, and gain experience for our Police officers and other personnel in ways that cannot be achieved elsewhere.
“The public can feel reassured that this government is prioritising their safety with the renewal of this commitment over the coming two years,” Ginny Andersen said.
This won’t do much to safeguard shop-keepers from ram-raiders, of course.
Le Monde journalists ferreted out more information for an article posted two years ago headed Exclusive: The Secret Global Data Cell Infiltrating Jihadists
The article begins:
Hidden from view in the quiet heat of Jordan, a vast data war is being waged. Ground zero is an American military base in the heart of the Hashemite kingdom, where for the past five years, a silent tracking system has been developed based on meticulous archives. The goal of this painstaking project? Identifying and consolidating the traces of every kind of jihadist fighter to pursue them in any way possible — including in the courts.
This extraordinary project was long run by the Pentagon and kept completely under wraps. While it remains a confidential operation to this day, it’s been mentioned briefly by official sources across the Atlantic and by a few intelligence unit insiders in European media. Yet the undertaking was never disclosed to the public in detail. Today, Le Monde can reveal the origins and the modus operandi of what is known under the code name “Operation Gallant Phoenix” (OGP).
The writers say this Big Brother-esque program would have been impossible to put into place a few years ago.
In counterterrorism, intelligence agencies have always favored bilateral, over-the-counter exchanges. Gallant Phoenix is the exact opposite: Since 2016, the countries that decided to join as partners in the project have been able to help themselves to whatever information they need or want. Inversely, they can also deposit any intel or evidence gleaned from their side.
The information held in the OGP is described as “proof of war”, which refers – essentially – to any trace left on the web, social media or the field by jihadist groups, or anything found on their person when they are taken prisoner.
The Gallant Phoenix was initially focused on al-Qaeda and the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) soldiers in the Iraqi-Syrian zone, but (at the time the article was published) the network encompassed all of their affiliates, stretching across Afghanistan, Yemen, Libya and elsewhere in Africa, particularly in the Sahel-Saharan strip.
The secret “data center” in Jordan holds cell phones, cameras, computers, USB sticks and so on used to communicate or disseminate propaganda left behind by al-Qaeda and ISIS fighters and is a huge database of identity documents, fingerprints and DNA — stored after they were found on explosive devices or corpses.
Point of Order 