Rob Gilchrist originally established nzscanners.org.nz, a 'website for serious radio scanners and scanners in New Zealand'. He posted messages under one of his online names 'zeroalpha'. He has also been using the names 'balaclava' and 'anarchist'.
The site includes a chatroom and a forum. The site says that it has over 20,000 registered members.
However it appears Gilchrist has had no involvement with this site for several years and that it was merely a short-term 'business front' . The domain name is now registered to someone else who has no connection to Gilchrist.
The domain nzscanners.co.nz, which was established for the business, no longer exists.
Gilchrist however does own the company NZ Scanners Ltd, registered in January 2005. He is the only shareholder.
The company address is a post box number.
Meanwhile other serious allegations have been swirling around Gilchrist and because they have not been substantiated I'm choosing not to publish them here for the moment. I do note though that Gilchrist was expelled from the Anti-Vivisection Society in 2002.
As well as spying on the Workers Party, Green MP Keith Locke today said that Gilchrist had been passing Green Party information on to the Special Investigation Group and his 'handlers' Detective Peter Gilroy and Detective Sergeant John Sjoberg.
Hi Steven
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed reading your thoughtful comments on the Rob Gilchrist affair.
The Workers Party, which I am a member of, has unfortunately had some dealings with Gilchrist. On a recent blogpost on the WP site I said:
Our own organization has unfortunately had some contact with the unsavory character Rob Gilchrist. Gilchrist managed to get on to our internal email list and was on the list from June 2003 until March 2004. We know that some of our emails have been compromised, but this has been minimal compared with other groups.
See: http://workersparty.org.nz/2008/12/16/capitalist-state-just-doing-its-job/
It's been good seeing the amount of discussion on this incident. I believe the left now needs to move beyond statements of shock and disgust and engage in some more reflective analysis. Much of what has been said so far on sites like indymedia point out that there is much unclarity on the left about the role of the NZ state. On my post I argued:
This most recent case of covert police surveillance of left wing groups by Gilchrist highlights the role of the state to promote the interests of the bosses’ class and the capitalist system as a whole. All governments under capitalism must by necessity shore up the best conditions for businesses to accumulate their profits. Part of this role involves using the coercive arm of the state to suppress, and at times crush, any form opposition to the bosses and their state. Surveillance of left wing activity in New Zealand is nothing new.
Comradely
John Moore.
zeroalpha is an Army fixed callsign indicating a headquarters element. Perhaps another sign of Gilchrist's Walter Mitty character.
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