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LF Catches Up With EQC Blogger Marc Krieger in Switzerland

LF catches up with ECQ Blogger Marc Krieger enjoying the last of Switzerlands spectacular winter snows
LF catches up with ECQ Blogger, New Zealand’s very own Jason Bourne, Mr Marc Krieger – enjoying the last of Switzerlands spectacular winter snows – photograph copyright laudafinem.com – lol

Our regular readers will be aware that the team @ Lauda Finem take an interest in all things “Australasian” especially where it concerns injustice, corruption and the two countries movers and shakers who have vested interests in insuring that their nasty behaviour continues to remain concealed.

Of course, it goes without saying, that LF is far from the only blog that has taken on the role that New Zealand’s mainstream media in particular have long since abdicated, that of investigating, connecting the often concealed connections and telling the whole truth – warts and all.

As we have previously said one true barometer of New Zealand’s growing problem with its central governments systemic corruption is to be found in the growing number of blogs and web forums that have popped up over the past five years, all apparently dedicated to outing the often criminal offending of the New Zealand Government and its employees, most with a particular focus on the New Zealand police and its criminal justice system.

One such blog that arrived on the blogging scene on the 1st November 2011, taking New Zealand by storm, was eqctruths.wordpress.com a blog that soon started rocking the foundations of government by exposing alleged corruption in and around Christchurch’s recovery from the catastrophic earthquake of 22nd February 2011.

Like LF, but for different reasons, the blog was at first published anonymously; the only clue being that the blogger had been employed by the EQC and was privy to some seriously compromising information that appeared to contradict the bullshit and spin that National party governments minister and despot Gerry Brownlee had been peddling to the desperate residents of Cantabury for far to long.

Then in April this year the shit really hit the fan for the government when the blogger apparently managed to obtain an ECQ spreadsheet and published it. The information contained in the document evidenced the fact that the Earth Quake Commission had been misleading the city’s residents and the property owners who’s homes and businesses had been damaged or destroyed.

New Zealand’s mainstream media quickly assisted in trying to spin the story away from the EQC, the government and its culpability, preferring instead to focus largely on attacking the messenger (As most outlets continue to do). At first the finger was pointed at an innocent party, EQC critic Bryan Staples.

EQC critic Bryan Staples, accused of publishing the leaked spreadsheet.

EQC critic Bryan Staples, the first to be accused of publishing the leaked spreadsheet.

The ECQ put out media release after media release using threatening language, claiming that they had spent upwards of NZ $150’000.00 trying to limit or stop the online desimination of the highly embarrassing information and Minister Gerry Brownlee was also doing his utmost to intimidate the as yet unidentified blogger with the usual National party rhetoric and political spin. Meanwhile newsrooms throughout New Zealand were a hive of activity, each clamouring to be the first to identify and name the party responsible.

But the anonymous blogger, to his credit, was not one to be easily intimidated by a gaggle of half arsed banana republic politicians and their suckhole bent civil servants. In fact he had already released information that should have immediately identified him had Gerry Brownlee been paying attention. He had called Brownlee and complained about the antics and dodgy dealings at the ECQ, wanting a meeting so as to address what he felt were pressing issues and systemic failures.

But no, if one is to believe Gerry Brownlee he at first could not recall the alleged call and then when forced to acknowledge it he only managed a very vague recollection. Lauda Finem had of course by that stage already made contact with the anonymous blogger and was assisting in thwarting the Governments spin doctors and their attempts at a coverup.

Fat Fuck, National party despot and Minister Gerry Brownlee.

Fat Fuck, National party despot and Minister Gerry Brownlee – more chins than a Chinese brothel – Just how many tax payer dollars have been invested in Brownlee’s 12 pies a day habit? – Get some rest Gerry, you’re looking tired – not even David Collins J is going to save you mate!

Eventually, having already witnessed first hand the outrageous antics of a Government and compliant media that was hell bent on burying the scandal rather than address the alleged systemic problems with the ECQ the blogger set in motion his withdrawal strategy.

Part of that strategy was to liquidate and transfer any assetts that he had in New Zealand moving everything out of harms way into a foreign jurisdiction. Once accomplished and already cognicesent of the governments likely method of retaliation the blogger, as planned, had left the country permanently, once he was safely out of harms way he then outed himself as New Zealand’s very own version of Jason Bourne – Mr Marc Krieger a foreign national who was by then well beyond the reach of the Kiwi political fraudsters and its courts.

The New Zealand media true to form were however pursuing a story that attempted to detail events with quite a different and somewhat unique spin – their task?  To attempt to rewrite history, by falsely claiming:

The identity of the man behind the infamous EQC Truths blog can finally be revealed.

Former Earthquake Commission (EQC) employee Marc Krieger has unmasked himself as the blogger.

Krieger, 30, worked for EQC in Wellington from May 2012 until late February this year.

EQC took an injunction out against Krieger last month to prevent him sharing details from an email containing the information of 83,000 Christchurch claimants and are pursuing further legal action. They also discovered Krieger’s identity.

He received an email from EQC’s lawyer while on holiday in Switzerland last week and decided to publicly reveal himself before the battle hit the courts.

Krieger said he had no regrets.

“I am not afraid of anything. I am not concerned because I have right on my side,” he said.

“I will tell them that I have only begun to fight and that I will not stop until we prevail.”

Source: EQC blogger’s identity revealed (Fairfax NZ)

LF knows when Fairfax or the other Kiwi outlets are publishing a government endorsed spin piece, theres never a journo’s name put to the story. We also know for a fact that Marc Krieger was never on holiday in Switzerland, Fairfax (NZ) had blatantly and intentionally mislead its New Zealand readers in a complicit attempt to assist the governments spin doctors (ex journos, often friends) in justifying the squandering of yet another NZ$200’000.00 of taxpayers money flogging a dead horse, or as they say keeping up the appearance that they were in control. When LF meet up with Marc Krieger he put it perhaps a little more succinctly:

“I promised the crooked parasites at EQC, Chapman Tripp, and (in)justice Collins of the High Court that they would never get a cent from me.  I (had) moved all my assets outside New Zealand long ago and any ‘victory’ would be purely pyrrhic.  The High Court lacked jurisdiction, as I live in Switzerland.  I have rereleased the spreadsheet to render the High Court’s ruling irrelevant and worthy of contempt”

In fact it was Krieger that had, once safely in Switzerland, written to advise ECQ’s lawyers at “Chapman Tripp” that he had, as planned, left New Zealand permanently and it was only at that point that the crowns legal clowns in gowns where even able to put a face to the man behind the blog.

Marc Krieger is representative of a new breed of protester. He and his blog www.ecqtruths.wordpress.org are also representative of a new force in the dissemination of information in the public interest. A force that has been long overdue given the attitude of mainstream media; an attitude born of vested interests, political back scratching, secret “wink wink nudge nudges“,  the political ideologies of owners and shareholders and pure unadulterated greed.

Media have been quick to bemoan the disintegration of their business model in the wake of the internet age, but theirs a lot more to it than just the internet. Content is everything and the mainstream media has for decades been able to put their spin on stories, in some cases to the point where the story is no longer a true account. Investigative journalism is all but dead and for the most part journo’s, especially in New Zealand, are loath to pursue corruption stories or risk outing bent politicians incase their newsrooms receive no telephone calls.

One of the problems with the New Zealand media is that many of the country’s current crop of journos now work for the government and often threaten or dangle the preverbal carrot so as to get the media to comply with the governments wishes. Cronyism, the cult of personality and nepotism abound as it does in any small Pacific island nation thats very much isolated from the real world.

This is evident in the way New Zealand’s mainstream media has dealt with blogger Marc Krieger and his blowing the whistle on the government and the county’s statutory insurer, the Earth Quake Commission. Lie after lie, mistruths, half truths anything but the truth.

No its not "Judge Dread", its Judge double Jeopardy - None other than the ex solicitor general and self appointed High Court Judge David Brian Collins, the Governments very flexible Justice Fixit.

No its not “Judge Dread”, its Judge double Jeopardy – None other than the ex solicitor general and self appointed High Court Judge David Brian Collins, the Governments very flexible Justice Fix-it-quick – “Solicitor-General David Collins told the Supreme Court Gwaze’s acquittal for the murder was a miscarriage of justice and a retrial should be held

The truth of the medias complicity in the Governments agenda is to be found in a story that Fairfax published little more than a couple of hours after Marc Krieger had published his response to corrupt ex solicitor general and self appointed Justice David Collins bullshit decision. Knowing that Krieger had left the country along with his liquidated assets and that there was no chance of chasing him fairfax’s Charles Anderson, no doubt under the instruction of his editor, still chose to run a piece clearly designed to scare off anyone else who might just have the balls to take on the New Zealand establishment and its media monopolies:

The blogger who leaked thousands of confidential client details may have to pay the Earthquake Commission its court costs after the High Court found he was in breach of confidence.

In early April, Marc Krieger, a former EQC employee, leaked a confidential spreadsheet detailing client and claim information for 83,000 EQC clients.

He then published that information on a website called EQC truths. EQC brought a civil lawsuit against him for breach of confidence.

In his decision, Justice Collins said he concluded that the information contained in the spreadsheet that Krieger published was confidential.

He said Krieger acknowledged that he received the spreadsheet from a “disgruntled EQC employee” and must have known that he was not authorised to receive it. That employee has never been identified.

Justice Collins said Krieger believed he was acting with a clear conscience when he disclosed the information about the costs of repairing individual claims.

Source: Blogger may face EQC court case costs (Fairfax NZ)

“Blogger may face EQC court case costs” – Yeah Right!! Perhaps when hell freezes over? What are your thoughts Charles Anderson. Despite a complicit mainstream medias assistance with the political spin, for the various players, including a Government that has for years managed to conceal its dirty laundry aided and abetted by public servants who’s career advancement has largely depended on their willing compliance with corrupt practice, many now in senior positions having cut their teeth with the countries infamously corrupt police force the future is not looking good.  Perhaps thats the real reason why John Key desperately wanted to rush through his new GCSB laws.

So far the New Zealand Government has likely spent close to NZ$400’000.00 on an exercise in total futility and New Zealand’s very own Jason Bourne, supported by other bloggers such as Lauda Finem, is now set to strike again.

Marc Krieger did the right thing and whats more LF believes that he’s right to keep his promises, after all he always has:

“I promised the crooked parasites at EQC, Chapman Tripp, and (in)justice Collins of the High Court that they would never get a cent from me” – Marc Krieger

Marcs latest blog post can read here: EQC Truths Defeats EQC and Kangaroo Court!

Resources:

Fairfax Reporters

Charles Anderson 09 925 9836 charles.anderson@fairfaxmedia.co.nz @cdlanderson
Simon Day 09 925 9856 simon.day@fairfaxmedia.co.nz @simondangerday
Adam Dudding 09 925 9837 adam.dudding@fairfaxmedia.co.nz @adudding
Michael Field 09 925 9676 michael.field@fairfaxmedia.co.nz @mjfield
Sarah Harvey sarah.harvey@fairfaxmedia.co.nz @harveysez
Kirsty Johnston 09 925 9930 kirsty.johnston@fairfaxmedia.co.nz @kirsty_johnston
Rob Kidd 09 925 9841 robert.kidd@fairfaxmedia.co.nz @robkidd
Steve Kilgallon steve.kilgallon@fairfaxmedia.co.nz
Amy Maas 09 925 9867 amy.maas@fairfaxmedia.co.nz @amymaas1
Michelle Robinson 09 925 9656 michelle.robinson@fairfaxmedia.co.nz @michellerobinsn
Ian Steward 09 925 9890 ian.steward@fairfaxmedia.co.nz @iansteward
Tony Wall 0274 318 443 tony.wall@fairfaxmedia.co.nz
The media

The Team @ Lauda Finem will continue to support Marc Krieger and his decision to take on the EQC and New Zealands thoroughly bent bureaucracy, so stay tuned there may be more to come in this “David verses Goliath” saga.

If you have a story that needs to be told why not contact the team at www.laudafinem.org – laudafinem@bigpond.com

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  • Elton says:

    love the story – now I know that LF is european based.

  • Samantha Hays says:

    This is why we need the likes of LF

  • Great photo in the snow. You are looking good.

    • Marc was also feeling really good Rose Nolan, that feeling is all about the euphoria that is often felt when one’s telling “the whole truth and nothing but the truth” mate – wake up New Zealand you are being shafted if you’re listening to the like’s of Fairfax or APN’s NZ Herald

  • EQC Truths exposed the corruption of Government, and the private opportunist, family lineage and mate’s of a mate who have ruthlessly exploited and deprived Canterbury homeowners from the true value of their claims. The spreadsheet was delicious candy to a large proportion of the population and a huge number benefited from the Robin Hood stance of EQC Truths. We are grateful for the exposure. Thank you Marc.

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