16 Dec 2010

Fiji regime says no surprise in NZ spy revelations

6:46 pm on 16 December 2010

Fiji's interim government says cables revealing the New Zealand government spied on the military are no surprise.

The news website Stuff reports Wikileaks cables show New Zealand has been using its Waihopai communications base to spy on Fiji's military, passing the intelligence to the United States.

New Zealand officials have always denied that they were spying.

However, the cables allegedly point to the Government Communications Security Bureau being capable of listening in to Fiji mobile phones.

Fiji's permanent secretary for information, Sharon Smith-Johns, says the revelation hasn't angered the regime, because it was common knowledge.

"To us in Fiji none of it is a surprise, because if you go back over, since 2006, and listen to what the Government has said, and the comments that we've made, Wikileaks is saying what we've already known. There's no surprise in any of it for us."

Sharon Smith-Johns says the government is certain the New Zealand government is still spying on Fiji.