Anti-mining activists' complaints dismissed

A private investigator accused of employing a spy to report on anti-mining activists did not act illegally, a watchdog says.

The Registrar of Private Investigators and Security Guards, Gary Harrison, has dismissed two complaints by the Save Happy Valley Coalition against a private investigation firm hired by Solid Energy.

The firm, Thompson and Clark Investigations, paid student Ryan Paterson-Rouse for information he provided after pretending to become a member of the coalition.

Paterson-Rouse was unmasked as a spy after an email he sent to Thompson and Clark bounced back to another coalition member.

The coalition had claimed the company acted illegally by employing Paterson-Rouse when he did not have the required certification.

Harrison concluded there was no employment relationship between Thompson and Clark and Paterson-Rouse.

The student could not even be considered an independent contractor he said.

"In my view, he was no more than an informant who was paid anonymously from time to time, according to the information he was able to pass to his fictitious recipient."

Reports had said that Paterson-Rouse was paid $400 a month by the investigators but Harrison said invoices appeared to show that payments were probably negotiated each time.

Paterson-Rouse believed he was feeding information to a journalist, had no employment contract, and no PAYE had been paid, Harrison said in his decision.

Save Happy Valley Coalition spokesman Graham Jury said the group was very disappointed.

"This is basically a breach of our basic human rights to freedom of speech," he said.

"The legal process is meant to be supporting us."

The experience with Paterson-Rouse had been a "wake-up call" but the coalition would continue to accept supporters.

"We are a social-change action group and for us to continue to do our job we need people to continue to support us," he said.

"There is very little about the organisation that a spy could find out. We operate in a very open way."

Jury said the only option left to the group would be to seek a judicial review, but he could not say whether it would do that.

Thompson and Clark director Gavin Clark welcomed the decision.

"We note the registrar's decisions that we had acted lawfully in relation to all matters complained about," he said.

"It is also important to point out that the use of paid informants is not illegal, as some like to imply by the pejorative use of the word `spies'."

Clark said the company would be seeking costs from the complainants.

New Zealand Institute of Private Investigators president Trevor Morley said the decision was good for the profession. The decision confirmed Thompson and Clark had acted lawfully.

"Further, Mr Harrison's comments reinforce the fact that licensed private investigators have an important role to play in protecting the property and business interests of their clients, and that role can, sometimes, include the use of informants whose identities will remain confidential."

Solid Energy would not comment.

A second complaint that a camera was illegally used to record coalition members was also dismissed.

- © Fairfax NZ News