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A private investigation company, Thompson & Clark Investigations [12], employed agents to infiltrate environmental, peace and animal rights groups in New Zealand, investigative journalist Nicky Hager has revealed. One of the company's clients was the government-owned coal company Solid Energy [13]. A student was paid NZ$400 a month to infiltrate and report on the activities of Save Happy Valley [14], a group opposing a new coal mine. One task was to provide information on the group's legal strategies in response to being sued by Solid Energy [15] over a spoof corporate social responsibility [16] report. The Chief Executive Officer of Solid Energy, Don Elder [17], is unapologetic: "What do I think about it? So what? If Thompson & Clark had got someone to do the things you've said, then I would say good on them." The State-Owned Enterprises minister, Trevor Mallard, told [18] Solid Energy that the spying operation is "unacceptable." However, Solid Energy has only said [19] that it will consider the issue at its next board meeting.
Links:
[1] http://dev.prwatch.org/users/7/bob-burton
[2] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/activism
[3] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/corporations/corporate-social-responsibility
[4] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/animal-rights
[5] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/environment/global-warming
[6] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/public-relations/issue-management
[7] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/democracy
[8] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/environment
[9] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/ethics
[10] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/secrecy
[11] http://www.addtoany.com/share_save?linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Fdev.prwatch.org%2Fspin%2F2007%2F05%2F6089%2Fyoung-reliable-activists-outed-corporate-spooks&linkname=Young%2C%20Reliable%20%22Activists%22%20Outed%20as%20Corporate%20Spooks
[12] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Thompson_&_Clark_Investigations
[13] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Solid_Energy
[14] http://www.savehappyvalley.org.nz/
[15] http://www.prwatch.org/node/5817
[16] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/corporate_social_responsibility
[17] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Don_Elder
[18] http://www.newswire.co.nz/main/viewstory.aspx?storyid=375151&catid=17
[19] http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=37&objectid=10442369&pnum=2
[20] http://www.stuff.co.nz/4074109a6442.html