The Star: February 14, 2019

The Star Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Thursday February 14 2019 7
Professor’s burglary case closed
THE CURIOUS case of the
burgled professor is no closer to
being resolved, as a year-long
police investigation wrapped up
with an inconclusive result.
Canterbury University professor
Anne-Marie Brady suffered
a number of suspicious burglaries
in early 2018 that she – and
other scholars and intelligence
analysts – have
said were likely
a response to
her critical
work investigating
China’s
foreign influence
activities.
Anne-Marie
Brady
The investigation,
which
stretched for
almost a year, involved the
police’s secretive National
Security Investigation Team,
international law-enforcement
body Interpol and spy agency
the New Zealand Security and
Intelligence Service. The latter
agency also swept Dr Brady’s
home and university office for
bugs.
Yesterday, a statement today
police said they had been unable
to resolve the case.
“Police have taken these
incidents very seriously and a
lengthy, detailed and extensive
investigation has been
conducted. This has involved
all necessary police resources
including detailed forensic
analysis, interviews and expert
advice.
“The burglaries and other
matters reported remain unresolved
at this time. The
investigation is now at a point
where there are no further lines
of inquiry to pursue unless new
information becomes available.”
Dr Brady told the New
Zealand Herald she had been
informed of the investigation’s
conclusion on Monday, and was
disappointed with the result.
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“I am disappointed that in
spite of the hard work of individual
officers the police have
not identified the culprit,” she
said.
Dr Brady, an internationally
respected academic, emerged as
a public figure in late 2017 after
publishing her Magic Weapons
paper using New Zealand
as a case study in mapping out
China’s international influence
campaigns.
Her work focused political donations,
board appointments for
ex-politicians and their families,
and connections between these
and China’s external influence
agency the United Front Works
Department. Following publication
Brady has travelled to brief
officials in Ottawa, Washington,
London, Canberra and elsewhere.
The burglary of her home on
February 14 saw devices – laptops
and a burner phone – used
to research the paper taken, but
other valuables – including jewellery
and cash left in the open –
ignored. The following day, her
office was also broken into.
In November her mechanic,
unaware of the ongoing probe
into the case, reported he believed
her family’s car had been
“tampered with” after finding
both front tyres had dangerously
low pressure. Police folded
this claim into their investigation,
the New Zealand Herald
reported.
Early on, Brady had classed
the burglaries as harassment in
response to her work on China.
Days after the burglaries
she told an Australian
parliamentary committee her
earlier research on Antarctic
politics had seen pressure put on
her employer, and more recently
people she associated with in
China had been questioned
by Ministry of State Security
officials.
Local
News
Now
Meeting today
to discuss top
council job
• By Julia Evans
Fire rages, homes at risk
THE RECRUITMENT process
for the city council’s top job is set
to be discussed behind-closeddoors
today.
Mayor Lianne Dalziel, Deputy
Mayor Andrew Turner and several
city councillors will
discuss recruitment
at an extraordinary
meeting of the
chief executive
performance
and employment
committee. Chief
executive Karleen
Edwards will decide
Karleen
Edwards
by the end of the month if she will
reapply for the position.
Her five-year, fixed-term
contract expires in June. The
position, which currently pays
$402,900, is appointed by Ms
Dalziel and city councillors with
a recommendation from the
committee.
The committee oversees the
performance of the chief executive
and reports to the city council.
Dr Edwards is a psychiatrist
turned administrator who joined
the city council in 2014. She was
Canterbury District Health Board
deputy chief executive from 2001
to 2007.
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