This was not the first cock-up in the case. Bungling by New Zealand authorities in the Megaupload case has now reached such epic proportions that the inquiry announced by Mr Key yesterday should be only the start. From day one, when officers carrying guns stormed the Dotcom mansion in a very un-Kiwi way, to a succession of legal blunders, there are now serious questions to answer over who has been calling the shots.

Our Government seems to be so out of the loop that it took till September 17 for the GCSB to inform Mr Key about the unlawful interceptions, despite knowing about them since August, when it came up in a High Court hearing.

Mr Key, meanwhile, refuses to answer when asked who it was that authorised or directed the GCSB to spy on Dotcom - under powers usually reserved for the collection of foreign intelligence in the interests of national security.