United Tribes of New Zealand stars. The description was: "A red St. George's Cross on a white ground. In the first quarter, a red St. George's Cross on a blue ground, pierced with four white stars." This version of the flag served as the "de facto" national flag of New Zealand from 1835 until the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in February 1840. The version of the flag with black fimbriation and eight-pointed stars is widely used today as a flag by Māori groups throughout New Zealand, who also refer to it as the He Whakaputanga flag. The flag features on the medals presented
Southern Cross Cable Zealand Green Party co-leader, stated that an interception point was being established on the Southern Cross Cable. Norman said that as the cable is the only point of telecommunications access from New Zealand, this would allow the Government to spy on all phone calls and internet traffic from New Zealand. Norman's claims followed the revelation that an engineer from the NSA had visited New Zealand earlier in the year to discuss how to intercept traffic on the Southern Cross cable. The office of John Key, New Zealand Prime Minister, denied the claims but admitted that they were negotiating a "cable