RNZ: Sunday Morning

First Kim Dotcom and the GCSB, then the attempt to make it all go away with a law change, then the NSC, then Parliamentary Services and the accessing of journalist's 'phone records. Is the head that rolled the right head?

Human rights lawyer Tim McBride and former SIS officer turned academic Dr Rhys Ball talk to Chris Laidlaw about the pros and cons of the state spying on its citizens; and US journalist Will Potter, the author of Green is the New Red: An Insiders Account of a Social Movement Under Siege, tells Jeremy Rose about how an FBI agent's attempt to turn him into a snitch inspired him to watch the watchers.

Since the Lisbon Treaty at the end of 2009, the European Parliament has taken on increased importance both within the European Union and for third country partners such as New Zealand. Chris discusses these issues with Derek Vaughan, a Member of the European Parliament representing Wales and Chair of the Friends of NZ Group.

Are recent revelations about New Zealand journalists under surveillance signs of a state that hates the Fourth Estate? Does the media have their own staff under surveillance and TVNZ closes the last of its digital channels.

Grammy award-winning bass baritone Jonathan Lemalu was born in Dunedin and is now based in London, from where he's carving out a hugely successful international career. He has returned home to play Leporello in NZ Opera's production of Don Giovanni, which opens in Christchurch on August 21.

It's all but a year since the tragedy at Paritutu Rock - Juliet Larkin asks if lessons in safety have been learnt.

Last Tuesday's revelation that the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant is leaking contaminated water into the ocean and that the Japanese government has known about the spillage, confirms the fears of independent experts. Wayne looks at the aftermath of the disaster.

Moty Cristal, is an Israeli-born, Harvard-trained international crisis negotiator. He talks about his work, including negotiating with Palestinians during the 2002 siege at the Nativity Church in Bethlehem.

Peter Dunne and John Key prove that politics is indeed the art of compromise.

New Zealand spends $15 billion a year on health - more than education, and transport and communications combined. So have we got our priorities right and should the public have more say in how the money is spent? We spend the hour exploring those and other questions.

France's ambassador to New Zealand, Francis Etienne, is preparing for his next posting. He talks about rugby, the repatriation of Toi Moko, politics in France, and where to next in his career.

A survey suggesting we don't trust our media, the scary but spiritual moment when the big quake hit last weekend, the wall-to-wall coverage of the birth of a new prince, how a TV talent show trumped several other stories in the news and the weird world of reporting conflicts which don't actually exist.

Former captain Farah Palmer talks about the women's game and the NZRU's apparent resistance to having a woman on its board.

Riskier mortgages could be curtailed by the Reserve Bank. Philippa Tolley asks if this is a good move or could it backfire

With a number of commercial interests receiving gold mining exploration or prospecting permits on Coromandel's Schedule 4 land where gold mining's prohibited, Wayne looks at the industry at home and abroad. Chris follows up with Mercury Bay Watchdog Chairperson Augusta Macassey-Pickard and natural resource economist, Professor Tom Power of Montana.