Guaranteed Future For Ellerslie Flower Show In Manukau

Manukau City Council is proud to announce that the Ellerslie Flower Show will continue to be held in Manukau City again this year. The decision was announced today.

The public now has a guarantee that the show will continue permanently at the Auckland Regional Botanic Gardens in Manurewa and will not be moving elsewhere as previously suggested.

Manukau mayor Sir Barry Curtis says, “As well as being a superb event for garden lovers, the Show brings $12 million into the Manukau economy each year. It receives financial and other support from Manukau City Council, which recently agreed to put $100,000 towards this year’s show. We, as a local body, believe in being proactive in attracting and securing events of this statue for the benefit of the residents and ratepayers.

“I was determined that we would not lose this wonderful event and am very pleased that our efforts to save the show have yielded an excellent result.

“The successful bidder, SMC Consortium Limited, will provide a charitable trust structure that will deliver the benefits back to the community, and that’s another positive outcome.

“I have every confidence in general manager Dave Mee and the Council is committed to working in partnership with SMC Consortium Limited to ensure the ongoing success of this magnificent event”.

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>