31 May 2004

Statement from David Thornton

Time For Residential Ratepayers To Boycott Central Auckland Businesses

I have been astonished at the vicious comments made by some business sector lobbyists at the ARC decision to re-introduce business differentials into the rating system.

These comments are a direct attack on residential ratepayers who suffered huge increases last
year - and some of whom face big increases this year as a result of poor decisions on the new transport rate.

The latest attack comes from the Heart of the City organisation which represents many retailers in the central Auckland business district.

Auckland Mayor John Banks is also joining the outcry - perhaps conveniently forgetting the huge amount of rates funded support for major events which bring big profits to many city businesses.

It may well be time for residential ratepayers to boycott businesses in central Auckland City.

It is not just the ARC business differential that the business lobbyists are attacking - they have also been doing the rounds of local city councils urging them to drop business differentials.

If that were to happen hundreds of thousand of residential ratepayers would be faced with huge rate increases.

Instead of attacking residential ratepayers businesses should be supporting our efforts to change the whole basis of local government funding.

ENDS

© 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>>