2 August 2004

Manukau To Support Purchase Of Kaikoura Island

Manukau City Council is to give $63,346 as a contribution towards purchase of Kaikoura Island in the Hauraki Gulf. In doing so it has joined with a number of other councils in the region which have financially supported the purchase.

The 564-hectare island, off the western coast of Great Barrier, has been secured in public ownership at a total cost of $10.5 million. The government has paid the bulk of the cost, with the ASB Community Trust contributing at least two million dollars. Manukau's contribution makes up part of the $500,000 being given by councils in the Auckland region. The island will be available to the public for conservation, outdoor recreation and educational purposes.

Initially the Council had decided it was not going to contribute but Manukau Mayor Sir Barry Curtis says is delighted that decision has been turned around. "I have long believed that every island in the Gulf should be kept in public hands if at all possible, and that when privately-owned islands come up for sale, they should be purchased for future generations. "Kaikoura will be a superb asset and provide a wonderful wilderness experience for young people."

ENDS

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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>>