Waikato Back’s Government Info Plan - There’s at least one region welcoming the new bright future package with some excitement. Waikato institutions have long pressed for heavier investment in research. The package will pour $223 million into building a knowledge based economy. Facilities like Ag Research, Hort Research, Ruakura, and Waikato University all work with major industries like the New Zealand Dairy Group, provide added value to New Zealand produce. Waikato University management school’s dean says the new package marks a turn-around in Government thinking which could be crucial to New Zealand’s future. The days of relying on the sale of traditional commodities like meat and milk powder are long gone.

Donald Says More Talk To Shipley - Greens co-leader Rod Donald says the Prime minister needs to tell the whole story in her staff’s involvement in the Timberlands affair. After originally saying her staff had not liaised with the SOE or its PR firm since she became Prime Minister, Jenny Shipley is now saying they were not proactively involved. This comes after leaked documents show there were several meetings involving some of Mrs Shipley’s non-political staff since she became Prime Minister in December 1997. Rod Donald says this confirms for him that Mrs Shipley has more to tell.

Don’t Panic Over Inflation Says Bank - An economist says there is no need to panic over warnings that interest rates may soon rise. The Reserve Bank says an increase in its official cash rate later this year is becoming more likely. It states the world economy is looking quite strong at the moment and our own economy has been growing at around 3 percent per annum over the last 12 months. This means inflationary pressure will built pushing interest rates up. But BNZ’s chief economist says the rise shouldn’t be too steep. At this stage, the economist says, we are unlikely to see any major surge in inflation in New Zealand over the next couple of years. Therefore interest rate rises will be gradual.

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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>>