The Green Party have appointed Liz Thomas to the newly created position of Party Development Co-ordinator.

Announcing the appointment, Green Party co-convenor Richard Davies said that with party membership almost doubling since the 1999 election one of Liz' main priorities will be strengthening the party's branch structure throughout New Zealand.

Ms Thomas will be based in Wellington and will be responsible for ensuring that the party is well organised and funded in order to vigorously contest the 2002 general election.

Ms Thomas was a Green councillor on the Wellington City Council between 1992 - 95 and stood as a candidate in the Waitakere electorate as the Green Party candidate on the Alliance ticket in the 1996 general election.

She has also been a County Councillor in Golden Bay for the five years between 1984 - 89 and has been an active member of the Green Party since the party was established in 1990.

"This job will be challenging and exciting," said Ms Thomas. "My vision is to build a strong and effective Green Party which will contribute to a more sustainable nation."

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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>>