Labour Cabinet Minister Pete Hodgson said today that the National Party's reshuffle highlighted the paucity of talent on the opposition bench while leaving its biggest problem, its leadership, untouched.

"The big mover in National's ranks is Gerry Brownlee," Mr Hodgson said. "Mr Brownlee's notable achievement of the last 12 months was his ineffective marshalling of trivial opposition to this government's ACC reforms.

"This reshuffle will do little to shake the image of an opposition deeply lost in its own torpor. Especially given that in prematurely taking key portfolios from Wyatt Creech, the opposition is removing its hardest worker from the frontline. It is a loss that National can ill afford.

"All in all, the changes announced today contain little more than a hint of desperation. National's pitiful performance in opposition is matching its dire record in government.

"National is still grieving its 1999 election loss, but has yet to address the real reason for its defeat – the rejection by the electorate of its hard-right policies. Tinkering with the personnel is simply a diversion while the hard work of a complete policy rethink goes undone.

"Shifting portfolios around among proven low performers won't change anything. It only serves to highlight National's lack of talent. Meanwhile, its worst performer and biggest problem, Jenny Shipley, remains in charge. God help them."

© 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>>