I congratulate the Minister of Ethnic Affairs for finally waking up and realising the value of visiting ethnic business people," National Ethnic Affairs spokesperson Pansy Wong said today.

"The National team has been out and about visiting and listening to ethnic business people for the past 15 months. To date, Labour hasn't been sighted and what's worse only a few know who the Ethnic Affairs minister actually is.

"Ethnic communities will waste no time telling George Hawkins what they really want. They want lower taxes, lower input and compliance costs, flexible employment laws, and all the other associated benefits of an open and competitive economy. But since coming to office Hawkins' Government has only put up barriers to business.

"If the Minister is serious about turning any negative sentiment around, he'll need to do more than reluctantly embark on his nation-wide tour of ethnic businesses. He'll need to take heed of what ethnic business people will inevitably tell him and make a positive difference.

"If the Hawkins' tour doesn't produce action ethnic people will rightly think that it's just another Labour-Alliance Government public relations junket," Pansy Wong said.

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>>