8 February 2001 Media Statement

No delay in compensation

Claims that there has been an unnecessary delay in seeking a United Nations compensation payment for the family of a New Zealand soldier who died while on active duty in East Timor are completely unfounded, the Minister of Defence Mark Burton said.

"An article in the Dominion newspaper with the headline that a "Dead Soldier's Compo Was Held Back" is incorrect.

"Such inaccurate reporting creates unnecessary anguish and concern for families of New Zealand soldiers.

"The article claims a delay in supplying information for an UN Inquiry into the death of Staff Sergeant Billy White is holding back and could put at risk a compensation claim.

"This is not true.

"There is no connection between reporting on the accident to the United Nations, and the payment of compensation for a loss of life.

"The Government was required to satisfy the United Nations that any money paid will be passed directly to Billy White's family. The necessary paperwork has been sent to UN headquarters in New York.

"The seeking of compensation has followed the necessary processes and is within United Nations guidelines."

© 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>>