29 March 2001 Media Statement

Public Trust changes under way

Concerns expressed by a parliamentary Select Committee will be taken seriously by Public Trust's Minister, Jim Anderton.

The Finance and Expenditure Committee report on Public Trust was tabled today, and the Minister says many of its concerns are being addressed already.

"New laws modernising Public Trust are before Parliament now and I expect they will be in place by the middle of this year. That will strengthen Public Trust's ability to provide a high level of public service," Jim Anderton said.

"From this week, Public Trust will have a Board in place to improve accountability and governance. The concerns expressed by the Select Committee over the performance of the chief executive are a matter between the CEO and the Board.

"The other major area of concern was the accounting treatment of Public Trust's tax losses. The Select Committee felt that the way the tax losses were handled should comply with Generally Agreed Accounting Principles. I agree with the Select Committee on this point.

"Public Trust is a fundamentally sound business and its clients can have confidence in it. But I am taking the concerns of the Select Committee seriously," Jim Anderton 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>>