Disarmament Minister Matt Robson wants to know whether the National Party still has a disarmament spokesperson or any interest in the topic.

He says that while National's defence spokesperson Max Bradford appears to be calling for international conciliation, disamament and peacekeeping efforts to be dumped, nothing has been heard from its disarmament spokesperson.

"A search of public statements by the National Party over the last twelve months reveals that National has not made any comment by a disarmament spokesperson for at least a year.

"Disarmament issues are highly topical in international discussions at the moment, and New Zealand is playing an important role.

"As recently as march, New Zealand hosted a United Nations Asia-Pacific Regional Disarmament Conference in Wellington.

"And yet National's disarmament spokesperson, if it has one, has been silent. Instead, National's rhetoric has sought to military solutions the only response to potential international conflict.

"In Government, National appointed a Disarmament Minister. The Opposition now seems to be walking away from peaceful conflict resolution," Matt Robson 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>>