The Minister of Internal Affairs, George Hawkins, has welcomed today's announcement that the Fire Service and the Firefighters' Union have reached agreement on contract negotiations.

The contract will be put to union members for ratification this weekend.

"From the word go this Government has stressed to the parties that the firefighters' employment dispute must be resolved" said Mr Hawkins. "They have responded well to that encouragement and today's announcement is the result of hard work and compromise on both sides.

"The Fire Service and the Union have not only worked to progress their own interests, they have also recognised the wider importance of concluding this dispute and moving forward.

"Like most New Zealanders, I hope that today's announcement signals the end of one of New Zealand's longest-running industrial disputes" said Mr Hawkins.

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>>