Monday 18th Jun 2001 Stephen Franks Media Release -- Governance & Constitution

Cunning words deep in the constitution for GlobalCo negate regulatory package protections Agriculture Minister Jim Sutton intended for the dairy industry, says ACT Commerce spokesman Stephen Franks.

He has written to the agriculture spokespersons for all parties warning that the Select Committee may need to restore the intent of the package.

“I won our office sweep on the likely vote in favour (predicting 84%). Now I predict that farmers will be calling on Parliament over the next month or so to cure some serious defects in the proposed structure.”

Mr Franks said needed changes include: * compensating farmers who will lose when the milk price cross-subsidies end, * reducing the risk of Globalco losing both capital and volume efficiency when suppliers exit, * overriding the slippery words in the constitution that make fair value a deceptive term.

For more information visit ACT online at http://www.act.org.nz or contact the ACT Parliamentary Office at act@parliament.govt.nz.

© 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>>