The Defence Minister has damaged his credibility by admitting on radio that he hadn't seen the Auditor General's draft report on the LAVs (light armoured vehicles), ACT leader Richard Prebble says.

"It seems Mr Burton is going to be the last person to know that the Auditor General is about to severely criticise the government's purchase of 105 LAV3s, that were originally estimated to cost just over $200 million. The price has now more than tripled," Mr Prebble said.

"I stand by my claim that the report will show that the correct procedures for purchasing large capital equipment were not followed. The Minister failed to ask questions that any good manager would put.

"The report will show that Cabinet acted against the advice of the government's principal military advisor.

"This government has been criticising, with some validity, the previous National government's purchase of the Charles Upham. The loss on the Charles Upham is about $20 million but the loss on the LAV3s will be more like $600 million.

"The Opposition will be making further revelations of reckless incompetence by the government in the purchase," Mr Prebble 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>>