29 July 2001

The call by Energy Minister to cut electricity use should start in his own back yard, National's Commerce spokesperson Tony Ryall said today.

"For the last two nights since Pete Hodgson put out the call, Parliament Buildings have been lit up like a Christmas tree, even though he said the Government would take the lead in urging the state sector to cut power consumption by 15 percent.

"Saving power means everyone has to pitch in; surely this is not another case of the Government saying ' do as I say, not do as I do'?

"For two nights, Parliament Buildings have been lit up with decorative coloured spotlights, with both the forecourt statues and the Parliamentary Library brightly on show.

"The Government should be practising what it preaches. The Energy Minister - who told TV's 'Holmes' Show that even if he could do something, he wouldn't - could try starting in his own workplace," Mr Ryall 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>>