It is not just the West Coast, but the whole of the South Island that will suffer from the Government's decision not to allow gold mining on conservation land at Reefton, says Nelson MP Nick Smith.

"This $500 million project promised employment spin-offs for Nelson, Canterbury and Otago as well as around 200 new jobs for the West Coast.

"Substantial heavy engineering works were being negotiated with Brightwater Engineers in Nelson which would have meant an additional 20 jobs. The ore was to be processed in Palmerston supporting 30 jobs in North Otago. And Canterbury misses out with the loss of millions of dollars in transport, construction and support services, amounting to around 30 jobs.

"South Island MP's and community leaders need to come forward on this issue and write in support of the calls for a review of this decision.

"Our communities need balanced conservation decision-making and not this ideological purism from Sandra Lee and Helen Clark," Nick Smith 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>>