Bolger's Appointment Increases ACT's Fears About People's Bank

Jim Bolger's appointment as chairman of NZ Post and the People's Bank is a sign of the government's desperation, ACT leader Richard Prebble says.

"If the Labour/Alliance coalition believed the People's Bank was going to be a success, they'd have given it as a reward to one of their own," Mr Prebble said.

"Of course, what they really wanted was a banker but they couldn't find anyone with banking credibility who'd take the job.

"If the government thinks that by appointing a former National Party politician it will silence the Opposition, they're mistaken. As independent commentators have pointed out, the effective opposition to the People's Bank has been the ACT Party, not National. The appointment of Jim Bolger, if anything, increases our concerns.

"I'm pleased but not surprised that the government couldn't find an ACT supporter to chair the new bank. Sir Roger Douglas and Ruth Richardson value their reputations too much," 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>>