Wednesday, September 19 2001

The New Zealand Customs Service should avoid using its draconian powers to prosecute exporters for not filling out their forms correctly, ACT Industry and Regional Spokesman Owen Jennings said today.

"Our country needs exports desperately. What we don't need is bureaucrats demanding compliance, with threats of $5000 fines.

"Information gathering is important - but exporters already face a barrage of compliance costs that are having a detrimental effect on business performance.

"Despite regular promises, the Labour Alliance Government seems unwilling or unable to check the growing frustration of businesses over compliance costs.

"Having a Government agency making heavy threats over a few exporters running late with their form-filling is an unnecessary addition to an already unsatisfactory compliance cost environment," Owen Jennings 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>>