26 November 2001 Media Statement

British Deputy Prime Minister to visit

Prime Minister Helen Clark announced today that British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott will visit New Zealand from 30 November to 4 December.

John Prescott will meet ministers in Wellington on Monday. He will make calls on Helen Clark and Deputy Prime Minister Jim Anderton, and attend a cabinet luncheon. He will also call on the Leader of the Opposition.

Helen Clark said that in his current role as First Minister of State, Mr Prescott has a key role in a project aimed at improving the co-ordination of British government activity.

“I am looking forward to discussing this with him, as the New Zealand government is also working to improve co-ordination between state agencies.
“Mr Prescott has also been closely involved with negotiations over the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. He will be giving an address in Wellington on climate change and the Kyoto Protocol, as well as discussing the issues with ministers and officials.

“On Saturday Mr Prescott will visit the GBR Challenge America’s Cup base at the Viaduct Basin in Auckland.

“On Sunday he will address the New Zealand Labour Party’s annual conference, which is being held on Auckland’s North Shore.

“John Prescott is a good friend to New Zealand, which he has visited frequently since the early 1950s. He was last here in 1997, when he also met ministers on environmental issues,” Helen Clark 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>>