Local MP concerned over storm aid package

After spending two days in the storm-struck lower North Island Rangitikei MP Simon Power says many places he has visited are still in chaos.

He says that while victims of the storm are welcoming news of a Government aid package, he remains concerned it will not be enough.

"The Government has got to come up with the goods," says Mr Power.

"The region will be thrown into further turmoil if this package proves to be little more than a public relations spin job.

"If the Government could find millions for Cyclone Heta victims in Niue, and just last week contributed $370,000 to North Korea's United Nations World Food Programme, it must provide similar support to these devastated areas.

"The region needs help now.

"The local people are in desperate need of financial assistance and I look forward to Civil Defence Minister George Hawkins delivering immediately on his Government's promises," says Mr Power.

© Scoop Media

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.

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