Greens praise moratorium; call on Govt to extend it

The Green Party is backing the Government's decision to hold a five-year moratorium on all new school reviews, but is calling on it to go further and stop current reviews and reconsider the 67 proposed closures already announced.

"Today's decision is a victory for all those schools, parents and communities that have fought the review process," Green Co-Leader Rod Donald said.

"The Education Minister appears to have finally listened to what parents, teachers and communities have been saying for the past year. But it is ludicrous for him to accept that the process is flawed while continuing with his current round of closures."

Mr Donald today visited four Invercargill schools that are threatened with closure.

"If Mr Mallard could have been with me today and seen the despair, hurt and frustration that parents, pupils and teachers are feeling as a result of his plans to shut down perfectly viable schools he would stop this process in its tracks.

"It will be a tragedy if, after all the great work they have done in publicising and fighting these closures, their own schools fall victim to the Minister's failed plan," said Mr Donald.

"Till they, too, are taken off the hit-list the Green Party will redouble its efforts to save our schools."

© 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.

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>>