‘Civil war’ comments inflammatory nonsense

United Future leader Peter Dunne today denounced remarks by Associate Maori Affairs Minister John Tamihere that the election of a National Government could lead to civil war.

“At a time when cool heads, commonsense and rational thinking are desperately needed, such remarks are inflammatory nonsense and do not reflect well on a Minister who up till now has been the voice of reason,” said Mr Dunne.

“Reasonable people cannot condone such remarks in the same way as they cannot condone the urban myths being promoted by the National Party as it seeks to boost its poll ratings by driving divisions between Maori and non-Maori New Zealanders.

“It is time for the two main political parties to start coming together on the fundamental issue of the best way forward for New Zealand, rather than continuing to snipe at each other.

“Headline-hunting is not the path towards true nation-building,” said Mr Dunne.

© 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>>