RBNZ proposal to Cabinet in near future

Finance Minister Michael Cullen confirmed today that he would be taking to the Cabinet a recommendation from the Reserve Bank for a more active role in the foreign exchange market.

“As anyone who has been following my statements on monetary policy management over recent months will know, I am strongly supportive of the change and will be recommending it to my ministerial colleagues.

“The Cabinet paper incorporating the Bank’s advice is still being drafted. I would expect to be in a position to take it to the Cabinet in the near future.”

Dr Cullen will be consulting with other political parties to achieve a parliamentary majority for the change which will require a motion in Parliament.

© 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>>