Invest In Youth - Budget 2004

New Zealand First youth affairs spokesperson Craig McNair has called on the Government to increase the youth affairs funding in the upcoming budget.

“We don’t want the portfolio to be overlooked because of its merger with the Ministry of Social Development,” said Mr McNair.

“Most youth are equipped with the attitudes and aptitudes to deal with the pressures that life brings. However for some the challenges are too bewildering to cope with and because of this, youth suicide levels are high.

“Urgency is needed to stop our youth sliding into the trap of crime and drugs, which could possibly lead to suicide, and give them hope for the future.

“Youth suicide is an area that desperately needs extra funding from the budget.

“I hope the Minister will take up this challenge and invest in our nation’s future by giving youth the resources needed to give them the guidance and assistance they require,” said Mr McNair.

© 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>>