Escalating prison costs salt in the wound for Waikato taxpayers

The so-called Auckland regional prison at Meremere has left a legacy of wounds on the people of Waikato, says Port Waikato MP Dr Paul Hutchison.

"Department of Corrections policy strongly recommends the prison should have been placed in South Auckland, close to where the prisoners come from.

"Not only has the Labour Government moved it away from safe Labour seats, but the costs have grown out of all proportion.

"The Government claimed the land was cheaper, but that was due to bad information. 1.3 million cubic metres of soil have to be moved before construction can even begin.

"Add to that $1.3 million for iwi consultation, let alone the cost blowout of $62 million for the prison itself, and then it is obvious how badly the whole process has been managed.

"I suspect there are many more examples of mismanagement and cost over-runs to be revealed," said Dr Hutchison.

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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>>