Westhaven Purchase Extreme Folly

ACT New Zealand Acting Leader Ken Shirley today said that it was extreme folly for the Labour Government to purchase Westhaven Marina - as is its move to buy Hobson West Marina.

"This move is incredibly worrying - this is not the sort of business that a government should own or operate," Mr Shirley said.

"Further, this move has ominous connotations, indicating that the Government may now be purchasing similar marine-related facilities around the country.

"Labour does not need to own or operate such facilities in order for public access to be assured, and I am not confident that Government ownership will lead to a god development in this prime coastal locality.

"It would also be interesting to know what the other bids were - which would shed light on just how careless the Labour Government has been with the taxpayer chequebook," Mr Shirley said.

© 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>>