11 June 2004

Lavs: More Money Down The Drain

New Zealand First Defence Spokesman Ron Mark today echoed the concerns which dominated the front page of today’s NBR regarding the unsuitability and costs of the LAV3s.

“It is an outrage to think that after warning the government for the past several years that these LAVs were duds, we now discover that they are also causing a defense budget blowout of more than $40million.

“This is simply more money down the drain for a vehicle which can’t perform even its most basic functions.

“Adverse publicity over the LAVs has shown not only that they can’t be operated in the wet when it gets muddy, they are also a liability in the battlefield, with the Americans who are using them in Iraq labeling them ‘widow makers’, said Mr Mark

“Sadly, it seems the only thing these LAVs are capable of is getting speeding tickets on the open road as the front page of today’s Dominion Post highlights.

‘Maybe that’s why we were duped into buying them from shady overseas defence dealers in the first place – to provide expensive drag machines for defence force personnel.

“This $750million mistake will soon become a billion dollar blunder, as the blowouts continue. It must be stopped now,” said Mr Mark

ENDS

© 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>>