Outdoor Recreation NZ affiliates to United Future

The Outdoor Recreation New Zealand party (ORNZ) has formally affiliated to United Future New Zealand in an arrangement that will see ORNZ candidates running at the next general election under the United Future banner.

“We’re delighted to be part of this significant political development,” said United Future president, Mark Blumsky.

“ORNZ members, with their direct, hands-on experience of the New Zealand natural environment, bring vast knowledge of the environmental issues facing this country.

“They bring practical experience that will allow us to develop commonsense policies for New Zealand that are not held captive by the hysterical, politically-correct, anti-human, anti-science ideological fanatics who claim exclusive knowledge of the environment.”

ORNZ chairman, Paul Check, said “By joining forces with United Future, we plan to be part of the move towards having a responsible, commonsense political party that represents middle New Zealand and plays a crucial role in moderating the excesses of the major parties.

“This relationship preserves the ORNZ identity and its outdoors and environmental focus whilst at the same time providing access to solid and well grounded general policy that is complementary to our own.

“We are not extremists, our members engage in the New Zealand environment in a very practical way and have a keen interest in maintaining it and developing it in a way that includes, not excludes, the vast majority of New Zealanders.”

United Future leader Peter Dunne commented, “This is a highly significant and positive development for United Future as we seek to broaden our appeal to middle New Zealanders. The knowledge and enthusiasm of ORNZ members will add huge value to the party’s energy as we focus our attention on the lead-up to next year’s general election.”

© 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>>