John Carter National Defence Spokesman

12 July 2004

Orion upgrade - better late than never

National's Defence spokesman John Carter says he would like to 'congratulate' Defence Minister Mark Burton for at long last making an announcement regarding the Orion upgrade.

"But to have taken more than five years to have only reached the contract negotiation stage is an indictment on Mr Burton's leadership.

"And this leadership failure is an embarrassment to the professionalism of our defence force.

"The Orion upgrade is essential if the defence force is to effectively carry out its duties, both here and abroad.

"New Zealand's credibility amongst its traditional allies has slipped under Labour and to only be starting negotiations at this late stage does nothing to restore it," says Mr Carter.

Ends

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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>>