18 August 2004

National Party challenged on Australian comments

Finance Minister Michael Cullen has questioned what National Party leader Don Brash hoped to achieve with criticism of the New Zealand economy in an opinion piece published in today’s Australian Financial Review.

“After his spectacular embarrassment over comments on nuclear ship policy surely Dr Brash has learnt to stay out of commenting internationally – and stick to learning the ropes at home.

Dr Brash suggests in the article that “down the track [there is a risk that] New Zealand would become just another Pacific island state, larger than most, to be sure, but potentially suffering from the same kinds of problems.”

Dr Cullen reminds Dr Brash that New Zealand’s growth performance continues to outperform the OECD average with the economy growing at more than twice the rate of the OECD average in the recent quarter.

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>>