Police move a victory for motorists

National's Police spokesman, Tony Ryall, is claiming victory for motorists with the announcement by the Police banning officers from hiding in bushes with their speed cameras.

"It is about time this happened," Mr Ryall says. "We have been calling for an end to this practice for more than a year.

"Public confidence in the Police has been sapped by this Government's aggressive quota ticketing policy.

"During that time, there has been a huge increase in traffic ticketing, but the road toll has gone up.

"As we have consistently said, having a visible police presence on the roads will have a much greater impact on road safety than having officers crawling around hiding under bushes.

“The Government's quota ticketing policies are discrediting the Police. Road safety should be more than revenue gathering," Mr Ryall says.

© 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>>