National Party Arts, Culture and Heritage Spokeswoman

26 October 2004

Arts Minister must say if River Queen to fly or sink

The Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, Helen Clark, needs to front up to taxpayers and reassure them that their investment in the film River Queen isn't about to be flushed down the river, National MP Georgina te Heuheu says.

Mrs te Heuheu was referring to news that filming has been delayed yet again, this time by the termination of director Vincent Ward's contract.

"No doubt the private investors in this production will be asking the hard questions about the cost of further delays.

"In the same way, taxpayers are entitled to know that their investment, which constitutes more than a quarter of the $20 million project, is secure", Mrs te Heuheu says.

"The Minister must front up and tell taxpayers whether or not their money is safe."

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>>