Anderton challenges National candidate to front up with senior Nats for a Whanganui debate

Alliance leader Jim Anderton says a news release issued by the National Party’s Whanganui candidate Chester Borrows shows Mr Borrows is deeply embarrassed about the policies of the party he is standing for and doesn’t seem to understand them.

“The abusive tone of the National Party’s press release and its harassment of the Alliance Whanganui candidate Deb Frederikse is regrettable. I have some advice for Mr Borrows: The letter sets out in plain language the likely policies of a National-Act Government. If he doesn’t like it, he shouldn’t be standing for them,” Jim Anderton said.

And there’s a challenge: The Alliance leader says he will return to Whanganui for a public debate with Mr Borrows if the Whanganui National party can get any National front-bencher to debate him as well.

“If Mr Borrows wants to challenge the contents of the letter he can put up and if he won’t he should shut up. Get Mrs Shipley to Whanganui, and Deb Frederikse and I will debate her and Mr Borrows at a venue of the National Party’s choosing.”

Jim Anderton says he takes personal responsibility for every word of the letter sent to Whanganui homes, as it came directly from his desk.

“If Mr Borrows doesn’t like the contents of it, then he doesn’t like the prospect of the National-Act Government. He better vote Alliance.”

Will National-Act sell the roading and charge New Zealanders to use them?
“Transport Minister Maurice Williamson wants roads run by companies. What is New Zealand’s experience of turning public utilities over to companies? Ever heard of Telecom? Did the National Party ever promise never to sell Contact? Yes.”

Would a National-Act Government charge fees for public schools?
“It is Act party policy to charge fees for all schools, just like the Government is charging for university study. Under an Act-National Government, this policy is likely to be one of the concessions Mr Borrows’ National party makes to get Act’s support. For example, Act’s education policy reads, “In Act’s budget, schools are funded directly by the people who use the service: the parents.” (Page 6).

“In the Auckland suburb of Ponsonby, a state intermediate school is already charging kids $700 a year. Does Mr Borrows realise that schools in Whanganui are so badly underfunded, they are forced to charge hefty activity fees now?”

Would National-Act cut expenditure in health and superannuation?
“National is already cutting services to patients and privatising hospitals and pouring hundreds of millions of dollars a year of public money into private hospitals instead. Planned National Party tax –cuts can only be funded out of cuts to essential social services…the money has to come from somewhere!

“National cut superannuation on 1 April this year. It broke its solemn promise, contained in the Accord, that superannuation should keep pace with average wages. It has now set up a ‘Super Taskforce’ to cut super to a means-tested benefit at the level of the dole. Mr Borrows is standing for a party that has repeatedly broken its most solemn promises on superannuation and nothing the National Party says about super can ever be believed.”

Jim Anderton said Mr Borrows’ complaints to National’s head office about the leaflet wouldn’t do much good.

“This letter was produced to personally advise Whanganui residents that I would be speaking in their city. Similar letters have gone out elsewhere and National’s campaign organiser Jeff Grant said on television that he thought the campaign was very good.

“The distribution of the letter was free. Not one postage stamp came out of taxpayers’ funds. It was put in letterboxes by Alliance members. If Mr Borrows hasn’t got enough members in Whanganui to deliver leaflets, I’m not really surprised,” Jim Anderton said.

Visit http://www.alliance.org.nz for more information about the Alliance

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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>>