The independent study into rail privatisation vindicates the decision to sell, says former rail Minister Richard Prebble.

"The study not only shows how all New Zealanders have benefited from privatisation, it also shows that the private investors have not made the windfall profits that Alliance MPs keep alleging.

"The $1 billion benefit to New Zealand is a huge sum, equal to 1% of GDP. I believe that studies of other privatised industries would show similar benefits to the consumers.

"The paper should be matched by a similar study of the cost of not privatising TVNZ, the baby ECNZs and other businesses still owned by the taxpayer. The cost of holding on to TVNZ alone is costing the taxpayer at least $100 million a year in lost value.

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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>>