Left-Wing Ideology Overrules Common Sense In Forestry Policy

Treasurer and Clutha-Southland MP Bill English said Labour's plan to shut down indigenous forestry operations on Crown land showed that Labour would always let left-wing ideology overrule common sense.

"Labour talks about economic development and support for rural people, but the words are hollow.

"Left-wing ideology has overruled common sense and normal people will pay the price when they have to sign up for the dole instead of working for a living.

"Our rural communities can't survive unless they've got a viable economic base. People need real jobs from real industries, not hand-outs from economic development trusts.

"Labour's indigenous forestry policy is a direct attack on the livelihoods of people in Western Southland and on the West Coast and it shows that Helen Clark is willing to pick on people who live a long way from Wellington. At the first hurdle Labour is prepared to shut down multi-million dollar industries. All the soothing noises about development trusts are meaningless because meetings of bureaucrats will never replace real work.

"The best way to ensure the forestry industry continues to be viable in Western Southland and on the Coast is through the Government's policy of sustainable logging," said Mr English.

Ends

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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>>