Internal Affairs Minister Jack Elder deserves congratulations for stopping casino control authority members from taking spouses on a trip to the Bahamas and Las Vegas, Green MP Rod Donald says.

"Mr Elder has finally woken up to the fact that members of yet another organisation under his control are leading the life of Reilly," Mr Donald said.

"He deserves to be congratulated for putting a stop to this extraordinary extravagance, but he should have known that fully funded overseas junkets have been common practice for authority members and their spouses from the outset.

"I have been reliably informed that they have had trips to the United States, Asia and Australia, each time travelling business class and staying in top hotels.

"I don't think it matters a damn that the casino industry, which finances the authority, has not complained. This is yet another example of the lack of control by the Government of organisations which it has delegated responsibilities to," he said.

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>>