Helen Clark's recent statement on roading sounds like a recipe for more
roads, more trucks, and more damage to the environment, says the Green
Party.

"Labour seems not to have learned from the experience both here and overseas
that building more roads actually generates more traffic," says Green party
Co-Leader Jeanette Fitzsimons. "If those new roads are built by profit
making companies trying to repay their investment through tolls, the
incentive will be to maximise the number of vehicles on the road.

"We welcome Labour's indication of more investment in public transport, but
they cannot pursue both strategies at once. If we build more roads we will
undermine public transport and rail."

Jeanette Fitzsimons said she was worried by the suggestion that trucks may
pay less under a Labour government, and light vehicles more.

"Reducing user charges for heavy vehicles will just see more trucks on the
road.

"We believe heavy transport pays less then its share of roading costs.
Diesel users contribute nothing to the consolidated fund which pays for many
of the costs of road transport like policing, justice, health and
environmental costs," she said. "Petrol users - normal motorists - are left
footing the bill.

"Policies should be directed at providing the right incentives for heavy
freight to transfer to rail - not only will that make for better driving
conditions, it will make roads cheaper to maintain."

© 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>>