The Labour party has deported party President Bob Harvey to the Northern Hemisphere in an attempt to keep him out of the spotlight during the election campaign.

"It is fairly obvious that the Labour Party is keen to keep Mr Harvey from further embarrassing the party in the middle of an election campaign and have sent him away from New Zealand for three weeks to Britain," said Roger Sowry, Leader of the House.

"I understand that Mr Harvey has ostensibly been sent to Britain to pick up some last minute tips from Prime Minister Tony Blair. It is abundantly clear that what Blair did to win the election was abandon the old style Labour ways, reduce taxes and steer well clear of the unions. I thought that was what Helen Clark's chief media advisor learned when he spent a month with the British Labour Party at the beginning of the year?"

"Mr Harvey could have easily got those tips over the telephone. There is no need to spend days on international flights, feeling jetlagged, and returning exhausted to New Zealand to fight a campaign. Unless, of course, his party suggested it would be in the best interests of the party for Mr Harvey to be out of sight and out of mind, " stated Mr Sowry.

"I understand that Mr Harvey is also visiting the USA on this little trip. I certainly hope he isn't using that time to continue his ridiculous allegations that the CIA assassinated Norm Kirk. Maybe the Labour Party have scheduled some rest and recreation for Mr Harvey at Disneyland?"

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>>