ACT's agriculture spokesman Gerry Eckhoff will present the first petition to the new Parliament when it is convened this week.

Around 3,000 people have signed a petition to the House of Representatives calling for a select committee enquiry into the recent flooding near Alexandra.

Mr Eckhoff says Alexandra residents want the cause of the flood determined, and analysis of where the responsibilities and liabilities lie.

"Alexandra residents want to ensure the safety and future well-being of their town as well as its future development," Mr Eckhoff said today.

"While the benefits to New Zealanders from the building of the Roxburgh dam have been immense, the people of Alerxandra have had no benefit from this asset and now have their safety compromised because of it."

Mr Eckhoff, from Alexandra, is one of three farmer MPs in the ACT caucus, and has responsibilities for conservation and land information as well as agriculture.

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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>>