Media release Monday, October 15th, 2001

Local election signal - back to business

The outcome of the local authority elections in the north showed a decisive swing towards candidates with business experience prepared to take a business-like approach to meeting the challenges their councils face, the Employers & Manufacturers Association (Northern) says.

"Business friendly candidates scored highly in many councils," said Alasdair Thompson, EMA's chief executive.

"For many councils the balance of power has shifted very strongly towards candidates with demonstrable business acumen. This is very reassuring for local enterprise.

"In Auckland the public plainly wants rapid action on traffic congestion. Just as plainly, people recognise the fastest and most cost-effective way to ease congestion will be through completing the roading network envisaged nearly 40 years ago.

"Auckland's business associations campaigned hard for better roads, and people responded.

"It serves no useful purpose for cabinet ministers in central government to say the voters got it wrong.

"EMA will be monitoring what candidates told us in our survey on their rating and roading policies, and how they perform in council."

Comments: Alasdair Thompson tel 09 367 0911 (b)

09 303 3951 (h)

025 982 024

© 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>>