Labour Party Ilam Candidate Announced

The New Zealand Labour Party are pleased to announce that local businessman Julian Blanchard will contest the Ilam constituency seat in the 2005 general election.

In a hotly contested candidacy, Blanchard saw off competition from other local identities such as Ola Kamel, Eddie Clark and Pam Wheeler.

Julian Blanchard is a 29 year old businessman who works for Connect Southern in Fitzgerald Avenue for the last five years. He has been involved with the Labour Party for many years and is the Grandson of former Labour MP for Timaru and Speaker of the House, Sir Basil Arthur. He has a young family and has played representative cricket and rugby.

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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>>