The Alliance says the government and Employers' Federation are working in unison.

This afternoon National's Tony Ryall leapt to the defence of the Employers' Federation. The Federation came under fire yesterday for showing partisan support for National.

"The mere fact that Tony Ryall is defending the Employers' Federation shows that National sees them as the government's cheerleaders," Alliance Leader Jim Anderton said.

"Of the 35 media releases on the Employers Federation website since July 1998, 26% of them support National and 9% are against National. None support the Alliance or Labour on any issue and a whopping 34% attack the Alliance or Labour. Interestingly 7 out of 10 of these releases can fairly be said to be anywhere other than neutral.

"Headlines such as 'Alliance attitude to jobs disappointing', 'Employer paid parental leave not popular', 'Labour fails to consider the whole picture' contrast sharply to headlines such as 'PM Statement promising', 'Cabinet re-shuffle sensible planning' and 'Government announcements reflect economic reality'.

"Tony Ryall and his mates in the Employers Federation fool no one. Unfortunately the voice of Employers in New Zealand has been taken over by the National Party at a time when business in New Zealand is crying out for more stable government than the National government can ever provide,' Jim Anderton said.

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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>>