NZ opposition leader says his party is target of smear campaign over hacking claims

Reuters - New Zealand's opposition National Party leader Simon Bridges on Wednesday (May 29) furiously defended claims that theTreasury website was attacked 2,000 times in two days by hackers seeking access to budget details, a day after his opposition party leaked details of the economic plan. Bridges bristled at the implication that National had been involved in any hacking and said Treasurer Grant Robertson was lying and smearing the National Party - though he still refused to say how he obtained the budget details. New Zealand's Treasury said that the website had been hacked as the leak of the budget information sparked a furore around the much-anticipated budget - due on Thursday (May 30) - that Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has promised would overhaul the approach to the nation's accounts. The attacks are being investigated by police.