subject: 15 June, 2004 ----- WYSIWYG NEWS ------------------------------- Copyright, Brian Harmer
The smell of paint is everywhere. Mary and I are living in an ever decreasing oasis of cardboard boxes in the yet un-refurbished parts of the house. Each morning at 7:30 while it is still dark, our painters arrive, unpack their lunch, their brushes and their overalls, and set themselves up for the day ahead, as we depart for the working day elsewhere. Already, at the end of the day, we can see areas that look as they are supposed to when the job is done. We are taking the opportunity to simplify the treasures that we have hoarded over the 24 years we have been in the house, and the material to be discarded has taken on a life of its own. Last weekend, we had discarded sufficient material to warrant the hire of a trailer and a trip to the local landfill. It is a long while since that last happened. For us, this is out at Silverstream, behind the old and now disused hospital built by the US Military in WWII, up a long road into the hills, across the weighbridge emerging $10 lighter, and following the detailed road signs to the transfer station. Transfer station? Landfills have moved on since the days when you followed hand-scrawled signs and the swirling flock of gulls to the tip face. Instead, you now back up to some big baulks of timber that stop you falling into the trough, and you tip, push, spill or throw your treasures down the hole. A huge rubber tyred front end load snarls and growls and tramps its bucket on obstinate bits as it takes your memories away to a place of decent and tidy interment. Where once a noisome festering heap might have marred the landscape, there are now rolling landscapes, lightly grassed, and rather park- like except for the large pipes emerging from the ground and carrying away the methane gas generated by the underground decomposing mess, to a large concrete block building containing what I believe to be four large diesel generators converting the waste gas into electricity for supply to the local grid. What am I doing? I have been told from time to time that I write a lot of rubbish. I guess I just proved it! See you next week, hopefully with a more picturesque scene. ----- Any text above this point, and all subsequent material in parentheses, and concluded with the initials "BH" is the personal opinion of Brian Harmer as editor of this newsletter, or occasionally "HH" will indicate an opinion from Helen. In all cases they are honest expressions of personal opinion, and are not presented as fact. All news items (except where noted otherwise) are reproduced by kind permission of copyright owner, Newstalk ZB News All copyright in the news items reproduced remains the property of The Radio Network Limited. ---- Formatting this week is sponsored by a donor who preferred to remain anonymous, but who is no less appreciated. Many thanks. On with the news. Monday, 07 June ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MEAT NZ CRITICISED OVER FOOD LABELLING -------------------------------------- Meat exporters are reminding the Greens the market might not work as simply as they imagine. The party has criticised Meat New Zealand for stifling efforts to bring in mandatory country of origin labelling on foods. The Pork Industry and vegetable growers are said to support the labelling regime. Meat New Zealand chairman Jeff Grant says their stance does not prevent them from meeting strict safety guidelines. He says consumer preferences should be sorted out by the market. The Greens are disappointed Meat New Zealand has convinced the government to oppose the labelling regime, before public submissions are heard. Jeff Grant says the government is doing the right thing by keeping its nose out of this issue. He says there is the danger that the government could write rules that don't fit the product, which makes it difficult to sell offshore. ALLEGED UNDIE NICKER IN COURT ----------------------------- A man police allege is a repeat underwear burglar in Whangarei has been caught in a sting. Women from four houses in Kensington have had their underwear repeatedly nicked over the past two months. Senior Sergeant Murray Stapp says of particular concern was the fact that on many occasions the offender wrote messages on the garments for the owners to find. A 31-year-old man appears in the Whangarei District Court today on four charges of burglary and one of criminal harassment. RURAL DAY CARE CENTRE WORRIES ----------------------------- Longer courses for early childhood education staff could result in a shortage of qualified staff in rural areas. Rural Women New Zealand says pre-school education courses once involved students studying for 18 months, but they must now complete a three-year course. National councillor Jacky Stafford says most centres are staffed by mothers and many potential candidates in rural areas may be put off by the length of the course. She says many rural families will also miss out on the Government's new policy of 20 hours of free education for three- and four- year-olds because many country daycare centres are privately run. DRUG TAKING RISKS IGNORED ------------------------- A Wellington drug education agency is frustrated that people are still ignoring the risks associated with drug taking. Two men and a woman were taken to hospital and were in intensive care after overdosing on the Class B drug, liquid fantasy at the Phoenix Bar in the capital. They were later discharged with no ill effects. But WellTrust spokeswoman Pauline Gardiner is disappointed that people are still taking risks with dangerous substances. She says it may be that it will take deaths before people take her organisation's message on board. NORTH ISLAND SKI-BUNNIES KEPT WAITING ------------------------------------- Mt Hutt is open for business, but North Island ski- bunnies still have some time to wait. Mt Ruapehu got a dusting of snow this weekend but the scheduled date for opening the Turoa field is still 10 days away. Whakapapa is not scheduled to open until the end of the month. Ski Area manager Chris Thrupp says the mountain gained up to 30cm of snow this weekend on top of about 15cm already there. DOG RESTRICTIONS IN CONSERVATION AREAS -------------------------------------- New measures will soon be in place for taking dogs into conservation areas in the East Coast/Hawke's Bay regions. Conservator Peter Williamson says too many kiwi have been killed recently by dogs that are not under control. He says the Department of Conservation will start using legislation in the Conservation and Reserves Acts to control the taking of dogs into named scenic reserves, conservation areas and forest parks where there are ground-nesting birds. He says staff are currently setting up a permit system to allow dogs used for hunting pigs and deer to be taken into selected areas of public conservation land. NO MORE SIGNS OF VARROA ----------------------- There no further sign of a bee pest which threatens the South Island bee industry. A deformed Varroa mite was found in a hive in Oxford on Friday, but further tests of 100 nearby hives have shown no further evidence of the pest. Testing of all hives owned by the beekeeper will continue over the next week. MAF's Varroa Programme Coordinator Paul Bolger says the tests will not eliminate whether there are other infected hives in the neighbourhood, with just one infected bee drifting into the hive being tested. Paul Bolger says movement controls on all hives and bees in North Canterbury are still in place. Tuesday, 08 June ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CHARGES INCREASED IN SHEARER CASE --------------------------------- The two Hastings 16-year-olds charged with assaulting Australian shearer Mathew Larkins have had their charges increased to manslaughter. The 34-year-old died last Wednesday having never regained consciousness from an unprovoked attack on a street ten days before. After appearing in the Hastings youth court today, the pair have been remanded until July 12. One is in the custody of Child Youth and Family, the other was released on bail with strict conditions. CHLORINE MYSTERY SOLVED ----------------------- Police are satisfied there was nothing sinister behind a chlorine scare at Parkview Primary in Christchurch. Eighteen pupils and three teachers were rushed to hospital after breathing what smelt like chlorine fumes. The fumes came from a toilet block after a little boy used the urinal. Detective Senior Sergeant Grant Wormald says they have traced them to a small canister of chemicals put into the urinal by a relieving cleaner at the weekend. He says school cleaners have used the same product in the past with no ill effects. He says it is possible other cleaning products were also used and when the urinal was used it set off a chemical chain reaction. All 21 people affected by the fumes have been released from hospital. Police say they are now satisfied there was no intent behind the incident. Detective Senior Sergeant Grant Wormald says the usual cleaners were away over the weekend and it appears the relievers used different products in the toilets. MAN IN CUSTODY AFTER ALLEGED BEATING ------------------------------------ A Napier woman will undergo facial surgery after a severe beating. Police were alerted to a domestic incident just after 4am on Monday when neighbours notified them of thumping noises and frightened children screaming on the roadside. Senior Sergeant John Lovitt says a 32-year-old man is in custody after allegedly beating the woman with a metal pipe from a vacuum cleaner. He says the man fled the scene in a car which also struck a patrol car and two cars belonging to members of the public. The man's car was eventually stopped by spikes laid on the Brookfields bridge. Senior Sergeant Lovitt says the woman suffered serious head and facial injuries and will undergo surgery in Palmerston North hospital today. (I wonder if, when this person gets to jail, his fellow inmates will give him some of the same. - BH) BUILDING SITE VICTIM'S NAME RELEASED ------------------------------------ The police have released the name of the seven-year-old boy who died at a building site in West Auckland over the weekend. Jay Scott was killed when panels of gib-board fell on him at an unattended housing development in Swanson on Sunday. His classmates at Swanson primary school are undergoing counselling after being told of the tragedy and a Group Special Education crisis team is at the school. Principal Kay Wright says the school is also talking with the boy's family and doing everything it can to support them. She says it is a terrible tragedy. The death has been referred to the coroner. GAMBLERS LOSE $1.9B IN FINANCIAL YEAR ------------------------------------- Nearly two billion dollars was gambled away during the last financial year. The Department of Internal Affairs says gross profits or gamblers' losses reached $1.9 billion. Casino and gaming machine gambling have grown 18 to 23 percent a year over the past five years. The entire gambling industry turns over more than $9 billion a year. >From July, schools, churches and other groups that use raffles, housie or non-gaming machine gambling to raise money will not need licences, or have to pay fees if their total prize pool does not exceed $5,000. CIVIL DEFENCE AGENCIES ON LAHAR ALERT ------------------------------------- Civil Defence agencies say they will be ready when the lahar strikes. While Mt Ruapehu's Crater Lake level remains reasonably stable, the agencies planning for the event are very active. Regional councils, the Department of Conservation, the Ministry of Civil Defence and the police continue to hold regular planning meetings to prepare for the mudslide. The group is establishing an information brochure detailing which areas are likely to be affected and the implications the lahar will have for travellers, mountain and river users and residents of the area. The lahar threat comes about following eruptions in 1995 and 96 from Mt Ruapehu, which emptied the crater lake and deposited seven metres of material including ash and sandy particles over the former lake outlet at the top of the Whangaehu River. The new dam which formed creates an unstable container for the lake when it refills. The crater lake is 81 percent full and unless another eruption empties it, its level is predicted to reach the top of the dam sometime between late this year and 2005. It is highly probable the dam will fail, creating the risk of a lahar. NZ'S HEALTH SYSTEM IN THE SPOTLIGHT ----------------------------------- The performance of New Zealand's healthcare system is in the spotlight in a report prepared for the Commonwealth Fund. It looks at the health care systems of New Zealand, Australia, the UK, US and Canada and how they can be improved. It says New Zealanders report the fewest problems accessing after-hours care, getting same day appointments and waiting for emergency care. The improvement in asthma mortality is described as a true success story. On the downside, the report says the country's suicide rate is higher than the other four countries and New Zealand has the lowest rate of breast cancer screening. The report is the Commonwealth Fund's first, from its International Working Group on Quality Indicators, for the health ministers of New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. It provides detailed data on 40 key healthcare quality indicators to help benchmark and compare healthcare system performance. Wednesday, June 9 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PETROL, DIESEL PRICES DROP AGAIN -------------------------------- A round of fuel price cuts is underway. BP and Shell have both dropped pump prices this afternoon by three cents a litre, taking 91 grade petrol to 118.9 cents a litre in most areas and diesel to 71.9 cents a litre. It follows last Friday's across the board drop of two cents a litre. World crude prices have dipped in the past week following OPEC's decision to boost production. (Again? It hasn't dropped anywhere near as often as it rose in the preceding three months! - BH) JOHNSON - "I DESERVE JAIL" -------------------------- The woman sent to jail for seven years after injuring a group Northland partygoers and killing one of them says she deserves a prison sentence. Twenty-year-old Julie Johnson drove her car into the crowd at a party in the Whangarei suburb of Kamo in February last year, killing 16-year-old Renee Brown. Thirteen others were injured. Johnson was cleared of the murder of Miss Brown and of causing grievous bodily harm and injury with intent to 15 others. The judge has said there is no minimum prison sentence for Johnson. He says mitigating factors in the decision included having a violent family life, no previous convictions and being highly intoxicated at the time of the incident. In a note given to the judge, Johnson said she does not care about the sentence because she knows she deserved it. She says she's deeply sorry but knows that will not bring Renee back. Whangarei saw street demonstrations over the weekend by people who had been injured in the incident and their families, who say the justice system has let them down. E-MAIL SCANDAL HITS WORK & INCOME --------------------------------- An investigation has been launched following the alleged circulation of an offensive e-mail by Work and Income staff. It is claimed the e-mail contained racially offensive material. Work and Income deputy chief executive Ray Smith says they are treating the matter very seriously as that sort of behaviour would be completely unacceptable. He says it would fall far short of the level of professionalism and impartiality which the department expects of its staff. Mr Smith says more details will be available once the investigation is completed. FARMER BLASTS COUNCIL OVER FLOODS --------------------------------- A Horowhenua farmer claims a lot of the damage suffered in the February floods could have been avoided. Ian Easton says he lost an uninsured crop worth $1.4 million in the flood. He and three other Whirokino farmers have lodged a claim with the Manawatu-Wanganui Regional council asking for compensation for $3 million-worth of uninsured damage. Mr Easton commissioned an independent report on the failed Moutoa floodway. He says it shows that the council overlooked how the design of the Whirokino Bridge could affect the flow of water. He says questions need to be asked. Ian Easton says they are still waiting for the Council's insurer to contact them. POLICE INVESTIGATE TRIPLE-FATAL CRASH ------------------------------------- Police have released the names of three people killed in a road smash north of Wellington yesterday afternoon. They were Arthur and Violet Gandy of Papakowhai and Kenneth Jones of Camborne. The three were leaving a burial at Whenua Tapu Cemetery when their car smashed into a northbound truck. Inspector John Spence says inquiries are continuing to establish what caused the crash. He says interviews are still being carried out with witnesses, including the truck driver who escaped with a leg injury. He says it is still not known just why the car apparently pulled out straight into the path of the truck. WEATHER OBSCURES VENUS' PATH ---------------------------- English weather got the better of a group of New Zealand students watching the Transit of Venus. But 16-year-old Nelson Boys' College student Patrick Downey still describes it as an amazing sight. Nine students from three schools won a Royal Society competition to visit England to witness Venus pass between Earth and the Sun. Patrick says it was great to see the very thing he had been studying for so long, but a shame the weather was not better as cloud prevented him seeing as much as he would have liked. The Nelson Boys' group also met famous physicist Professor Stephen Hawking, which Patrick Downey describes as "pretty neat." The school groups have another day of sight-seeing before heading back to New Zealand. ZESPRI PROFITS UP NEARLY 60% ---------------------------- Zespri has unveiled another big profit to notch up an extraordinary six years in a row of record-setting sales figures. The Tauranga-based kiwifruit marketer reported an increase in net profit of nearly 60 percent for the year ending in March. Chairman Craig Greenlees says profits were up $8.5 million on the previous year, with significantly higher global sales. He says the record performance was driven by exceptional results in Europe, Japan and East Asia. BOSSES WANT NO CHANGE TO OCR ---------------------------- The Employers and Manufacturers Association is calling on the Reserve Bank to carefully consider leaving interest rates unchanged. Financial experts are tipping that Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard will increase the official cash rate by 0.25 basis points when reviewing the monetary policy statement tomorrow. The official cash rate is currently 5.5 percent. But EMA chief executive Alasdair Thompson says there are many reasons why the OCR should remain unchanged. He says there is a long list of deflationary pressures at work, including a net migration loss in March and a possible US current account deficit blow-out. He says the Reserve Bank Governor needs to hold things steady this time round. LANDLORDS WARNED AS HOMELESS SEEK WARMTH ---------------------------------------- Homeless people in Christchurch are again occupying empty houses to keep out of the winter weather. Police claim two people broke into an empty house last month, turned the oven on for heat, then fell asleep in a room upstairs. Senior Sergeant Colin Campbell says some people even resort to ripping down walls and lighting fires to keep warm. He says some of the people are heavily intoxicated and can be quite violent. Police are warning landlords to keep an eye on vacant property to avoid such situations. HELP FOR SEXUALLY-TROUBLED KIDS ------------------------------- Sexual therapy sessions for children as young as seven are being started up in Waikato. Parentline's child and family therapist Paul Flanagan will head the group called problem wrestlers. He says the aim is to help children who display inappropriate sexual behaviour, before they end up in the criminal justice system. He says in most cases the children's behaviour is a reaction to something they have seen, including pornographic images on the Internet or TV, or even seeing their parents having sex. Mr Flanagan says the courses will help both the children and their caregivers to deal with the behaviour and he hopes children will gain a healthier view of sexuality. He says that although it is natural for kids to explore their sexuality, in problem cases, the children have stepped over the line of what is considered normal. Thursday, 10 June ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PETROL PRICES HEAD SOUTH ------------------------ All of the major oil companies have followed the lead of Shell and BP and lowered petrol prices by a further three cents. Caltex, Mobil and Gull made the change on Wednesday night. This follows a drop of two cents on Friday after a drop in oil prices worldwide, hard on the back of record highs just last month. A litre of 91 now costs around 118.9 cents. Despite the falls, prices are still a long way off those being offered at the end of April when 91 was selling for 111.9 cents. FED FARMERS LAUNCHES '10K RATES CLUB' ------------------------------------- Farmers paying thousands of dollars in rates are being asked to come forward. Federated Farmers is launching the 10K Rates Club at next week's Mystery Creek Field Days to collect examples of farmers paying more than $10,000 a year in general rates. Federated Farmers policy analyst Nigel Billings says property value rating is biased against farming and costs huge sums of money. He believes people will be surprised to learn how many farmers are paying more than $10,000 a year. ALLEGED SCHOOL FIRE LIGHTER IN COURT ------------------------------------ A 27-year-old man has been charged with arson following two school fires in Waikato. The charges relate to a fire at Cambridge High in March and another at Forest Lake Primary three weeks ago. Police allege both fires were deliberately lit in similar circumstances and caused extensive damage to buildings. The unemployed Hamilton man appears in court today. Police say they are now looking into other unsolved arsons of a similar nature in the Hamilton area in recent years. PRIVACY WANTED FOR CAR REGO DETAILS ----------------------------------- The AA believes there should be more restrictions governing who can gain access to vehicle ownership papers. The policy allows anyone to obtain vehicle transfer papers without the consent or knowledge of the legal owner. AA Motoring Policy Manager Jayne Gale says the Government needs to change the system to prevent the possibility of fraud. She says the challenge will be to maintain the quick and simple nature of the current system for honest owners. Jayne Gale says that while the papers do not grant actual ownership, they do create the appearance of it. The AA has been meeting with the Land Transport Safety Authority and the Ministry of Transport to discuss the problem. LTSA spokesman Andy Knackstedt the authority would like to see access to the details restricted, but he admits police would still need access. SHREK APPEARS AT CHARITY EVENT ------------------------------ One woolly and two smooth sheep will be making an appearance at Trentham Raceway on Saturday to raise funds for child health research. Shrek the sheep, famous for his lengthy fleece, will be hosting a charity open day at the race course in an effort to raise around $15,000 for Cure Kids. Trentham chief executive, Eddie Jansen, says he is not the only guest appearance designed to bring in the young and old for the ten-race day and local New Zealand Idol runners-up Luke and Robin will also be singing. Mr Jansen says people can also ride a mechanical horse designed for training jockeys for a gold coin donation towards the cause. PROJECT IDENTIFIES FLOOD PRONE AREAS ------------------------------------ Homeowners will soon be able to learn whether their property is a flood risk. February's flooding in the lower North Island took many Lower Hutt, Manawatu and Wairarapa residents by surprise. But the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research and Geological and Nuclear Sciences are working on a programme to identify which homes are at risk. NIWA scientist Dr Rob Bell says the computer programme will track how a heavy amount of rainfall will affect areas downstream and its human impact by gauging which suburbs will be flooded. Dr Bell says the multi-million-dollar programme will help emergency workers make crucial decisions about when to evacuate people and what protection is needed. FONTERRA'S NEW FORECAST WELCOMED -------------------------------- Dairy farmers are pleased a boost to their incomes. Fonterra has bumped up its forecast payout for the current season from $3.50 per kilogram of milksolids to $3.85. Chairman of Federated Farmers' dairy section Kevin Wooding says it is a shot in the arm for dairy farmers, although they are still hoping for a figure of around $4.00. He says previously a lot of farmers were looking at a red bottom line, so the increase will make a lot of difference and should even pump millions more into the domestic economy. Ian Witters of Macquarie Equities says the increase will lift the average dairy farmer's income by about $7,000. For the following year, the income boost is about $31,000. However there is a warning from the OECD of a long-term downward trend in prices for agricultural goods. It says worldwide production is expected to outpace demand for staples such as milk powder, butter and meat. WILD HORSES MUSTER BEGINS ------------------------- The Department of Conservation has begun its annual muster of Kaimanawa wild horses. It is planning to take about 190 horses from the central North Island herd of 690. DOC says the cull is part of its management plan which limits the herd to about 500 to protect the tussock land habitat near Waiouru, and maintain the horse population in a healthy condition. Spokesman Ross Henderson temporary yards are being set up to muster the horses to. He says 77 homes have been approved for horses to go to, the rest will be fattened by farmers for later slaughter. (How times have changed. I remember huge protests when these things first started. Now they seem to be treated like the start of daylight saving time - BH) Friday, June 11 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NEW ZEALANDER CHAIRS UN COMMITTEE --------------------------------- New Zealand's United Nations representative has been elected to chair a committee on the organisation's spending. Ambassador Don MacKay will oversee the divvying up of the $11 billion budget and the management of 1500 staff. Foreign Minister Phil Goff says the election in New York today reflects the high standing New Zealand has within the United Nations. He says it is tasked with huge challenges such as the rehabilitation of Iraq and Afghanistan, peacekeeping in Africa and human rights. Don MacKay will hold the post for a year. VERDICT OUT ON STATE OF THE NATION ---------------------------------- The verdict is out on last night's State Of The Nation broadcast. Almost half a million viewers tuned in to the TV One special where ordinary New Zealanders talked about race relations. The programme pipped Channel Two's Third Watch for the title of most watched programme. Members of the public were split into two groups, one Maori, one Pakeha and asked a series of questions. Race Relations Commissioner Joris De-Bres says the programme was a useful exercise in getting a good cross section of opinion on race relations. However he says he would have liked to have seen more in-depth analysis of the issues rather than just a snap-shot of opinion. BNZ WARNS OF OVERHEATING ECONOMY -------------------------------- Economists are warning that new trade figures released Friday are likely to give the Reserve Bank something else to worry about. Today's Overseas Trade Indexes showed export and import volumes continuing to surge in the first quarter of the year, and the terms of trade rising even higher. The Bank of New Zealand says this is consistent with GDP growing 1.2% in the same period of time. Economist Stephen Toplis says he is not sure what New Zealand's economy needs if it is to avoid inflation pressures. He says returning the OCR to broadly normal levels would seem to him to be the bare minimum with the economy in such an overheated state. OWNERS MAY FACE RECALL BILL --------------------------- Owners of Mitsubishi Fuso trucks and buses involved in a safety recall may have to carry the cost of having them inspected. An accident in Japan two years ago has led to the recall of 110,000 heavy vehicles in that country, and 843 in new Zealand. They include 72 school buses. A design flaw could result in wheels coming off. LTSA director David Wright says the cost of having the vehicles inspected will be between the owners and suppliers. He says almost all the vehicles are second- hand imports CHILLY NIGHT PREDICTED FOR TEST ------------------------------- Forecasters are predicting a chilly night for tomorrow's All Blacks v England clash in Dunedin. But that is no deterrent for backpacker tour operator, Bottom Bus, which is taking 250 tourists to the city for a festival which includes a rugby game with a difference. The backpackers are holding a nude game of their own before the test. A local team of university students is ready to take on seven of the best English players the backpackers can muster. The game takes place at the Beach of Pain - that's Middle Beach in Dunedin - at four tomorrow afternoon. Meanwhile Otago rugby fans looking forward to tomorrow night's test match will need to be prepared to change their drinking habits. There will be no Speights at Carisbrook, and Lion Breweries has confirmed Steinlager will be the drink of the day as it is the major sponsor. Lion Breweries public relations manager Rachel Johnston says Steinlager has been greeted with great enthusiasm at all the games so far. She says she is sure southern fans will also like the taste. Meanwhile, the TAB expects to take close to $1 million on tomorrow night's game. By midday Friday the TAB had taken $200,000 in bets, with the biggest a $75,000 punt on the All Blacks. The TAB has them at $1.40 and England at $2.85. Rugby bookmaker Pete Young says most people are picking England to win in the ratio of seven to one. He says the big betters are backing the All Blacks. (It may have been chilly, but oh how that 36-3 scoreline soothed and warmed the battered national psyche! - BH) ARREST WARRANT AFTER KIWI SHOT NEAR MANILA ------------------------------------------ Police in the Philippines have issued an arrest warrant over the death of a New Zealander. Barry Garrod was killed by a shot to the head outside his apartment in the city of Angeles north of the capital Manila. Police at the time doubted it was foul play despite his former wife telling them he had been getting death threats. Philippines correspondent Michael Cohen says police have now issued a warrant for an unnamed suspect or suspects. He says that represents a major shift in attitude and police now appear to be treating the homicide seriously. BREAST CANCER FOUNDATION IS IN THE PINK --------------------------------------- Six hundred tickets have been sold to tonight's Breast Cancer Foundation's fashion show in Auckland. Foundation spokeswoman Karen Lloyd says 'In the Pink' raised more than $40,000 last year and hopes to raise even more this time round. She says funds raised will go towards the foundation's numerous research and education initiatives, including a scholarship programme to address the nationwide shortage of radiation technicians and radiographers. She says top Kiwi designers will be showcased at the event. MINISTER'S ANGER AT OFFICER'S GAMBLING -------------------------------------- The Police Minister is taking the issue of a senior officer, who gambled while on duty, to the Commissioner. Inspector Lex Denby won two cars on the pokies at Hamilton's SkyCity casino late last year. It is reported he played the machines while taking a break during work hours. Police Minister George Hawkins is less than impressed, and will be taking it up directly with Rob Robinson. He says it is a staff matter that the Commissioner should deal with and Inspector Denby's colleagues have every right to be disgruntled. He says it is not the behaviour expected of an officer. Mr Hawkins says police have a tough job and must work as a team. THE FINANCIAL PAGE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Date: 11 June 2004 Brian Dooley Wellington New Zealand CURRENCIES ~~~~~~~~~~ The currency codes given below conform to ISO 4217, which can be found at http://www.xe.net/currency/iso_4217.htm. The rates given are for telegraphic transfer. To Buy NZD 1.00 USD 0.6234 AUD 0.9009 GBP 0.3409 JPY 68.43 CAD 0.8478 EUR 0.5188 HKD 4.8717 SGD 1.0717 ZAR 4.0708 CHF 0.7855 INTEREST RATES (%) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call : 5.50 90 Day: 6.05 HOW TO SUBSCRIBE OR UNSUBSCRIBE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian Harmer does NOT administer the mailing list. Please do not send subscription related messages to him. Instead, visit the website listed below, where you can make changes as required. _______________________________________________ WYSIWYG News mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] If you wish to unsubscribe, please visit http://wysiwygnews.com/mailman/listinfo/news Mailing List services provided by OneSquared <http://www.onesquared.net/>