Copyright, Brian Harmer Saturday morning, and a warm winter sun attempted to lift the moisture of several days of intermittent rain. The ground was wet underfoot, and the lawn was soft, verging on muddy. Across the valley, such local imperfections were visible only because of the faint mist rising. Moist clouds curled over the edge of the Orongorongos from the Wairarapa The river was higher than usual, and discoloured brown from the silt carried down from Upper Hutt and the Tararuas. It seemed a reasonable day to take my mother on something of a tour of the bits of Wellington she had not yet seen. We set out up the Ngauranga Gorge, under the slender elegance of the new overpass to Newlands, and turned left into Johnsonville. Since it was Saturday morning, the traffic was slow as people looked for carparks near to their favoured shops. We squeaked out the other side along the old road through Redwood, Tawa and Linden. Somehow, those suburbs seem little changed in the twenty-odd years we have been in Wellington. True enough, the houses have crept a little higher up the Western hills, but the view from the main road seems as it always was.
Porirua city centre has certainly changed in that period, with the building and subsequent refurbishment of the North City Plaza and the newer Mega-centre. When I first came to Wellington, the most prominent building was Kodak's laboratory, an imposing two story building in red brick on the edge of Elsdon. Today that building is lost in the welter of newer larger buildings. We came past the Porirua police station where the flag was poignantly at half-mast in mourning for Detective Constable Duncan Taylor, slain by a seventeen year old with a rifle. We drove on towards Titahi Bay where we paused to watch a turbulent surf thumping in on the pretty bay. Across the water a bank of cloud threatened the early promise of the day, and covered the tops of the islands at the ends of the Marlborough Sounds. Surfers (in the original sense of the word) waited at the Southern end of the bay for the right wave to take them in. Whitireia park beckoned with a large expanse of open hilly country, surmounted by the two great radio transmission masts. This is a park that I must explore more in the summer. Anyway, as I half expected, there were some members of the Wellington Model Aeroplane Club flying radio controlled gliders into the standing wave of the incoming Nor'Wester over the cliffs. These models were made of virtually indestructible EPP foam, and given the speed with which they rocketed past, that was just as well. Regretfully, I moved on, back though Porirua and out through Paremata. I chose to take the wildly twisting and picturesque Airlie Rd, from which there are a few spectacular viewpoints, and re-emerged on SH1 by the Whenua Tapu cemetery just South of Pukerua Bay. The narrow coastal road along the sea wall from Pukerua Bay to Paekakariki is dangerous to motorists, perhaps because oncoming traffic is unforgiving if you are distracted by the elegance of the incoming waves, or the mysterious grandeur of Kapiti Island, or even by hang gliders soaring in the wave over the Paekakariki hill. I traversed that section without incident, and arrived at McKay's Crossing near Queen Elizabeth Park, where the US Marines had a major base as part of their Pacific war. We paused at the Chocolate factory so that my mother could buy some gifts for her friends at home, and if I bought any myself, there were no witnesses, so it doesn't count. By now, the sky had clouded over from the North and a steady drizzle made conditions less than ideal for sightseeing. We paused for lunch at the Farm Kitchen restaurant in the Lindale Centre, where the crowd was unreasonably large, but the food was good and hot. I like Lindale, and I like many of the craft items on display, though I sometimes think the prices are a little on the optimistic side, and are more likely to be paid by foreign tourists or out-of-towners than locals. If you should go there, I particularly recommend the Olive shop which specialises in oils and other products related to the humble olive. Likewise there is a woodcraft shop which has some magnificent workmanship for sale. One day someone will buy the magnificently made wooden Harley-Davidson "rocking horse" for a grandchild, but the price is well beyond me, so it may sit there as a centrepiece for some while yet. Lindale's own craft is in the manufacture of cheese and ice cream, both of which I am supposed to avoid these days, but my memory says these are both magnificent, and if you like blue cheese, try the Kikorangi! By now, the rain was bucketing down, so the journey home was by the most direct route straight down the motorway. ---- All news items (except where noted otherwise) are reproduced by kind permission of copyright owner, IRN Ltd. 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. ---- This week's formatting is sponsored by www.kiaorathailand.com to whom my grateul thanks On with the news: Monday, 1 July ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ COURT HEARS MIKUS DID NOT KNOW TERESA -------------------------------------- The Napier District Court has been told the man accused of murdering Teresa Cormack did not know the little girl. Jules Mikus is facing a depositions hearing into the fifteen-year-old murder. A former detective told the court he interviewed the accused nearly a month after Teresa's disappearance. The court heard Mikus did not know Teresa and had not seen her before her photo was published in the newspaper. Mikus says he spent most of the morning on the day Teresa disappeared at the Social Welfare Office in Napier. The detective says Mikus' alibi at that time was confirmed, but Teresa went missing around nine am that day and the alibi does not cover that particular time. A blood and saliva sample was taken from Mikus in July that year. The court has also heard a witness tell of a conversation she had with Jules Mikus. Today's witness, who has name suppression, says Mikus stayed at her home for a month last year. She says Mikus told her he had killed someone and got away with it. The witness said Mikus then threatened to kill her son and her partner. The defence claims the woman had made the conversation up to get back at Mikus for comments made at her son. BILL ENGLISH HITS CITY OF SAILS ------------------------------- It has been a day of meeting and greeting ordinary New Zealanders for Bill English. And the first day of the campaign proper appears to have been a success for the National leader. The day started for Mr English at a Tongan health centre in the Auckland suburb of Onehunga, which he opened as Health Minister four years ago. Then it was a quick walkabout at a local mall for more glad-handing, prior to launching National's health policy at a health clinic in Mt Eden. But our reporter travelling with the National leader says he was clearly most comfortable while pressing the flesh and signing autographs among people of all ages along Auckland's busy Queen Street. She says Bill English clearly wants to prove he is Prime Minister in waiting. PETERS PLAYS IT SAFE -------------------- No surprises in the New Zealand First Party list. Party leader Winston Peters released the list in Matamata today, where he was speaking at a local Grey Power meeting. The top five are New Zealand First's current MPs - Winston Peters, Peter Brown, Brian Donnelly, Ron Mark and Doug Woolerton. New Zealand First has also taken a dig at Labour, launching a Labour debit card with seven promises on it that it claims Labour never made but will deliver on anyway. HARRE ON A NEW CRUSADE ----------------------- Now she has paid parental leave under her belt, Laila Harre is pushing for free day-care for pre-schoolers. The Alliance leader today unveiled her party's Work and Family policy. Ms Harre says the first step is more affordable child care for working families. She wants the government to provide 15 hours a week free childcare for all three and four year olds. Laila Harre says spending money on childcare would not only make it easier for parents to work but would also increase the number of people employed in the early childhood sector. Laila Harre says the 15 hours a week should also apply parents looking after children at home. MURDER-ACCUSED'S WHEREABOUTS DETAILED ------------------------------------- The Napier District Court has heard a description of a man seen with Teresa Cormack the day she disappeared. Forty- three-year-old Jules Mikus is charged with the 1987 abduction, sexual violation and murder of the six-year-old. A witness says she was driving to an appointment on Napier's Wycliffe Street on the morning of June 19, 1987, when a young girl walked out in front of her path. She says the girl matched Teresa Cormack's description and she says she had to brake to miss her. The witness says a man with her pulled her off the road. The court heard her describe the man as being in his mid to late 20s with long Rastafarian hair, and cold, evil Charles Manson-like eyes. The witness says it was an unlikely pairing, as the man was very untidy and the child was well dressed. The District Court has also heard that the man accused of murdering Teresa Cormack was seen at a social welfare office on the day she disappeared. A witness who has been granted name suppression told the court she saw Jules Mikus at the social welfare office in Napier at 11. 30am on June 19. The Crown says Mikus told the police in a statement that he was at the office between 9. 30 and ten that morning, and again later that day at quarter past one. The court has also heard that the witness had been living on-and-off with Mikus in Napier and that he repainted her Vauxhall Viva station wagon in late June 1987 from red to brown. (I have some reservations about the usefulness of a 15 year old recollection of "cold evil eyes". Such a phrase is surely more emotive than evidential. I quite accept that the witness is speaking in good faith, but I am not sure that the phrase ought to be able to be used in such a way. Its effectiveness is illustrated by the fact that it was used by one newspaper as a billboard - BH) LABOUR SAYS NATIONAL HEALTH POLICY 'NONSENSE' -------------------------------------------- Labour have described National's health policy out today as high on rhetoric and low on detail. National are promising a rescue package to pay off the deficit of the 21 district health boards so they can spend annual increases. Leader Bill English says DHBs' fees have accumulated into a combined operating deficit of more than 300 million dollars. But Health Minister Annette King says any talk of a rescue package over and above the existing funding Labour has put in place is irresponsible nonsense. She says no government can have an open chequebook for health and National knows that only too well. Mrs King says there is nothing of note in National's health policy and they seem more interested in bumper stickers than effective policy. MUMS WELCOME PAID PARENTAL LEAVE -------------------------------- A group of West Auckland mothers are welcoming paid parental leave but are disappointed it does not go far enough. Today marks the introduction of the scheme, which provides mothers with a maximum payment of $325 a week for 12 weeks while on leave from their jobs. West Auckland parents centre coordinator Sharon James says many mothers in her group are eligible for the scheme. But she says it would be better if it covered the self employed and mothers who are having their second child. Meanwhile, Australia is looking at the costs of a paid parental leave scheme similar to the one on this side of the Tasman. Australian Family and Community Services Minister Amanda Vanstone says the government is investigating the cost of a similar scheme but does not want the system to benefit the rich. GOVERNMENT TO APPEAL IMMIGRATION RULING --------------------------------------- The Government is to appeal a High Court ruling that its new immigration policy of detaining refugees is against the law. A High Court judge last week found the stricter detention regime, introduced after the September 11 attacks, breached a United Nations convention. Immigration Minister Lianne Dalziel says the Crown Law Office has advised the Government that the High Court's interpretation of the policy was incorrect. She says refugees are only detained if they arrive in the country with no or false documentation. Ms Dalziel says the Government feels very strongly that the UN convention does allow for refugees to be held while their identity is ascertained. She says the Government is concerned that if that does not happen, the door may opened for potentially dangerous refugees to be let in the country. FERTILITY TREATMENT WILL NOT BE CANNED ----------------------------------- Assurances from Waitemata Health that it will not be wiping free fertility treatment for childless couples. The Infertility Society says it was stunned to receive a copy of a letter to private firm Fertility Associates stating the board's intention to end their contract to save money. But Waitemata District Health Board chairwoman Kay McKelvie says the letter has been misinterpreted. She says there are a number of groups providing fertility services in Auckland and the board is simply reviewing the contract to make sure it gets the most for its dollar. And Ms McKelvie says the service will not go, as the Minister of Health has decided that every childless couple in the country should get one free shot at fertility treatment. She says it is appropriate that the Government, as the shareholder, makes that decision. Wednesday, 3 July ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ GREENS REVIEW SUPPORT OF LABOUR ------------------------------- The Greens are now threatening to pull the plug on Labour before it even gets a chance to form a government. The Greens had offered supply and confidence support to any minority Labour government after the election, up until the lifting of the GM moratorium in October next year. Labour has been critical of the stance, accusing the Greens of being prepared to bring down a government over a single issue. But Greens co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons says the party is now reviewing whether it should offer any support to Labour at all. Ms Fitzsimons says she wonders whether it would be more sensible not to let a Labour government form in the first place, rather than be accused of trying to bring a government down. (Ms Fitzsimons later withdrew this threat, which she described as musing. - BH) LEE WELCOMES RULING ------------------- Cabinet Minister Sandra Lee has welcomed the Employment Tribunal's decision to dismiss a case brought against her by a former staffer. Darryl Evans was electorate agent for Ms Lee until he was dismissed in December 1999. He had brought a case against Parliamentary Services for unjustified dismissal and humiliation. Mr Evans was also seeking almost $160,000 in damages. In his judgement, Employment Court judge Tom Skinner says a memo issued in July 1999, made it clear that Darryl Evans' contract was due to expire two weeks after the 1999 general election. He says he is satisfied Mr Evans was given notice his contract would expire on that date. Sandra Lee says she welcomes the decision that there was no basis for a personal grievance claim. MIXED REACTION TO OCR INCREASE ------------------------------ The Council of Trade Unions says today's Official Cash Rate hike is unnecessary. Acting Reserve Bank Governor Rod Carr has increased the OCR a quarter of a percent to 5. 75 percent. It is the fourth rise since March. CTU Economist Peter Conway says a higher New Zealand dollar and lower export returns will help keep inflation levels in check next year. He says that eliminates the need for the Reserve Bank to raise the OCR. Peter Conway says in the medium term, inflation should stay within the zero-to-three- percent band. Mortgage interest rates as high as nine percent by next year are being predicted in the wake of the OCR hike. Act's Rodney Hide says it is pleasing to see the acting Reserve Bank Governor Rod Carr was unfazed by the Minister of Finance's attempt at intimidation. Michael Cullen has been calling for a more flexible approach to monetary policy by the bank and today's tightening runs contrary to that. Mr Hide says economic growth is now running at just two and a half percent, having averaged three percent through the nineties. A vote for Labour is, according to Mr Hide, a vote for high interest rates and poor growth. SOUTH ISLAND PAYS FOR IMMIGRATION SAYS PETERS ---------------------------------------------- One of the few political leaders holding regular public meetings during this election, Winston Peters has told a Dunedin audience they are paying the price of uncontrolled immigration. The New Zealand First leader says Labour and National are selling the country out, handing out citizenship like lotto tickets. Mr Peters says the two major parties have done nothing to stop the immigration scams and marriages of convenience. He says a criminal is deported from one airport and then arrives back through another. Mr Peters says Auckland is the new Mecca and it is bursting at the seams. He says house prices are soaring and the roads are grid locked, while in Dunedin people are paying more for petrol because of Auckland's problems. LEGAL WARNING OVER EMAILS ------------------------- An employment lawyer is cautioning employers to think twice before they send emails about employees. An Auckland woman has been awarded nearly $17,000 after her boss wrote an insulting email about her. Andrea Wilkinson was working for Auckland records company Recall Total Information Management. Last November, she found an email in which her boss described her as not having a brain and being "in lala land". The ERA ruled the email breached the trust and confidence implicit within employment contracts. It said Ms Wilkinson's grievance was "genuine and understandable". Simpson Grierson law firm partner Don MacKinnon says it has become commonplace for online correspondence to be used as evidence in employment cases. He says emails are discoverable in court proceedings. He says they have the same standing as open letters. And he says many people still do not realise how easy it is for emails to be read by others. (As one of our professors of commercial law has in his sig file, "today's email is tomorrow's evidence" - BH) SUPPORT FOR GISBORNE PORT DEAL ------------------------------ The Gisborne City Council is supporting a deal worked out for the sale of the district's port which will keep it in local ownership. The council met port company board representatives this afternoon to discuss an agreement to sell the port to the Eastland Energy Community Trust. The deal is believed to be worth more than $15 million, and involves the sale of up to 100 per cent of the port company's assets to the trust. Mayor Meng Soon says it is hoped the deal will be completed by the end of September. He says it is a positive outcome and the district can make further progress with regional development GM TURMOIL AT GREEN COMMENTS ---------------------------- Turmoil in the Greens' ranks today as remarks from Jeanette Fitzsimons filter through to the Prime Minister. Ms Fitzsimons has suggested she would not let a minority Labour government form - rather than pull the plug immediately after the election. Ms Fitzsimons was asked about her position and our political staff say she appeared fed up with all the talk from Labour that her party is preparing to bring the Government down over the moratorium on genetic modification. She says it may be better not to allow Labour to form a Government in the first place. However, since then she has been calling around journalists saying that is not what she meant to say. Meanwhile a former Federated Farmers president's being painted as something of a biotechnology turncoat. Sir Peter Elworthy - who was president in the early eighties - is now Chairman of the Sustainability Council. The council wants another five years added to the ban on the release of GM organisms - the issue at the centre of the row with the Greens. Current FedFarmers President Alistair Polson says it is ironic Sir Peter is now advocating policies which would hurt farmers. He says another five years added to the moratorium would seriously harm our future competitiveness. Alistair Polson warns an extended moratorium would force our agricultural scientists offshore. (Several media commentators have suggested that Sir Peter's credibility on this issue is compromised by the fact that he owns a large organic farming business. - BH) CARR DEFIES GOV'T OVER OCR -------------------------- The Acting Governor of the Reserve Bank Rod Carr put his job on the line today, defying the Minister of Finance. Political editor Barry Soper says Michael Cullen has sent a direct message to the bank to be more flexible in its approach to monetary policy. However, Acting Governor Rod Carr defied the Government and also asserted the independence of the central bank by raising the Official Cash Rate by quarter of a percent to 5. 75%, the fourth rise since March. At the same time he indicated that further increases in the coming months are less likely than anticipated, largely because of the rising value of the dollar. Barry Soper says that may placate Dr Cullen but whether it will be enough to ensconce Dr Carr as the new Governor will be answered after the election. GM BECOMES KEY ELECTION ISSUE ----------------------------- Open warfare appears to have broken out between Labour and the Greens. Tensions between the two parties reached new heights today, after Greens' co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons threatened to pull the plug on Labour as soon as the election is held. Ms Fitzsimons withdrew her comment about an hour later, saying she has now changed her mind. However, the threat has raised the ire of Prime Minister Helen Clark who has clearly had enough. Miss Clark says the Greens are simply confirming that Labour would prefer to do without them. She says a threat of that kind only redoubles her determination to go for an outright majority working with Jim Anderton. Helen Clark says that is the only way the country can continue with stable government. She says the Greens are likely to risk a backlash from their traditional supporters. Meanwhile the Science Minister has faith the New Zealand public will make the right decision on GE. Pete Hodgson admits there is heated debate on the issue, and it has just been turned up a notch with the unveiling of an anti-GE lobby group today headed by such notables as actor Sam Neil, squash champion Dame Susan Devoy and former Federated Farmers boss Sir Brian Elworthy. The Sustainability Council of New Zealand is calling for an extension of the GE Moratorium from two years to five. The Council fears GM organisms might harm trade, health and the environment. But Pete Hodgson is confident the existing deadline is long enough to give what he calls a "discerning New Zealand public" time to weigh up the risks. He says that, coupled with the Government's restrictive regime will ensure New Zealand proceeds with the technology with caution. And current FedFarmers President Alistair Polson says it is ironic Sir Peter Elsworthy is now advocating policies which would hurt farmers. He says another five years added to the moratorium would seriously harm our future competitiveness. Alistair Polson warns an extended moratorium would force our agricultural scientists offshore. (Shades of the Citizens for Rowling! I am uncomfortable that people bringing nothing more than their celebrity status to the debate should attempt to use that in an attempt to somehow give their arguments extra weight. Dame Susan admits she knows little of the science involved, and therefore she is, like me, a lay-person in the debate. I think that the same is true of Sam "Jurassic Park" Neil. Of course that does not deny them [or me] the right to an opinion, but to attempt to give those opinions more weight than they deserve because the holders are "eminent citizens" does not sit well with me. - BH) TESTING OFFERED AFTER HOSPITAL TB SCARE --------------------------------------- Some patients who were in Dunedin Hospital last month are being offered screening tests following the discovery of a case of tuberculosis. A nurse working in Ward 8A between June the 10 and 18 has returned a positive test for TB. Otago Medical Officer of Health Dr John Holmes says a simple test will put people's minds at ease. He says the risk of infection is very small but the 104 people that could have been exposed will be offered screening tests. Dr Holmes says it is uncommon for the disease to turn up in a practising health professional as they are screened for TB. Thursday, 4 July ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AA ROADING CLAIM TRASHED BY GOVERNMENT -------------------------------------- The Government is flatly denying that it is planning a petrol tax increase of up to a dollar per litre, as part of a draft roading strategy. The AA, and the Road Transport and Business Forums say the New Zealand Transport Strategy - a draft which they saw last week - could see the price of petrol almost double. But acting Transport Minister Judith Tizard says that is nonsense. She says there is no suggestion in the document that petrol tax will increase. Ms Tizard says the claims are politicking by Road Transport Forum's head, Tony Friedlander, who's a former National Party Minister. Judith Tizard says the strategy will be released publicly later this year. NO COMMITMENT TO HEALTH TAX - LABOUR ------------------------------------- Labour is reiterating that it has made NO commitment to introduce a dedicated health tax. However Finance Minister Michael Cullen says the Government has committed to exploring the feasibility of the idea. It follows suggestions from National and ACT that a health tax could increase taxes by eight percent. Dr Cullen says even if they did proceed they have not discussed a specific rate. He says in any case, the rate is irrelevant because the health tax would replace an equivalent amount of existing income tax. He says it would not be imposed as new taxation. Dr Cullen has also denied that there was any pressure to increase petrol taxes, saying all roading projects earmarked could be financed from the last increase in March. SHAREHOLDERS WILL NOT PAY FOR NEW AIRCRAFT ------------------------------------------ A show of confidence from Air New Zealand, as it announces plans to buy 15 new Airbus A320 aircraft. It has purchase rights on an additional 20 aircraft over the next 10 years. Managing director Ralph Norris says the first phase of the fleet purchase will cost around $400 million. The new planes will replace four Boeing 767s and nine 737-300 aircraft that are being retired over the next four years. He says the planes are good news for the company and the country. Chairman John Palmer says the announcement demonstrates the airline's confidence about the future. He says phase one will cost around 400 million dollars. He says the acquisition's essentially replacing old leases with new. John Palmer says that is good news for shareholders, as they will not be asked to pay for the airline's new fleet. Meanwhile, an Internet search shows the A320 has been involved in five reported accidents involving 327 deaths. In 1988, an Air France A320 crashed during an air show manoeuvre. An Indian Airlines craft crashed 400 metres short of the runway in 1990. In 1992, an A320 crashed in France. The following year, an Air Lufthansa plane overshot the runway. And in 2000, a Gulf Air craft crashed into the sea after failing to land at the Bahrain International Airport. (That is fascinating. I have to say that from a passenger perspective, I have always felt comfortable in any Boeing Aircraft, whereas I was less comfortable on my few Airbus flights. This may have been a result of the cabin configurations of the airlines involved [SIA and Emirates]. I guess I shall have to reserve judgement - BH) PETERS SLAMS TREATY INDUSTRY ---------------------------- New Zealand First leader Winston Peters describes the Treaty industry as a 'bloated leech gorging itself on a geyser of public money'. Mr Peters says it has brought no significant benefit to Maori, and he has singled out the Crown Forestry Rental Trust as a perpetual money machine for a favoured few. The trust was set up to hold rents from land under state forests in trust until Treaty claims are settled. It now has more than $300 million in trusts and securities. Mr Peters says the trust is funding a project aimed at enhancing the cultural, commercial and social development of Maori in the central North Island. He says just on $19 million has been set aside for the project, but less than $3 million will go to claimants. The rest he says is being spent on those administering it. GOVERNMENT EXTENDS TEACHERS' PAY OFFER -------------------------------------- The Government has extended its pay offer to secondary school teachers by another $13 million. The offer includes a 3. 5 percent pay increase over a shorter period to the April 30 2003. Two percent of that will be backdated to July 2001. It also includes non contact time and a new slant on the NCEA allowance. The proposal is to introduce fixed term NCEA implementation units valued at $1,000 each per annum over the next two years. There will be 19,000 units which could be allocated in multiples. Teachers have rejected the last two pay offers accepted by their union the PPTA, the most recent of which totalled around $155 million. ROAD LOBBY GROUP HORRIFIED AT PLANS ------------------------------------ Claims petrol taxes could jump by as much as a dollar a litre if a draft Government strategy on transport is adopted. The strategy has not yet been released publicly. But it has been viewed by groups representing motorists, business people and transport operators. They are calling on Helen Clark to unveil it so we can all get a look. The lobby group, which includes the AA and Road Transport Forum, says proposals in the strategy would increase costs for road users by between one billion and three billion a year. It believes it is a deliberate attempt to drive huge numbers of cars and trucks off the road and persuade people to use public transport more. AA spokesman George Fairbairn says many of the costs which the Government wants to impose only on road users are actually social costs which should be borne across the whole of society. MYSTERY BONE WAS ANIMAL ------------------------ Police in Picton have established a piece of bone found in Cook Strait last weekend was not that of a human. There was initial speculation the bone, fished up from the Tory Channel sea floor, may been connected to the disappearance of Ben Smart and Olivia Hope. However Sergeant Tony Sampson says following a forensic examination, it appears the bone has most likely come from a cow. He says it was disappointing the finding of the bone had created such speculation, when there are still families mourning loved ones lost at sea in the area. RESIDENTS PROTEST AT KAITAIA CUTBACKS ------------------------------------- There has been a heated march in Kaitaia today as residents protest service cutbacks at the hospital. A Far North pregnant woman waited hours to be flown to Whangarei Hospital for an emergency caesarean section. A ban on certain surgeries prohibited Kaitaia maternity staff from delivering the baby. Northland MP John Carter says several thousand protesters gathered outside the hospital today. He says they're angry about the lack of community consultation. He says the Government has the power to lift the ban. But Northland District Health Board says it would have been disastrous if the baby had been delivered at Kaitaia Hospital. Whangarei Hospital spokesman Luke Worth says both mother and baby are in a stable condition - thanks to the medical care available in Whangarei. He says such services are not available in Kaitaia. DOCTORS WORRIED BY CARE STRATEGY -------------------------------- The Medical Association has sent a 'red letter' to doctors around the country, which is its way of notifying people about serious concerns. The letter raises the Association's fears about aspects of the Government's Primary Care Strategy. It says they have the potential to seriously destabilise general practice and cause new inequities in access to GP services. In particular it is worried about the Government's intention to give extra funding to health providers treating predominantly Maori, Pacific Islanders, and people on low incomes. That means wealthy people enrolled with the same provider will get the subsidies, while poor people living in a neighbouring area may miss out. MEDIATION MAY AVERT HOSPITAL ORDERLIES' STRIKE ---------------------------------------------- Auckland District Health Board hopes mediation will avert a strike by hospital orderlies and kitchen staff. Two hundred members of the Service and Food Workers Union have issued strike notice for two days in mid-July. They want a pay rise and job security. DHB spokeswoman Brenda Saunders says the strike notice came as a surprise. She says negotiations are set to resume in the next few days, and she hopes mediation will resolve the dispute before strikes begin. HOPE FADES FOR MISSING MEN -------------------------- Hope of finding two men lost in the south west of the South Island is fading. Grave concerns are held for pilot Martin Meehan and friend Norman McPherson whose light plane disappeared somewhere between Hokitika and Alexandra on Sunday. National Rescue Co-ordination Centre spokesman Paul Harrison says time is of the essence. He says if they are in danger, the longer it takes to find them the less chance they have of surviving. Paul Harrison say low lying cloud in Westland this morning has lifted, making searching much easier. (The wreckage of the aircraft was discovered on Saturday with the bodies of the two fliers inside. - BH) Friday, 5 July ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OFFICERS DOWN IN FEILDING ------------------------- Two police officers have been shot in Feilding. The announcement was made shortly after 2. 30 this afternoon by Police Commissioner Rob Robinson at a media conference in Wellington to announce the results of the police investigation into the Helen Clark "paintergate" saga. Rob Robinson could give no further details, and was heading straight to Feilding as soon as the conference was over. One police officer has been taken to hospital with gunshot wounds. The other is still at the scene, but there is no word on his condition. (Detective Constable Duncan Taylor was killed by a shot to the head and the body. The officer with him, Detective Constable Jeanette Park was shot in the leg. The seventeen year old high school student, Daniel John Luff was apparently being stopped for questioning in connection with a burglary when he fled in his vehicle and went to the home of a family known to him. After shooting the two officers, he is alleged to have held members of the family hostage for some hours during which time DC Duncan Taylor lay in the open. His partner managed to get to a phone despite the wound in her leg and summon help. Duncan Taylor is the 26th police officer killed in the line of duty in the history of New Zealand Police. - BH) PAINTERGATE ----------- Police Commissioner Robinson says police have found there is a prima facie case, not only against Helen Clark, but also against a member of her staff as well who arranged the production of the painting. The Prime Minister signed a painting, and other art works, as her own when they had been painted by someone else. Solicitor General agrees with the police view that there is a prima facie case. However, the Police Commissioner says he will not be taking the matter further. He says he feels the law is flexible enough to allow him to make this decision. Police began the investigation after receiving a complaint from a Wellington doctor. GOVERNMENT OPPOSES NUCLEAR SHIPMENT ----------------------------------- The Government has registered its opposition to the two countries that are about to ship nuclear waste materials through the Pacific. Two British ships have left Japan for Britain carrying nuclear waste known as a mixed oxide fuel. Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff says they have sought an assurance from both countries that the nuclear waste will not go through our Exclusive Economic Zone. He says they will employ RNZAF Orion surveillance planes to make sure they do not enter our zone. Mr Goff says the assurances have been honoured in the past when similar shipments have been made. The waste was originally shipped from Britain to Japan, but while it was en route it emerged that some of the nuclear material's safety records had been falsified by officials in the UK. The scandal saw a tightening up of regulations and nuclear waste management in Britain. However, Japan refused to accept the waste without valid safety documents. ELECTION TAX ROW BREWING ------------------------- The election campaign has moved to more traditional ground today - following claims the Government is planning new health and fuel taxes. So far the campaign has been dominated by Labour's wrangling with the Greens over GM. Labour was forced to admit yesterday that it is looking at a dedicated health tax in the future. It has since moved to reassure voters it would only be a ring fencing of tax money for health and would NOT mean people pay more tax. On top of that though it has had to scotch claims by the transport sector that a draft transport strategy doing the rounds would cause a big rise in petrol tax. National is now demanding Labour come clean over its tax plans if re- elected. Leader Bill English says voters have a right to know before the election what Labour's tax agenda is. TEACHERS UNLIKELY TO ACCEPT OFFER --------------------------------- The secondary teachers' union must now decide whether to put the Government's latest pay offer to members. That offer includes a 3. 5 percent raise, and an NCEA allocation worth $1350 per year, on average. This weekend the PPTA executive must consider whether teachers are likely to accept the offer in a vote. Auckland Regional Chairman Alan Papprill suggests not, on the basis of their reaction to previous offers. He says it does not bode well for the next school term. Alan Papprill believes teachers have reluctantly accepted they will not get a pay rise above the rate of inflation. But he says the sticking point is the NCEA allocation, which Auckland teachers will not easily accept. GREENS LAUNCH TERTIARY POLICY ----------------------------- Universal student allowances and a $1500 cap on fees are the Greens' tertiary education vision. MP Nandor Tanczos launched the party's tertiary education policy at Lincoln University today. He told students the user-pays model of tertiary education must be rolled back. He also wants a year's worth of student debt wiped each year a graduate stays and works in the country. Mr Tanczos says the $5 billion student debt must be tackled before it gets out of control. Recent polls have shown the Greens enjoying close to 20 percent support on tertiary campuses. THIRD CATHOLIC HELPLINE SET UP ------------------------------ A third helpline has been set up to deal with sex abuse allegations within the Catholic church. The Catholic bishops of New Zealand have launched the 0800 number, in addition to those already in place from the Society of Mary and the St John of God Brothers. Catholic church spokeswoman Lyndsay Freer says the Catholic helpline aims to be a central point of contact for those wanting to come forward with abuse claims. She says churches have been receiving a lot of calls which did not relate to their order. Ms Freer says the other hotlines have received around 200 hundred calls so far. NAME SUPPRESSION LIFTED ON MURDER ACCUSED ----------------------------------------- Name suppression has been lifted for three men accused of murdering ASB worker John Vaughan. Mr Vaughan was shot and killed during a May robbery of the Mangere Bridge ASB in south Auckland. The three men are Joseph Sam Samoa, William Logan Johansson and Pago Savaiinaea Samoa is also accused of murdering Pakuranga pizza worker Marcus Doig. They have been remanded in custody till the 28th of August. ANDERTON TAKES SWIPE AT ALLIANCE -------------------------------- Jim Anderton has taken a swipe at his old party, the Alliance, while releasing his party's tertiary education policy. Mr Anderton's told the Aotea Tertiary Students Association that demanding a no-fee education and the immediate cancellation of all student loans will not resolve the student debt crisis. Our political staff say that's a clear reference to the Alliance's promise to wipe student debt and make tertiary education free. Mr Anderton says his party aims to make tertiary education free for all New Zealanders, but unfortunately 15 years of escalating fees and student loans can not be wiped out overnight. He says his party would remove fees for first year students, keep fees frozen and increase student allowances. NATIONAL OPENS DOORS TO SKILLED IMMIGRANTS ------------------------------------------ National says it would make it easier for skilled immigrants to come to New Zealand. However, it will not increase the current quota of 750 refugees a year. They are a couple of features of the party's immigration policy which has been released today. Immigration spokeswoman Marie Hasler says National would review the points system used for immigrants so New Zealand can accept more people who have the skills the country needs. She says the current system is too rigid as under the current immigration policy there are mismatches between the skills of those who migrate to New Zealand and the jobs they end up doing here. Ms Hasler says her party would also review and simplify criteria for the Long-Term Business Visa to reduce bureaucracy and compliance costs for prospective investors. The National policy will make HIV and AIDS tests mandatory for all migrants and refugees. National says it would allow the country to continue to take 750 refugees per year and says it will support the settlement of bona fide UN- approved refugees ahead of illegal immigrants. KIWI WINEMAKER STRIKES GOLD --------------------------- A New Zealand winemaker has struck gold at the prestigious London International Wines and Spirits Competition. Morton Estate has won gold medals for its 1998 Black Label Chardonnay and '98 Black Label Merlot Cabernet. It also won silver, bronze and a commended award for its other wines and has been nominated for the Winemaker and Wine Producer of the Year trophies. John Coney from Morton Estate says New Zealand's white wines are already known overseas for being extremely good. He says with the reds, Pinot Noir is receiving more attention and 1998 was a fantastic year for Merlot Cabernet wines. Mr Coney believes Morton Estate's recognition at the awards will further enhance the reputation of New Zealand's wine industry. THE FINANCIAL PAGE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Date: 4 July 2002 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 and are as given in the Wellington Evening Post today. To Buy NZD 1.00 USD 0.4938 AUD 0.8796 GBP 0.3235 JPY 59.38 CAD 0.7568 EUR 0.5052 HKD 3.8615 SGD 0.8755 ZAR 5.0348 CHF 0.7394 INTEREST RATES (%) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call : 5.75 90 Day: 6.00 HOW TO SUBSCRIBE OR UNSUBSCRIBE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian Harmer does NOT administer the mailing list. Please do not send subscription related messages to him. ALL requests to subscribe or unsubscribe must be sent to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe: send a one-line e-mail with the following command: subscribe nznews <e-mail-addr> To unsubscribe, the message to send is: unsubscribe nznews <e-mail- addr> In either case, omit the angular brackets. Remember, to unsubscribe, you must use exactly the same alias as you used to subscribe in the first place. New subscribers can add themselves to the WYSIWYG News E- mail list by using the enrolment form at the Akiko web site: http://nz.com/NZ/News/ -- Brian M. Harmer This message sent to: archive@jab.org