JUST POLITICS
Official Information Released With Expert Timing
Port Dispute Cost Cops Big Bucks
Blind Call For Ministry For Disabled People
Enter The E-commerce Sheriff
Maori Youth Need More Than Te Reo
Let TVNZ Keep The Funds Needed For Quality Programming
No New Taxes To Fund Broadcasting
Books Are The Secret To ACT’s Success

POLITICS FROM TOP SCOOPS
Scoop Is In The House
“Helen Clark Is Discriminating On The Basis Of Gender” – Prebble
New GG Dame Sylvia Cartwright’s Swearing-in Ceremony Speech
Opposition Don’t Feel Consulted About Appointments
Howard’s End: Unleashing Local Growth
Gays Do It, Straights Do It, Only Catholic Priests & Nun’s Don’t Do It
GE & Conventional Crops Can’t Co-exist Side By Side

JUST POLITICS

Official Information Released With Expert Timing

- Finance Minister Michael Cullen could be looking for new press secretaries in a few weeks time, National's Finance spokesman Bill English said today. See... Labour Plans Easter Egg Hunt For Journalists [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0104/S00056.htm

Port Dispute Cost Cops Big Bucks

- Nelson MP Nick Smith is angered at the huge cost for police, arising from the Waterfront Workers Union protest over the past four months that has totalled $635,557 in Nelson, $8,225 in Timaru and $21,682 in Bluff. See... Massive Police Bill For Port Dispute [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0104/S00055.htm

Blind Call For Ministry For Disabled People

- New Zealand needs a Ministry that is to people with disabilities what Te Puni Kokiri is for Maori, according to the Association of Blind Citizens of New Zealand. See... Disabled Need Their Own Ministry [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0104/S00011.htm

Enter The E-commerce Sheriff

- “Internet shopping will become safer for consumers because of the new eMarketing Standards Authority which will have web retailers meeting higher standards of returns and guarantees, and providing privacy safeguards,” said Jim Anderton, Acting Consumer Affairs Minister. See... Consumers to benefit from e-Marketing Authority [1] and Greater consumer protection welcomed - Anderton [2] . See also… Sinister Motive Behind Anderton's Mollycoddling [3]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0104/S00047.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0104/S00048.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0104/S00008.htm

Maori Youth Need More Than Te Reo

- ACT Education Spokesman Donna Awatere Huata today said that Maori students were being cheated by New Zealand’s education system. See... Education System Cheats Maori Youth [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0104/S00058.htm

Let TVNZ Keep The Funds Needed For Quality Programming

- “The time has come for the government to make good on its pre-election promise to allow TVNZ to retain a greater proportion of its potential dividend so that it can concentrate on meeting its new Charter obligations and produce quality programming,” Green Party Broadcasting spokesperson Sue Kedgley said today. See... Honour Pre-Election Broadcasting Promise [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0104/S00053.htm

No New Taxes To Fund Broadcasting

- The Minister of Broadcasting, Marian Hobbs, has dismissed Opposition claims that the government is exploring a range of taxes to fund public broadcasting . See... Minister Rejects Broadcasting Tax Claims [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0104/S00050.htm

Books Are The Secret To ACT’s Success

- The international consultants, Kortlang group, who advised ACT on our election campaigns, said of us - ACT are fabulously successful book publishers, but can book publishers become a successful political party? See... "Closing The Gaps" - Richard Prebble Speech [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0104/S00049.htm

TOP SCOOPS

Scoop Is In The House

- Today's questions of the day concerned: Employers On The ERA – Derek Quigley And Defence – GE Seed Contamination – Veterans And Agent Orange – Community Employment Creation – Broadcasting Taxation – Public Sector Summit – Human Rights Commissioner – Bush And Climate Change – NCEA – Police Association Criticism , Constable Gower – Early Childhood Funding Cuts – Electricity Industry Bill. See... SCP HOUSE: Questions Of The Day - 4 April [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0104/S00025.htm

“Helen Clark Is Discriminating On The Basis Of Gender” – Prebble

- In response to media requests for his reaction to the appointment of a female Governor-General, ACT Leader Richard Prebble noted that the new Chief Human Rights Commissioner is also a woman and in fact the Government hasn’t appointed any top job to a man. See... Helen’s ‘Jobs for the Girls’ Scheme Flourishes [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0104/S00062.htm

New GG Dame Sylvia Cartwright’s Swearing-in Ceremony Speech

- As I stand here, I am acutely conscious of those who have preceded me. I want in particular to pay tribute to Sir Michael and Lady Hardie Boys whose term has just ended. See... Dame Silvia Cartwright At Her Swearing-in Ceremony [1] . See also ... The Last Governor-General? [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0104/S00059.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0104/S00009.htm

Opposition Don’t Feel Consulted About Appointments

- Labour's claim that it consulted with other parties on the appointment of the Human Rights Commission demonstrates the arrogance of this Government, Opposition Leader Jenny Shipley said today. See... Claytons Consultation By Arrogant Government [1] MORE: - Winston Peters - Wilson’s Consultation A “Demonstrable Fiction” [2] - Pansy Wong - Pending Office Merger Ignores 92.7% Of Public [3] - Margaret Wilson - Human Rights Commissioner Appointments [4]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0104/S00057.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0104/S00052.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0104/S00054.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0104/S00051.htm

Howard’s End: Unleashing Local Growth

- More than one hundred mayors, councillors, central government officials and economic development and tourism professionals, will attend a two-day forum starting in Wellington tomorrow entitled, “Unleashing the Economic Development Potential of our Communities. See... Howard's End: Creating Local Economic Growth [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0104/S00023.htm

Gays Do It, Straights Do It, Only Catholic Priests & Nun’s Don’t Do It

- Marriage is now no longer just a union between one man and one woman – at least in the Netherlands anyway. Two do not necessarily become one in a country where marriage is a man-made civil right for some people instead of a God–ordained sacrament. See... Big News: You May Now Kiss.. Um, Um… Each Other [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0104/S00022.htm

GE & Conventional Crops Can’t Co-exist Side By Side

- Green Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons today said a US court decision on the contamination of crops from neighbouring genetically engineered plants had massive implications for farmers in New Zealand as well as the genetic diversity of crops all around the world. See... US Court Decision Damns Genetic Diversity Of Crops [1] . See also Life Sciences Network response... Green Party leader gets it wrong again [2] and Libertarianz... Fitzsimons Needs GE & Geography Lesson [3]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0104/S00035.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0104/S00005.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0104/S00006.htm

© Scoop Media

Alastair Thompson

Scoop Publisher

Alastair Thompson is the co-founder of Scoop. He is of Scottish and Irish extraction and from Wellington, New Zealand. Alastair has 24 years experience in the media, at the Dominion, National Business Review, North & South magazine, Straight Furrow newspaper and online since 1997. He is the winner of several journalism awards for business and investigative work.

CONTACT ALASTAIR THOMPSON

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