TODAY’S TOP SCOOPS
Scoop Is In The House: Today’s Q&A
C.D. Sludge On - And Reaction To - This Morning’s Reserve Bank MPS
Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Statement
YELASHGATE: Wilson Breached Privilege – Prebble
Motornet: Escape To The Raw Wairarapa Coast
Big News: Frosty, Tepid & Warm Receptions On Pontiff’s Tour
Hard-ass Smoking Law Changes Anti-business
More New Kowhais Than You Can Shake a Yellow Flower At
Free Trade Victim Tally Growing
Tonight’s TV2 International Laugh Festival Co-ordinates

TOP SCOOPS

- Today's questions of the day concerned: Yelashgate – Budget – Yelashgate – Medicinal Marijuana - Resource Management Act – Rural Social Services – Health Funding/Hospital Deficits – Solomon Islands – Parental Leave – Intermediate Schools – Smoking In Bars – Dave Morgan. See... SCP HOUSE: Questions Of The Day – 16 May [1] . For yesterday's Q&A see... SCP HOUSE: Questions Of The Day – 15 May [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0105/S00096.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0105/S00088.htm

C.D. Sludge On This Morning’s Reserve Bank MPS

- It is time to put our dear Dr Don on a steak only diet. In C.D. Sludge’s recent experience Reserve Bank Governor Dr Don Brash has twice now announced weak-kneed 25 point basis cut in interest rates, only hours after the world’s most powerful private capitalist Dr Alan Greenspan has announced rate cuts twice as big for United States borrowers. See... Sludge Report #63 – More Steak Less Vacillation [1] MORE MPS REACTION: - EMA - Slow Action On Interest Rates Holding NZ Back [2] - NZ First - Reserve Bank Makes Right Decision – Peters [3] -Deutsche Bank - RBNZ May Monetary Policy Statement [4] - RBNZ Monetary Policy Statement - May 2001 [5] - ANZ - ANZ Decreases Variable Home Loan Interest Rates [6] - ASB - ASB Bank Reduces Variable Home Loan Interest Rate [7] - WestpacTrust - Westpactrust Matches Reserve Bank Interest Move [8]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0105/S00092.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/BU0105/S00135.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0105/S00326.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/BU0105/S00134.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/BU0105/S00137.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/BU0105/S00133.htm
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/BU0105/S00132.htm
[8] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/BU0105/S00131.htm

Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Statement

- We have decided to reduce the Official Cash Rate again, by 25 basis points to 5.75 per cent. See... RBNZ MPS: Overview And Policy Assessment [1] - RBNZ MPS: OCR reduced to 5.75 per cent [2] - RBNZ MPS: Summary Of Economic Projections [3]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/BU0105/S00129.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/BU0105/S00128.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/BU0105/S00127.htm

YELASHGATE: Wilson Breached Privilege – Prebble

- “There has never been a taxpayer-funded settlement for a defamation by a Prime Minister. The government has never paid money to keep any settlement secret. This agreement gives Mr Yelich $20,000 for the defamation and $35,000 to keep it secret," ACT Leader Hon Richard Prebble said today. See... Breach Of Privilege – Prebble [1] and Privileges Complaint - Shipley [2] EARLIER: - Nats - PM caught red handed over backroom deal [3] - ACT- PM a Risk to Taxpayers, Prebble says [4] - Clark Should Pay Defamation Costs Herself [5] - Govt- Attorney General's statement on defamation action [6]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0105/S00321.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0105/S00332.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0105/S00274.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0105/S00273.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0105/S00252.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0105/S00268.htm

Motornet: Escape To The Raw Wairarapa Coast

- And then we got to Featherston. It was then that I realised I had been duped. I was merely the chauffeur, a simple pawn in a grand scheme of the girls' to visit antique shops and art galleries and odd little emporiums (that really do sell some strange things) - all in the comfort and style of a brand new 4WD. See... Motornet: Suburban Commando [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0105/S00094.htm

Big News: Frosty, Tepid & Warm Receptions On Pontiff’s Tour

- Well, the Papal visit to Greece, Syria and Malta has ended, and what a tumultuous trip it was for the 81 –year old pontiff. Although the majority of the mainstream media has hailed it as successful and worthy, which it was, there are a few things that they have not commented on. See... Big News: The Pope On Tour [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0105/S00093.htm

Hard-ass Smoking Law Changes Anti-business

- ACT Internal Affairs Spokesman MP Penny Webster today slammed the Government's moves to ban smoking in bars, saying the move is anti-business, and totally lacks common sense. See... Common Sense Out The Window [1] and and Govt's Double Standards Continue - Nats [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0105/S00320.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0105/S00328.htm

More New Kowhais Than You Can Shake a Yellow Flower At

- It has mellow, yellow flowers which attract bevies of birds and insects, and most people know it simply as kowhai. But in a groundbreaking study, scientists from Landcare Research and the Department of Conservation have named five new species of the iconic native tree. See... Scientists Name Five New Species Of Kowhai [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/SC0105/S00047.htm

Free Trade Victim Tally Growing

- The axing of over 80 clothing workers' jobs in Christchurch and Porirua is a direct consequence of successive Governments' free trade policies, the Green Party said today. See... Clothing Workers Victim Of Free Trade Policy [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0105/S00318.htm

Tonight’s TV2 International Laugh Festival Co-ordinates

- LAUGH! Festival favourite, Brendhan Lovegrove, teams up with Ice TV’s Jon Bridges. See... TV2 International Laugh Festival Line Wed 16 [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/CU0105/S00056.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.

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