JUST POLITICS
Peter Blake UN’s Man For The Environment
Mulroney Welcomed And Told To NAFTA Off
Health Speeches
How Dangerous Are Trucks?
Please Explain Margaret!
Court Fees To Be Examined
UN Toxics Funding Gift
NZ Post Soap Opera – FULL COVERAGE
Lake Omapere Tragedy Looming

POLITICS FROM TODAY’S TOP SCOOPS
Keith Rankin: Infinitely Variegated Permutations Of Tax
Govt About-face On ACC Refunds Is Theft
NZers Are Not Getting The Biosecurity Message
Cullen In UK: Surviving Global Economic Slowdown
NZ Greenhouse Gas Research Attracts International Scientists

JUST POLITICS

Peter Blake UN’s Man For The Environment

- Prime Minister Helen Clark today announced that Sir Peter Blake has been appointed a special envoy of the United Nations Environment Programme. See... Sir Peter Blake appointed UN environment envoy [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0107/S00084.htm

Mulroney Welcomed And Told To NAFTA Off

- Former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's call for closer trading relations between New Zealand and the United States was a welcome one, Trade Negotiations Minister Jim Sutton said today. See... Bilaterals, not NAFTA, best for New Zealand [1] . See also… Mulroney can NAFTA off ! [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0107/S00091.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0107/S00010.htm

Health Speeches

– Annette King Has Been Speechifying… Address to the New Zealand Medical Industry [1] and Asthma NZ nursing course inaugural graduation [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0107/S00089.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0107/S00090.htm

How Dangerous Are Trucks?

- Accusations from the Act Party that the Greens were using incorrect statistics in measuring the role of trucks in road fatalities have been proven incorrect. See... Greens correct Act figures on truck fatal crashes [1] and Greens Play with Truck Numbers [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0107/S00083.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0107/S00088.htm

Please Explain Margaret!

- Attorney-General Margaret Wilson’s public statement on abolition of appeals to the Privy Council is very worrying, ACT Justice spokesman Stephen Franks said today. See... What does Wilson Mean? [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0107/S00087.htm

Court Fees To Be Examined

- No-one will be denied access to the Courts because they can't afford the court fees, says Minister for Courts, Matt Robson. See... Working Party to examine civil court fees [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0107/S00086.htm

UN Toxics Funding Gift

- Environment Minister, Marian Hobbs, today presented the visiting Head of the United Nations Environment Programme, Dr Klaus Töpfer, with $US30,000 to support work to reduce toxic pollutants worldwide. See... NZ funds to UN Convention on toxic pollutants [1] . In response to the announcement Greenpeace reminded Hon. Marian Hobbs that dioxins are still legally being pumped into the New Zealand. See... Don’t Forget To Clean Up At Home Marian [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0107/S00085.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0107/S00011.htm

NZ Post Soap Opera – FULL COVERAGE

- ACT Finance Spokesman MP Rodney Hide said today that the tragedy of the Post Board soap opera was the opportunities being lost on the business front. See... Post Board Must Focus On Business [1] Full Coverage: - NZ Government - Resolution Of NZ Post Board Issue [2] - Nats - 'Friends In High Places' Save Armstrong's Skin [3] - ACT - Feeble NZ Post Decision Is Not Credible [4] EARLIER: - ACT - Stop The Bank Until NZ Post Is Sorted [5] - Auditor-General Must Investigate NZ Post Board [6] - Nats - Government Paralysed By Politics [7] - Armstrong's Immediate Resignation Called For [8]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0107/S00082.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0107/S00067.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0107/S00072.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0107/S00071.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0107/S00050.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0107/S00022.htm
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0107/S00039.htm
[8] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0107/S00017.htm

Lake Omapere Tragedy Looming

- The government's response to the Maori Affairs Select Committee report on Lake Omapere in Northland is a sham and reveals a disturbing level of self delusion, says ACT Deputy Leader Ken Shirley, who was a member of the committee. See... Catastrophe Looms At Lake Omapere [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0107/S00081.htm

TOP SCOOPS

Keith Rankin: Infinitely Variegated Permutations Of Tax

- I have received some feedback after last-week presenting an argument in favour of a home equity tax. One responder cannot understand the difference between a home equity tax and a capital gains tax. Another sees the idea of offsetting a tax with a tax credit as a barmy form of bureaucratese. See... Keith Rankin: Taxing Questions [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0107/S00025.htm

Govt About-face On ACC Refunds Is Theft

- The government's refusal to refund up to 100,000 self-employed New Zealanders who were over-charged for their ACC premiums last year, is nothing short of institutionalised theft, says ACT deputy leader Ken Shirley. See... ACC No-Refund Decision Is Theft - ACT [1] and Greens shocked by Government about face on ACC - Greens [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0107/S00068.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0107/S00078.htm

NZers Are Not Getting The Biosecurity Message

- “It is appalling that 40 per cent of the people carrying undeclared risk material into the country are New Zealanders” Federated Farmers President Alistair Polson said today. See... NZ tourists not taking on Border Control Messages [1] and Biosecurity Awareness An Ongoing Need [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/BU0107/S00051.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0107/S00062.htm

Cullen In UK: Surviving Global Economic Slowdown

- I have been asked to introduce this discussion by commenting on why the New Zealand and UK economies seem to be withstanding the slowdown in the global economy. See... Address To NZ/Aus Chamber Of Commerce - Cullen [1] and Address To ICANZ – UK Branch - Michael Cullen [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0107/S00079.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0107/S00080.htm

NZ Greenhouse Gas Research Attracts International Scientists

- Few suspect that our national carbon stocks and net greenhouse gas emissions may also be significantly affected by soil or the loss of it through erosion. See... Eroding Uncertainty In Greenhouse Gas Emissions [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/SC0107/S00014.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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