Top Scoop Stories - 19 May 2008 News Summary

Monday, 19 May 2008, 2:15 pm
Article: The Scoop Editor

Today's Top Scoops - 19 May 2008

LEAD STORY:

Energy: Greenpeace Slams Nats As Weak Against 'Anti-Climate' Business Lobby + More delay is the last thing we need + John Key fails leadership test on climate change + Gutless National risk billions

NZ POLITICS:

Budget: Dunne Dispenses Money For Prescriptions System + Gung Ho: Iroquois Support Police On Cook Strait Exercise + General Politics: ACT Reveals 20-Point Pledge Card + Etymology: Stop Calling Burma Myanmar Says McCully + Housing Equity: $35m Shared Equity Pilot Funded In Budget 2008

BUSINESS SCIENCE & TECH:

Retail: You Are Being Served Less + Technology: Community Opposition To Telecom 3G Masts Grows

WORLD:

Fiji: "Journalists Acting Like Political Activists" + Tectonics: Scientists Identified Earthquake Faults In Sichuan, China + Bush In Middle East: President Bush At The World Economic Forum, Egypt + Burma: UK'S Gordon Brown Condemns Inhuman Burmese Regime

COMMENT:

Walter Brasch: President Bush's Week-Long Adventure + Foreign Affairs: Auckland Gathering Condemns Burma'S Military Junta + Uri Avnery: With Friends Like These... + Ramzy Baroud: 60 Years of Denial

LIFESTYLE:

Fairy Tales: Rodney Hide Acts As Bumbling Dwarf Butterbur + Current Affairs: In Conversation with Noel Cheer + Political Theatre: North American Play Parallel's Tuhoe Raids + Arts Ed: Black Friars, Strike Percussion Launch "Artists in Schools"

Energy: Greenpeace Slams Nats As Weak Against 'Anti-Climate' Business Lobby - Greenpeace has fired a stinging attack against the National Party and its leader John Key, stating the party is weak in the face of pressure from an "anti-climate" business lobby group. Greenpeace says National's attempt to delay the emissions trading scheme (ETS) and undermine a partial ban on thermal power stations is unacceptable, and a strong indication the party puts big business backers ahead of tackling climate change. More >> [1]

ALSO:

• National - National won't cut corners on ETS [2]
• National - John Key Speech To Regional Conference Wellington [3]
• Greens - More delay is the last thing we need [4]
• NZ Govt - John Key fails leadership test on climate change [5]
• NZ Govt - Gutless National risk billions [6]
• NZ Climate Science Coalition - NZCSC Challenges Greenpeace To Front With Evidence [7]
• Climate Science Coalition - Greens "away with the fairies" [8]
• Environmental Defence Society - National's Response Really, Really Disappointing [9]

MORE:

• Kyoto Forestry Association - KFA Supports Key Call For Reopening Of Submissions [10]
• Business Council for Sustainable Development - Leadership Not Delay Is What NZ Needs On ETS Bill [11]
• NZ Forest Owners Association - Key needs to come clean on trees [12]
• Wellington Regional Chamber of Commerce - Time to Start Again on Climate Change Legislation [13]
• TV3 Video - National calls for a delay to Emissions Trading Scheme [14]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0805/S00267.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0805/S00314.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0805/S00316.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0805/S00322.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0805/S00320.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0805/S00326.htm
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0805/S00272.htm
[8] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0805/S00274.htm
[9] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0805/S00273.htm
[10] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0805/S00341.htm
[11] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0805/S00278.htm
[12] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0805/S00353.htm
[13] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0805/S00354.htm
[14] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/multimedia/tv/national/8187.html

Budget: Dunne Dispenses Money For Prescriptions System - Associate Minister of Health Peter Dunne today announced an $8.8 million investment in the development and ongoing maintenance of a national electronic medicines formulary over the next four years. "Improving the way we use medicines has the potential to significantly improve outcomes for New Zealanders," said Mr Dunne. More >> [1]

ALSO IN HEALTH BUDGET:

• NZ Govt - 1000s more patients to receive elective services [2]
• NZ Govt - Cunliffe: Elective Services - investing in heath [3]
• ACT - Election Bribe Two: Small Health Injection [4]
• District Health Boards - Increase in Elective Services Funding [5]
• College of General Practitioners - Delays should be cut by primary care moves [6]
• Health Funds Association of NZ - Private elective contribution needs recognition [7]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0805/S00325.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0805/S00318.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0805/S00300.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0805/S00323.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE0805/S00090.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE0805/S00091.htm
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE0805/S00092.htm

Gung Ho: Iroquois Support Police On Cook Strait Exercise - The 10.00am sailing of the Interislander ferry from Picton to Wellington on Friday 16 May set the scene for a combined police Special Tactics Group (STG) and RNZAF Number 3 Squadron counter-terrorism training exercise. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0805/S00283.htm

General Politics: ACT Reveals 20-Point Pledge Card - ACT Leader Rodney Hide, and ACT founder and candidate Sir Roger Douglas, today released the ACT Pledge Card - a '20-Point Plan' that will take the New Zealand economy forward to beat Australia. More >> [1]

ALSO:

• ACT - ACT leader Rodney Hide's Pledge Speech [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0805/S00319.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0805/S00321.htm

Etymology: Stop Calling Burma Myanmar Says McCully - Day after day over the past week, New Zealanders have been forcibly reminded of the appalling destruction wreaked by Cyclone Nargis at the top of each media bulletin. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0805/S00297.htm

Housing Equity: $35m Shared Equity Pilot Funded In Budget 2008 - The Government has announced its Housing Equity policy stating that Budget 2008 will fund a two year Shared Equity pilot to assist up to 700 households into starter homes, Housing Minister Maryan Street announced today. More >> [1]

ALSO:

• National - Recycled policy gets reheated - again [2]
• TV3 Video - Govt to spend $35 million on shared equity housing pilot scheme [3]
• Pre-Budget08 - Business + Economy + Market News [4]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0805/S00280.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0805/S00287.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/multimedia/tv/national/8128.html
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/sections/bizscitech.html

Retail: You Are Being Served Less - Activity in the service sector has stalled for the first time in a year, according to the Bank of New Zealand - Business NZ Performance of Services Index (PSI). More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0805/S00346.htm

Technology: Community Opposition To Telecom 3G Masts Grows - Local residents in Nelson, who organized to block Telecom's proposed 22 meter, 3G phone mast above a play-centre and pre-school, want to kick-start a national dialogue on the safety, standards, placements and even the need for the proliferation of telecommunications equipment in New Zealand. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0805/S00271.htm

Fiji: "Journalists Acting Like Political Activists" - ''This is a civilian interim government with every branch of the machinery of government operating normally - the public service, the judiciary, the security forces, agriculture and industry, health, education, airports, revenue collections etc.'' More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0805/S00240.htm

Tectonics: Scientists Identified Earthquake Faults In Sichuan, China - The recent earthquake in Sichuan occurred under some of the steepest and most rugged mountains in the world, the Longmen Shan: the Dragon's Gate Mountains. This dramatic range, steeper than the Himalayas, is the upturned rim of the eastern edge of Tibet. More >> [1]

ALSO

• China Quake: EU Fast-Tracks €2m Relief Funding Aid [2]
• UNICEF Rushes Relief To Quake Victims In China [3]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0805/S00233.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0805/S00231.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0805/S00236.htm

Bush In Middle East: President Bush At The World Economic Forum, Egypt - ''Every peaceful nation in the region has an interest in opposing Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions. To allow the world's leading sponsor of terror to gain the world's deadliest weapon would be an unforgivable betrayal of future generations.'' -- George Bush. More >> [1]

EARLIER

• President George Bush Addresses Members Of The Israeli Knesset [2]
• Bush Honors 60th Anniversary of State of Israel [3]
• President Bush In Jerusalem [4]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0805/S00243.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0805/S00219.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0805/S00216.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0805/S00202.htm

Burma: UK'S Gordon Brown Condemns Inhuman Burmese Regime - In an interview broadcast by the BBC World Service, Mr Brown said the country's military rulers were guilty of the ''neglect and inhuman treatment'' of the Burmese people. They would be held accountable for their actions, he added. More >> [1]

RECENTLY

• UK Announces Extra £12m For Burma Cyclone Victims [2]
• Burma Cyclone Now A "Man-Made Catastrophe" - British PM [3]
• UN - Much Bigger Aid Effort Needed For Myanmar [4]
• Myanmar: Without More Aid, Burma Faces Second Catastrophe [5]
• Burma: British PM Demands Aid Access To Cyclone Victims [6]
• UK Govt - First UK Aid Flight Off To Burma, More On Standby [7]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0805/S00237.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0805/S00218.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0805/S00199.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0805/S00200.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0805/S00183.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0805/S00161.htm
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0805/S00160.htm

Walter Brasch: President Bush's Week-Long Adventure - President Bush is in Egypt today to meet with President Hosni Mubarak. It is Bush's last day of a week-long adventure into the Middle East, where he also met with the leaders of Israel, Saudi Arabia, the Palestinian Authority, and Afghanistan... More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0805/S00246.htm

Foreign Affairs: Auckland Gathering Condemns Burma'S Military Junta - AUT's Keira Stephenson reports that about 50 Burmese refugees, monks and representatives from Muslim and Christian churches gathered outside Aotea Square on Saturday to ask for help for their cyclone devastated country. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0805/S00243.htm

Uri Avnery: With Friends Like These... - LATELY WE are flooded with friends. The Great of the Earth, past and present, come here to flatter us, to fawn on us, to grovel at our feet. "God, save me from my friends, my enemies I can deal with myself!" says an old prayer. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0805/S00244.htm

Ramzy Baroud: 60 Years of Denial - Don't ask for what you never had,' is the underlying message made by supporters of Israel when they claim Palestine was never a state to begin with. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0805/S00232.htm

Fairy Tales: Rodney Hide Acts As Bumbling Dwarf Butterbur - ACT leader Rodney Hide has gone from the dancefloor to wearing tights in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Rodney will play Butterburr - a bumbling dwarf who never gets it right More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0805/S00187.htm

Current Affairs: In Conversation with Noel Cheer - Broadcast on Tuesday evenings on Triangle Television Wellington (8:00pm), Triangle Television Auckland (8:30pm) and on Stratos Television on Freeview Channel 21 and Sky Digital Channel 89 (8:30pm). More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0805/S00182.htm

Political Theatre: North American Play Parallel's Tuhoe Raids - A play about FBI raids into a North American Indian reservation draws similarities with the recent police "terror" raids into Tuhoe. The play Annie Mae's Movement is one of three at a festival of indigenous plays. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0805/S00177.htm

Arts Ed: Black Friars, Strike Percussion Launch "Artists in Schools" - New Zealand artists from drama, music, dance and visual arts will give students a first-hand experience of their art under the new "Artists in Schools" programme, Education Minister Chris Carter and Associate Minister for Arts, Culture & Heritage Judith Tizard announced today. More >> [1]

ALSO:

• Downstage Theatre - Blazing energy and virtuosity warms Downstage [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0805/S00295.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0805/S00174.htm

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Scoop

Scoop Independent News

Scoop is NZ's largest independent news source; respected widely in media, political, business and academic circles for being the place on the internet for publishing "what was really said", and for the quality of its analysis of issues.

Contact Scoop

• Editorial - editor@scoop.co.nz
• Twitter - @ScoopNZ
• Facebook
• YouTube
• Services - services@scoop.co.nz
• Phone - 04 910 1844