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The WTO Tied Up In Knots - In the Headlines wire, Scoop takes a look at the WTO deadlock which means a by-election is extremely unlikely.

Govt Accused of "Bad Faith" On Casinos - An attempt to enforce local polls before casino applications were approved was defeated on a conscience vote in the House last night amidst allegations of conspiracy and collusion. See.. House: Govt Accused of "Bad Faith" On Casinos in the Headlines wire.

IRD Claims - Following Rodney Hide's allegations in the general debate yesterday, the Revenue Minister, Bill English, has said the Inland Revenue Commissioner will investigate and the Commissioner himself has said that he will act if the claims of malice are correct. Mr Hide says a staff-member of IRD allegedly had five clients commit suicide and boasted about it. Hide says he has the allegations in an affidavit. Mr English says people should not get hung up on wild allegations and describes Mr Hide's past allegations as not credible.

Oh Well, Never Mind - Pakistan beat New Zealand by nine wickets in the first semi-final of the World Cup. NZ scored 241 and they were overhauled with only one wicket gone and 17 balls to spare.

The House After Question Time yesterday(see.. House: Questions Of The Day (1-6) and House: Questions Of The Day (7-12)) the House moved on to the general debate and the members' night. There is full coverage in the headlines wire. Including "The House:Members' Time Used For Government Bill".

Boat Bill Passed - Immigration Minister, Hon Tuariki Delamere, says the measures in the Immigration Amendment (No.2) Bill, passed by Parliament yesterday morning by a vote of 71 - 49, are a sensible response from the Government to the possible arrival of sea-borne illegal migrants. See... "Boat people" Bill passed by Parliament in the Parliament wire. Others disagree - also in the Parliament wire.

Yanks Poised To Tax Kiwi Farmers - Trade Minister Lockwood Smith yesterday warned that the United States was on the verge of imposing a tariff regime on New Zealand lamb. The decision was expected earlier this month but has been delayed while a debate apparently wages in Washington. Dr Smith told RNZ's Kim Hill show he expected a decision may be made in the next 24 hours. He understood the proposal on the table at present involves a 9% tariff on lamb exports up to last years volume levels. Lamb exports to the US in excess of that would attract a 40% tariff. The proposal is considerably more harsh than the majority recommendation of the Independent Trade Commissioners who deliberated on an application for protection lodged by US sheep farmers. See…Lamb case should be taken to WTO, No Place For Party Politics On Lamb, Silence On The Lambs and US lamb decision mocks NZ's tariff removal in the Parliament wire.

Investigations Into Senior Public Servant's Pay And Benefits - The Minister for Tertiary Education, Max Bradford, yesterday announced he had accepted the resignation of New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) board chairman Sir Neil Waters and that an inquiry was underway into payments made to the former head of the NZQA. The subject is expected to be raised in detail during Parliamentary Questions this afternoon. See... Bradford Announces New NZQA Chairman and Review in the Parliament wire, in the same wire there is considerable comment on the matter and they were also raised in Questions of the Day. In Govt. should come clean on payment to NZQA boss Labour education and state services spokesperson Trevor Mallard says the Government should come clean on the payout.

Holiday Student Dole Case Dismissed - The High Court has dismissed the case of a Nelson student seeking a review of the decision which refused him a community wage during the Christmas holidays and an order declaring that a direction of the Minister under the Social Security Act 1964 ... See... High Court Rules In Favour Of Crown In Test Case in the Parliament wire.

Kiwis Off To East Timor - Five New Zealand Defence Force personnel will join the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) as Military Liaison Officers, Foreign Minister Don McKinnon and Minister of Defence, Max Bradford, announced yesterday. See... NZ Military Observers For East Timor in the Parliament wire.

New Youth Suicide Service - Youth Affairs Minister Tony Ryall, yesterday launched a new service that will support people and organisations working to prevent youth suicide. See... Speech: Launch Of Suicide Prevention Programme and New Service Joins Prevention Of Youth Suicide both the Parliament wire.

New Arrival Card - A new single arrival card for air passengers entering New Zealand will commence a week long trial in Wellington this week, the Minister for Food, Fibre, Biosecurity and Border Control, John Luxton announced yesterday. See... Luxton Cuts Red Tape At The Border in the Parliament wire.

Climate Change Speech - The full text of Environment Minister Simon Upton's Speech to the Royal Institute of International Affairs Conference "Implementing the Kyoto Protocol" in London is in the Parliament wire. See... "Risks Surrounding the Kyoto Protocol" - Upton (1) and "Risks Surrounding the Kyoto Protocol" - Upton (2).

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