The Dominion

Foot And Mouth – Fire Ants – Bank Charges – Dry Summer – State Housing

- FOOT AND MOUTH: New Zealand rural vets were not up to speed in recognising foot and mouth disease and there were no samples of the virus in the country for comparison, a meeting of biosecurity and agriculture officials was told yesterday.

Sheep shearers returning form Britain are worries they may be bringing in foot and mouth disease because MAF no longer fumigates their gear on entry.

- FIRE ANTS: A nest of red fire ants, natives of South America, was found by a gardener at Auckland airport last week.

- BANK CHARGES: Big changes to bank charges for credit cards, including lower minimum payments and fewer interest free days, have upset consumers, who say banks are trying to keep customers in debt longer for their own gain.

- DRY SUMMER: Central New Zealand experienced its driest summer in 100 years, with rainfall in Marlborough 75 per cent below normal and Wellington rainfall 50 per cent below normal.

- STATE HOUSING: More than 2500 people were waiting to be assessed to go on an already burgeoning state house waiting list at the end of December, according to figures released by National.

Inside Political Headlines:
- Homes quiz outs gay MP – Prebble;
- Key figure in Fijian appeal to be resident;
- Housing targeted;
- National tipped to contest key Wellington seats;
- Young people have their say at commission;
- Community power plans supported;
- Report on inquiry into Ellis case with Government;
- Slane to look after race relations;
- Waitangi return on cards;
- Politicians lead way for volunteer awareness;
- NZ experts
- study Seattle quake sites;
- Environmental legal aid scheme launched.

Editorial: No room for complacency.

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