Hobbs and Bunkle – Foot and Mouth – Spies Sent Home – Macedonia – MIR – Hospital Funding - Hartner Construction - Unemployment - Monteiths

HOBBS AND BUNKLE: National MP Roger Sowry says that Phillida Bunkle should repay out of town living allowances paid to her by Parliamentary Services.

FOOT AND MOUTH: The Irish Republic has confirmed that Foot and Mouth disease has crossed the border from Northern Ireland. The outbreak is within the exclusion zone imposed following an outbreak in Northern Ireland.

SPIES SENT HOME: The US President has expelled around 50 Russian diplomats accusing them of being spies.

MACEDONIA: Kosovars have been warned the supply of aid to them will dry up unless they distance themselves of rebels fighting in Macedonia.

MIR: Russia’s MIR space station has begun its last day in orbit. It will crash to earth to the East of NZ at around 6pm tonight.

HOSPITAL FUNDING: District Health Boards have been given details of their funding for next year along with instructions not to tell anyone else what they are getting. The funding details will be confirmed on April 11th.

HARTNER CONSTRUCTION: The Subcontractors Federation says a government liquidator appointed to Hartner Construction will be unable to look after unsecured creditors interests. The liquidator has been appointed from the office of the Official Assignee.

UNEMPLOYMENT: The Employment Minister expects the jobless rate to keep falling through to the election but says he does not expect the rate to fall much lower than 4.5%.

MONTEITHS: The closing of Monteiths Greymouth Brewery has angered its workforce. 14 people will lose their jobs. DB Breweries say that it is uneconomic to keep the plant open. DB says good redundancy payments are being made.

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Alastair Thompson

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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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