Qantas Receivership – Paid Parental Leave – Foot and Mouth – Health Budget – Israel Suicide Bomber – Summit of Americas – ACT Party Funding - Australian Anglican GG

QANTAS RECEIVERSHIP: Qantas Australia may be poised to enter the NZ domestic market following the failure of Qantas NZ. Meanwhile one of the receivers of Qantas NZ says the companies debts were more than $20 million. He says the company has practically no assets.

PAID PARENTAL LEAVE: The Employers Federation is asking for more details of the Paid Parental Leave scheme agreed to by the Labour and Alliance parties. Alliance MP Laila Harre is understood to be looking at a 12 week scheme to be funded out of taxes.

FOOT AND MOUTH: The Meat Industry is urging NZers to get behind a foot and mouth publicity campaign which is to start running this week. Meanwhile In the UK the foot and mouth disease has found its way into the wild deer population making it virtually impossible for the UK to rid itself of the disease.

HEALTH BUDGET: Cabinet is to be asked today to boost the health budget by $14 million to bring it in line with the Community Services Card health scheme. Usually the boost is made at the same time benefits are raised. But this year the budget is really tight.

ISRAEL SUICIDE BOMBER: A suicide bomber has killed two people including himself near Tel Aviv. Casualties include a 14-year-old boy in a very serious condition.

SUMMIT OF AMERICAS: The Summit of Americas has finished in Quebec with the signing of a Free Trade Agreement of the Americas signed by leaders. Leaders have agreed to complete negotiations by January 2005.

ACT PARTY FUNDING: ACT Party leader Richard Prebble says he sees nothing wrong with business donations to Political Parties being anonymous. He says ACT supporters have done nothing wrong. “In a free society people ought to be allowed to remain anonymous.”

AUSTRALIAN ANGLICAN GG: The Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane is to become the Governor General of Australia.

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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.

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