Mobil Under Fire – Food Price Increases – Journalists Strike – Rimu Theft – Treaty Settlements – Cannabis Poll – Bush In Europe – Exam For Sale – New Mansion Demolished

MOBIL UNDER FIRE: Mobil is under increasing pressure to support low sulphur diesel. Auckland Regional Council says the only way to get through to Mobil seems to be to boycott their petrol stations. Road users are all for reducing sulphur levels in diesel. Stagecoach say they won’t be boycotting Mobil, but only because they don’t use them anyway. NZ sulphur levels are nine times higher than in Europe.

FOOD PRICE INCREASES: Food prices have increased more this year than any year in a decade. For the year ended May 2001 they are up 6.3%, the biggest rise since 1990, which was partly affected by GST increases. Meat, fish and poultry are up 11%. Vegetables are also up sharply. The numbers were higher than economists expected.

JOURNALISTS STRIKE: Shareholders faced a noisy reception when they turned up for an INL meeting today. Staff from the Dominion and Evening Post want a nationwide contract. Meanwhile Herald Journalists are on the third day of a four day strike

RIMU THEFT: A West Coast farmer has been jailed for stealing rimu trees from DOC land. DOC hopes the jail sentence will deter other would be thieves. Rimu prices have risen 20% to 30% in the last few months. Furniture makers say they have been offered lots of suspiciously cheap rimu lately.

TREATY SETTLEMENTS: Treaty of Waitangi Minister Margaret Wilson is being accused of trying to bully Maori into treaty settlements. Government backbencher Willie Jackson agrees with National’s Georgina te Heu Heu that more negotiation and less dictation is needed. In the Cook Islands Helen Clark says she is unimpressed with political attacks on her colleague.

CANNABIS POLL: A TV3 CM Research Poll finds that 62 % of people are opposed to Mmarijuana decriminalisation. This is an increase over the last poll. In other questions 58% agree with smokefree bars, and 67% believe defamation payments made on behalf of the PM should be made public.

BUSH IN EUROPE: George Bush was in Europe selling his Star Wars proposals today. He said he was not a unilateralist. But that he would proceed with his plans for a missile defence shield alone if he did not receive Europe’s support. Bush only saw brief glimpses of protestors, 30 of whom were arrested.

EXAM FOR SALE: BBC TV says it was able to buy a copy of a maths exam to be sat tomorrow in the UK, today. It was expensive.

NEW MANSION DEMOLISHED: An Auckland mansion, with seven bedrooms and an indoor pool, has been pulled down. Neighbours were bemused with the demolition of the house that has never been lived in. The owner did not want to talk about it today. He has lost a court case over the property.

© Scoop Media

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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