National Radio Midday Report

Graham Parry – Northland Fires – Plane Crash – Pepper Spray – Orchardist Protest – Bluebird Strike – Middle East – Nepal Police – Olympic Venue – Pacific Tax Havens – Geoffrey Harold – Fire Attack – Saving Farmland – Whale Sanctuary – League Lomu

GRAHAM PARRY: A Parliamentary inquiry is to investigate the treatment of women by Northland Gynaecologist Dr Graham Parry. Health Select Committee Chair Judy Keall says it is important any inquiry is not turned into a political circus.

NORTHLAND FIRES: The links between fatal house fires and poverty in the Far North are being addressed at a meeting involving Government agencies and community groups in Kaikohe today.

PLANE CRASH: The pilot of a top-dressing plane escaped death after crashing into power wires in the Manawatu today.

PEPPER SPRAY: Police in Hamilton will do more tests to see if there is a link between their use of pepper spray on a man and his collapse into a coma on Wednesday. Police say they don’t think his current condition is related to the pepper spray.

ORCHARDIST PROTEST: Hawkes Bay apple growers and their families who are angry at the lack of progress in their dispute with Enza have converged on the city centre in Hastings in their tractors to protest.

BLUEBIRD STRIKE: Around 50 Bluebird staff members in Timaru have walked off the job to support a further 300 workers striking over collective agreement issues in Auckland.

MIDDLE EAST: A Palestinian attack that wounded two Jewish settlers has triggered the worst fighting in the nine months of the latest conflict.

NEPAL POLICE: Some 70 policemen in Nepal were missing on Thursday after an attack by Maoist rebels on a police outpost in which one policeman died, during a day of strife that brought the country to a standstill.

OLYMPIC VENUE: The International Olympic Committee will tonight vote on which city will host the 2008 Olympics. Beijing is the front-runner, but many countries are unhappy about that because of China’s human rights record.

PACIFIC TAX HAVENS: The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has extended its deadline for Pacific Island tax havens to clean up their act.

GEOFFREY HAROLD: A Disciplinary tribunal says a heavy workload and a poorly resourced maternity unit may have contributed to a serious lapse of judgement by Masterton doctor Geoffrey Harold, who has been found guilty of professional misconduct.

FIRE ATTACK: A woman accused of trying to kill a Hamilton businessman by setting fire to him has been remanded for further psychiatric assessment.

SAVING FARMLAND: A group of Southland farmers hope rural communities will rally around their call to stop prime farmland being converted to forestry.

WHALE SACTUARY: The Treaty Of Waitangi Fisheries Commission is calling for the Government to withdraw its proposal for a South Pacific Whale sanctuary, saying Maori have not been consulted about their customary fishing rights.

LEAGUE LOMU? - The NZ Warriors say they are serious about signing All Black Jonah Lomu, but are not getting carried away.

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