National Radio Midday Report

LAVIII Purchase – Sanford Workers - Racism Report – Child Smuggling – Macedonia – Fiji Election – Sex Attacker Arrest – Elder Abuse – Far North Housing – Brothel Keeping – Dash Case – Pump Fire – Jurassic Park III

LAVIII PURCHASE: Derek Quigley, the man who oversaw the last Government review of the armed forces, has told the army it will regret buying the LAVIII vehicles. Calls for an inquiry into the process of buying the vehicles are growing following the Auditor General’s report released yesterday, with most political parties getting behind the call.

SANFORD WORKERS: Workers at Sanford’s Bluff fish processing plant will be back at work tomorrow after reaching an agreement and accepting an 8.6 percent pay increase with another four percent next year following nine weeks of industrial action.

RACISM REPORT: Tairawhiti Polytechnic will change the way it runs its National Certificate and Diploma in Social Services courses after an investigation following claims of racism and sexual harassment found that the way the course was run could create division between Maori and Pakeha students.

CHILD SMUGGLING: The Department of Courts says that nearly 100 children were smuggled in and out of New Zealand last year as a result of international custody battles.

MACEDONIA: The Nato force that has begun arriving in Macedonia aims to start collecting weapons from Ethnic Albanian rebels next week.

FIJI ELECTION: Mahendra Chaudhry, Fiji’s first ethnic Indian Prime Minster, who was taken hostage in last year’s coup, has asked Indo-Fijians in the country not to be scared about voting for his Labour party after threats that a Labour victory would result in bloodshed.

SEX ATTACKER ARREST: Auckland police have arrested man they believe to be a serial sex attacker in relation to a series of attacks in 1998.

ELDER ABUSE: Associate Social Services Minister Ruth Dyson says the quality of care for older people is of concern and she is especially concerned about elder abuse.

FAR NORTH HOUSING: In the Far North, home owners are opening their doors to officialdom as a survey of sub-standard housing gets underway in the wake of a series of fires this Winter.

BROTHEL KEEPING: The Christchurch City Council says if brothel keeping is decriminalised it would want to have control over where brothels are situated and how they were operated.

DASH CASE: A psychiatrist called for the defence of David Gates, the man accused of the murder of Wellington law student Gavin Dash, has denied a Crown claim that he refused to supply a court ordered insanity report.

PUMP FIRE: The Labour Department says a punctured petrol hose caused a car to burst into flames while it was being filled at a Kapiti Coast petrol station.

JURASSIC PARK III: The stars will be out in Dunedin tonight for Australasian premiere of Jurassic Park III, hosted by New Zealand actor and star of the movie Sam Neil.

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