HAWKESBY ROW: Jennifer Shipley is missing. Searches by Labour today have failed to find her. Steven Parker Live: She can’t shake the Hawkesby affair so today she didn’t show up for question time. She was in Wellington and had no public commitments. She hoped her personal explanation would neutralise the situation. Instead it has inflamed it. Q: (John Campbell) Why wouldn’t she stand her ground? A: That has been part of the problem. Q: What’s all the fuss about? A: I suppose what it is about is the integrity of the PM. This is a very big issue for the National Party.

SCOTT WATSON TRIAL: Woman’s scream heard just before daybreak on New Year’s day says witnesses. Two witnesses describe two different offensive males trying to pick up their girlfriends on New Years eve.

APEC: The Trade Ministers have found a solution to the WTO impasse – job sharing. The new idea is seen and described as a “circuit breaker”. While noone is discussing the idea formally. Australia’s Tim Fischer backs the idea of a 3 year job share arrangement. Phillip Burdon is also upbeat on the concept. ”It is a solution that might work:” Dr Supachai has already agreed to the idea but Mike Moore is saying nothing. Meanwhile APEC has decided to broaden the scope of the WTO round to “Industrials”. Lockwood Smith is optimistic the Ministers will deliver on their promises. BOMBSHELL AT PRESS CONFERENCE: Tim Fischer is to resign as deputy PM and went home early leaving a gap at the APEC meeting.

TAX CUTS: Treasurer Bill English tells select committee that there is not enough money for large tax cuts. Plan is to raise the threshold for 33 cents taxation to $45,000 PA. All the options are small says English. Labour’s Dr Cullen: National has painted itself into a corner promising cuts and finding itself unable to deliver.

CHEMICAL SPILL: Taihape man taken to hospital after chemical spill.

BERT POTTER: Bert Potter is back behind bars after being charged with breaking parole conditions. He was ordered to leave the commune he established – Centrepoint – but says he has nowhere else to go.

CUBANS SUBDUED: A small boatload of Cubans is pounced upon by American law enforcement agencies and arrested as they try to make landfall in the US. Complaints of excessive force being used.

© 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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