National Radio Midday Bulletin

TIMOR: There are growing concerns over the health and welfare of 700,000 East Timorese refugees with the rain season coming and with the prospect they will be forcibly relocated throughout Indonesia.

TROOPS: New Zealand troops move into Dili today and ground loading crew on the docks and airports are working flat out.

EQUIPMENT: Kiwi military equipment is being loaded in Wellington today for the trip to East Timor.

EDUCATION: Tertiary education will be the second largest spending item for a new Labour government, second to superannuation. They have rethought the loans scheme and promised an additional $750 million for the tertiary sector over the next three years.

PETROL: BP is also lifting it’s petrol prices, following Shell’s initial move.

AID: An international aid effort by the UN and Red Cross is under way in Chechnya after Russian bombing of the area.

HEALTH: The Health Minister has issued a major report into maternity services, finding a generally high level of satisfaction with services.

SMACKING: The call to stop smacking children has been renewed at a major early childcare conference in Nelson today.

FARMERS: Northland farmers have formulated a plan to combat a grass eating worm in the area and are asking for government help in monitoring the pest.

MILLENNIUM: An Auckland community leader says Pacific Island people have been overlooked in millennium funding after a Pacific Island concert was denied funding by the Lotteries Commission.

POLICE: Police have today remembered past officers who died over the last year at a ceremony in Porirua. Murray Stretch is the only officer to have died on duty over the last year.

PHOTO ID: A new ID card allowing 18 year olds to buy alcohol will be issued in a month.

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