TV3 News - NEW POLL - FLOOD SPECIAL

Floods: Rain has stopped. But floods remain.

QUEENSTOWN: Wakitipu still at a record level. 40 families evacuated from Frankton Rd as a large slip starts. Tourists not comprehending that they cannot leave town. Roads all closed. Fresh Food in the town in short supply. But not ingenuity.

ALEXANDRA: Waters are going down but anger is rising. Valuations of properties dashed by three 100 year floods in five years. Contact Energy called a corporate monster. Govt accused of distancing itself from the problem by selling the company. Bill English says that the solution that had been tried obviously hadn't worked and now they will try to do something else . Residents want silt removed and are threatening to use people power to get action on water rights if problem not solved.

CLIMBER RESCUED: Hugh Webb's father Mark Webb very happy his son has been found on Mt Aspiring. Four nights spent in the snow cave. Search teams roused on Monday but not rescued till today. Pretty scary time expected to have been had by rescued climber.

DOWNSTREAM: Balclutha. Kaitangita. Very good local support to preparations and sandbagging preparations. Clutha close to bursting its banks. Battle lost at a quarry and three houses become part of lake. Lag effect means it takes a day for the peak levels to flow downstream high levels now expected for a couple of weeks. Homeowner philosophical - he followed Fulton Hogan out. Mataura held in stop banks. Some areas flooded where there were no stop banks.

POLL - National Trailing Labour By Seven Points….

AT A PRIME MINISTERIAL engagement a protestor is arrested: Porirua.

POLL

Labour 37% down 4
National 30% up 2
Act 9%
Alliance 9%
NZ First 6 %
Greens 2.8%

+ United's Peter Dunne
- and assuming Coromandel is won by Jeanette Fitzsimmons

=

Labour 47
National 38
Act 12
Alliance 11
NZ First 8
Greens 4
United 1

Green win in pivotal to a win for center left. With Greens they have 62 and a majority - without they have Winston.

National/Act/ United 51 is 11 seats short of a majority which Winston would not have

Shipley and Clark 20% dead heat in preferred PM stakes.

Also dead heat - 56% believe both capable leaders.

Shipley improves in questions. Talking down to people etc..

Winston Peters Response…. In spite of a healthy campaign of innuendo . I am not surprised with that poll.

Jane Young Live: Extraordinary strategy from the government trying to paint Jeanette Fitzsimmons as the devil. The idea of Sue Bradford as an MP may surprise some people but Mrs Shipley has a cabinet minister who is on the record as supporting Marijuana liberalisation. Bad and daft sort of tactic.

Later the bulletin two minor parties featured: Future NZ who give away lots of food, and the ALCP who want you to tick the leaf.

BLOOD DONOR BAN ON POMS: Anyone who has spent too long in Great Britain - cumulatively six months from 1980 to 1996 can no longer give blood because of the risk of CJD. This effects 10% of the donors - one of whom is shown upset. There are plans to launch a new $1 million campaign to encourage new donors and kiwis are expected to give generously. On average three people a year in NZ die of CJD.

© 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.

CONTACT ALASTAIR THOMPSON

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