Cabinet - Oil Spill - Red Socks - Dunking - Train Smash

CABINET: Clark announces cabinet early. It wasn't to have been announced till next week. It was brought forward leaving the Alliance no time to argue. Steven Parker reported the cabinet with positions (officially not finalised yet). Anderton accepts having four seats. That is entirely Labour Party business he says when asked about the announcement.

CABINET: Steven Parker Live: No surprises but plenty of controversy. An untried untested lineup. Best lineup put forward. They are untested and will be put in hot seat pretty soon. Are the Tangata Whenua being snubbed. For Labour the problem is many of the Maori MPs are new.

OIL SPILL: Poor Knights Islands Oil Spill: Penguin killed. Islands the only place in the world some birds breed. DOC says it is disastrous. Charter boat operators are disgusted too. Iwi dreading the disaster say they have been making submissions for years to prevent this sort of thing - they want a 200 mile lane from the beginning of the EEZ - for big boats to keep to. Authorities say they will pursue those responsible: Jaques Cousteau said this was one of the top 10 diving spots in the world. No one is diving here now.

RED SOCKS: Red Socks Controversy: Sir Peter's cheaper Korean socks are twice the price of local unofficial socks at the Warehouse. Helen Clark rebukes the decision. Rod Donald of the Greens is outraged. Peter Blake said no one locally could make them cheap enough to give them the margin they wanted to pay for their mast. Warehouse has withdrawn unofficial socks saying they are concerned they are too similar to the Korean originals.

DUNKING: Dragon boat enthusiasts doing a compulsory capsize got themselves into problems in Wellington. Radios failed. Several come within inches of drowning says victim. Organisers say it is up to teams to follow safety instructions. So does harbour master - who is also concerned about people playing chicken with the cat.

TRAIN SMASH: Sydney Train Smash: After all night operation three men three women and a young boys bodies recovered. 51 injured. Salvage work then began to clear the line. Investigator has begun work and says he can't discuss it yet. An experienced driver was in charge of the . Rail Unions want a Royal Commission.

© 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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