Doone Inquiry - Venezuelan Floods - Helicopter Surprise - Cricket - NZ Post - Nandor - Millennium Funds - Rankin - Minimum Wage - Child Abuse - Editorial: TVNZ
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DOONE INQUIRY: The driver of a car carrying Police Commissioner Peter Doone that was stopped by a police patrol late at night was not even spoken to by the constable, let alone breath-tested. Mr Doone stepped from the car and engaged the constable in conversation before the constable reached the driver's window, an informed source told the Herald yesterday.
VENEZUELAN FLOODS: Mudslides have killed at
least 650 people along the Caribbean coast of Venezuela, and
7000 are missing, presumed dead.
At least 200,000 people
have been forced from their homes by the mudslides, which
are reckoned to be the worst natural disaster to hit
Venezuela in half a century.
Most of the homeless were
from Vargas, a coastal state of 350,000 people near the
capital, Caracas.
HELICOPTER SURPRISE: Expert helicopter
engineer Mark Beach surprised his family by arriving at
early Christmas celebrations on Saturday in a helicopter and
promising to take them all for a ride.
After a festive
lunch and photograph session, Mr Beach, aged 37, of
Whakatane, took to the air with his parents for a flight
over their asparagus farm, 6km north of Kawerau.
CRICKET:
Spin bowler Daniel Vettori looms as the main obstacle for
the West Indies as the tourists try to avoid defeat in the
first cricket test today.
Twenty-year-old Vettori,
working magic in front of his home crowd, has already helped
turn the match on its head to put New Zealand within grasp
of a remarkable win.
NZ POST: NZ Post has been accused of
taking advantage of a loophole in the law to deny workers
their statutory Christmas holidays - prompting accusations
of "Scrooge-style management."
The problem has arisen
from a clause in the Holidays Act designed to make sure all
workers get an extra two days off at Christmas.
NANDOR:
The most talked-about item of clothing to grace a
parliamentarian since that infamous pair of silky boxers
will make its first public appearance today.
When Green
MP Nandor Tanczos walks up the steps of Parliament to be
officially sworn in, he will be clad in a new hemp suit.
MILLENNIUM FUNDS: Where did the $20 million of taxpayer
and lottery grant money earmarked for millennium
celebrations end up?
A Herald survey of those giving out
your money found that:
* Private broadcaster TV3
received $4.5 million - $2.8 million to be host broadcaster
on millennium-night when numerous foreign TV channels will
be here anyway, and $1.7 million to make its own TV
advertisements telling viewers that it will perform that
role.
RANKIN: The head of Work and Income New Zealand,
Christine Rankin, will get the blunt message that
extravagance within her department must stop when she meets
her new minister for the first time today.
The Minister
of Social Services, Steve Maharey, said yesterday that he
did not have confidence in Ms Rankin - but then qualified
that statement by adding that he wanted to have confidence
in her.
MINIMUM WAGE: Low-wage earners have a good chance
of an early Christmas present when the Coalition cabinet
completes its review of the $7-an-hour minimum wage today.
The Prime Minister, Helen Clark, said yesterday that the
matter should be settled at today's meeting. Officials have
advised the Government on the implications of an increase
and a recommendation will go before ministers.
CHILD
ABUSE: New Zealand has been given a wake-up call over its
children's rights record by the international Save the
Children organisation.
This is contained in a
just-released book which breaks down the performance of 25
countries, New Zealand included, since the adoption of the
United Nations' Convention on the Rights of the Child 10
years ago.
EDITORIAL - TVNZ: The winds of change are part
and parcel of Television New Zealand's world. Technological
development and competitive exigencies demand a fleetness of
foot. Right now, however, the state-owned broadcaster faces
the prospect of a blast of chilling intensity. It knows that
it must spend more than $200 million, perhaps as much as
$300 million, to move into digital and pay television. It
also knows that sitting on the sidelines for any length of
time is not an option if it is to keep pace with rival
broadcasters.
Yet just as TVNZ's commercial drive is
accelerating, it has been becalmed. A new Government has
taken the wind from its sails by signalling a significant
switch of direction. Change has started with the chairwoman
of TVNZ stepping down. The broadcaster is effectively in
limbo. Clear signals are urgently required.