MP Allowances Inquiry – Jet Boat Accident – Power Company Losing Customers – Education Cost – School Safety Windows

- MP ALLOWANCES INQUIRY: More than 60 MPs and 18 ministers could face audits into their out-of-town allowances or housing claims in an inquiry started yesterday by the auditor-general.

- JET BOAT ACCIDENT: Eight people, four of them foreign tourists, were hurt when a jet boat crashed on the Waikato River yesterday.

- POWER COMPANY LOSING CUSTOMERS: Electricity company TransAlta continues to haemorrhage customers in Wellington, with about 25,000 choosing to switch to cheaper retailers in the past three months.

- EDUCATION COST: The parents of millenium babies can expect to pay up to $20,000 for their child’s secondary school education by the time they reach leaving age in 2018.

- SCHOOL SAFETY WINDOWS: The death if a Blenheim school girl in 1996 has prompted the Government to spend $7.5 million applying safety film to school windows throughout New Zealand.

Inside Political Headlines:
- $5 million consultants’ fees queried;
- Cannabis: Anderton supports teachers;
- Flights to Japan a tourist boost;
- Maori political party planned;
- National and ACT start rehearsing next round.