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TV3 News
Olympics – S11 – ANZAC Dollar – Sky City Inquiry – Pyramid Scheme – Free Trade Agreement – Coromandel Search – George Bush – WW1 Pardons
OLYMPICS: In an emergency at Sydney Airport today people were overcome by fumes – which according to officials – was caused by a minor spill of cleaning fluid. A Maori Haka welcomes a home away from home for a home away from home for Kiwis in Sydney. NZ House will be a meeting place not only for Kiwis but for others in Sydney. Meanwhile Sydney people are queuing for tickets they have already bought. The buy up of tickets may mean Sydney will sit
S11: There have been more protests, injuries and arrests at WEF protests in Melbourne.
ANZAC DOLLAR: The Aussies are waltzing away from any idea of an ANZAC dollar. They are willing to take-over the Kiwi Dollar – possibly – but they do not want a new, third, currency, says Aussie Treasurer Peter Costello. In Parliament the PM says that no-one is talking about giving away the Kiwi Dollar. Arthur Grimes who wrote a book on the idea says his idea is that we would have an Australasian Central Bank like the European Central Bank. Costello however says he is happy with the Australian monetary arrangements just the way they are.
SKY CITY INQUIRY: The Government has ordered an inquiry into Sky City Casino following allegations of dishonesty at the Casino made by Winston Peters in Parliament. Winston Peters says an investigation was halted by the Casino because it was so big. The Casino Control Authority says it was not aware that large numbers of licensed staff were involved in dishonesty offences in the Cafeteria which were reported to it. TV3 understands the information Mr Peters has has came from a former senior investigator represented by a media agent. Sky City has vigorously denied a cover-up.
PYRAMID SCHEME: Maximus Intermediaries has been ordered to pay out $3 million to creditors of a dodgy pyramid investment scheme. Uncut gems will be sold to pay high level creditors but not the victims. The Commerce Commission says the pyramid selling scheme involved whole streets of poor people paying $506 each to participate. Staff are owed $18,000 and will get their money. The IRD is owed $1 million. Participants - victims – of which there are 12,000 will not be prosecuted but will get nothing.
FREE TRADE AGREEMENT: The Free Trade Agreement between Singapore and New Zealand is to be ratified without alteration following a meeting between Jenny Shipley and Helen Clark today. National says it has agreed to “see if a mechanism can be found to allow it express its views while still supporting it”. Both sides are calling it a win-win situation but it is clear Labour is getting what it wants and it is unclear why National put it in doubt.
COROMANDEL SEARCH: Search fails to find the body of a man missing in the Coromandel.
GEORGE BUSH: US Presidential race controversy has blown up over subliminal message found in a Republican Party TV advert. The word RATS appears for 1/30th of a second. Gore says he is gobsmacked. George Bush says he thinks the idea of putting “subliminable” (mispronouncing the word) messages in ads is bizarre.
WW1 PARDONS: A Pardoning Act has been passed in
Parliament grating pardons for several WW1 soldiers executed
during the war for desertion. All those executed were
probably suffering from shell shock. In Parliament ACT
Leader Richard Prebble argued that Parliament should not be
rewriting history. Last year a judge found there was no
miscarriage of justice because at the time nobody knew about
shell-shock. The Act may become a precedent for legislation
in Great
Britain.
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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