The National Business Review – October 1
Law Firm In Fraud Probe – Youth Radio – APEC and Timor Polled – Editorial – Analysis & Comment
LAW FIRM IN
FRAUD PROBE
The Serious Fraud Office has launched an
inquiry into the disappearance of money from the trust
account of one of Christchurch’s blue-blood law firms,
Saunders & Co. One source suggested the sum involved could
be as high as $4 million. This is the second trust account
scandal to hit the city this year. Last month, disbarred
lawyer Matthew Brownie was jailed for nine months but
details of the names of firms and trusts he was associated
with have been suppressed.
YOUTH RADIO ADVICE IGNORED
A
government desperate to be re-elected ignored advice from a
range of officials when it raced into a pre-election
commitment to a youth radio network. Cracks are already
appearing in the hastily conceived plan with Culture and
Heritage Minister Marie Hasler admitting the supposedly
non-commercial station is likely to carry sponsorship and
might not even happen.
OPINION POLL: APEC AND
TIMOR
The government’s handling of the Apec and East
Timor issues have found favour with the public, the latest
National Business Review-Compaq poll shows. Most people are
confident intervention in East Timor will be successful,
with 68% saying they believe the international forces would
bring peace there. Most people (63%) also said the Apec
meeting in Auckland last month was successful compared with
26% who said it was not.
EDITORIAL: It is difficult to take seriously the campaign led by disaffected academics against reducing the number of MPs in Parliament but we should. This campaign is little more than the Electoral Reform Coalition in drag – the organisation that told lies and manipulated public opinion to persuade us to adopt MMP
ANALYSIS & COMMENT
Political analyst Jeff Gamlin
and education commentator Harvey McQueen analyse the various
parties’ education policies, saying the student loans issue
could influence the election outcome.
Economist Gareth
Morgan argues in favour of widening the tax net to include
all forms of income, including capital gains, to achieve a
lower overall rate.
Act New Zealand MP Rodney Hide seeks
more accountability in performance of public sector
heads.
For further information: Nevil Gibson, Editor-in-Chief Ph 0-9-307 1629 or email editor@nbr.co.nz