TV3 News

Monday, 6 December 1999, 6:22 pm
Article: Alastair Thompson

Coalition: Intro, Signing, Commentary - Cuban Boy - Snowboarding Disaster - Apartment Explosion - Life On Mars - East Timor - Old War Secret

COALITION - INTRO: The beginning of political peace in our time. New rules for a coalition. Jane Young live: They have had a dream run so far. When they get in here they will come under concerted attack. And this - shows document - is very short of detail.

COALITION - SIGNING: Anderton's pen doesn't work. The agreement is about how to disagree. Policy platform to reduce inequality in an environmentally sustainable way. Cabinet to be run by consensus. The convention of collective responsibility is not suited. Simon Upton says the agreement is blatantly political and is designed to allow the Alliance to wave flags from time to time.

COALITION - COMMENTARY: : Jane Young Live: Q: Is their any precedent for this agreement on how to disagree? A: It seems almost too grown up to be true. Some complaint that this may paralyse government and slow down reform - Clark thinks that I so then this is a good thing, and what people want from MMP. The coalition management committee is the center of the management of this. If Clark wanted to sack an Alliance Ministers then she has undertaken not to do so without consulting Anderton. The proof will be in the pudding.

CUBAN BOY: President Clinton has been given an ultimatum to return a Cuban boy within 72 hours. He has warned that there will be millions of protestors in the streets of Cuba. In the boys home town the family have called for his return. On Monday he was released to relatives in Florida. A six year old symbol of the anti-Castro sentiment in Florida.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

SNOWBOARDING DISASTER: Five killed in spectator crush at snowboarding event in Europe, 40 injured when barrier gives way.

APARTMENT EXPLOSION: Apartment building blows up in France.

LIFE ON MARS: Still no sign of life from Mars. So far the 300 million probe has failed to send back any signal. The team has conceded that the odds are against them. Mars observer failed just before reaching Mars orbit. Mars pathfinder made it in 1997. Lost another Mars ship two months ago confusing feet and meters. What happened to Mars polar lander is anybodies guess.

EAST TIMOR: Funeral Service for New Zealand Serviceman who was killed in East Timor in a truck accident. No military honours at families request. East Timorese tribute paid.

OLD WAR SECRET: Military photograph examiners find what they say is evidence that a Japanese midget submarine was involved in the attack on Pearl Harbour.

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.

Contact Alastair Thompson

Top Scoops Headlines

COMMENT

Gordon Campbell: On bird flu, AUKUS entry fees and Cindy Lee

Bird flu – often deadly to humans - is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. And, Aukus members are all being pressured by the USA to devote at least 2% of their GDP to Defence ...

Binoy Kampmark: Israel’s Anti-UNRWA Campaign Falls Flat

In March, The Guardian quoted one Israeli diplomatic source (nameless, naturally) as claiming that a “double game” was being played by Hamas and the agency, “so much so that UNRWA is a Hamas strategic asset.” Another nameless diplomatic source was of the view that the aid agency was “so penetrated in Gaza, it cannot be repaired..."

Peter Dunne: Luxon Gets Out His Butcher's Knife - Briefly

The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became known as the Night of the Long Knives.

Binoy Kampmark: Warring Against Encryption, Australia Is Coming For Your Communications

Another sign of gathering storm clouds against the free sharing of information on technology platforms is the appearance of Australia’s domestic espionage agency, ASIO. Alongside Kershaw at the National Press Club, the agency’s chief, Mike Burgess, is also full of grave words about the dangerous imperium of encrypted chatter.

Gordon Campbell: On Fast Track Powers, Media Woes And The Tiktok Ban

Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming

Binoy Kampmark: Censorship Wars, Elon Musk, Safety Commissioners And Violent Content

Platforms such as Meta and X engage in their own forms of censorship and information curation, their agenda algorithmically driven towards noise, shock and indignation. All the time, they continue to indulge in surveillance capitalism.

Join Scoop Pro

Submit News

Become a Member

Community Scoop

More RSS News Alerts

Wellington Scoop