                 Movie location pays off for campground

                 12.04.2000 - By WAYNE THOMPSON 

                 The campground at Pakiri Beach where the film Savage
                 Honeymoon was shot 18 months ago is attracting
                 moviegoers in droves. 

                 They have ventured off the beaten track to the camp,
                 25km east of Warkworth, in the month since the film
                 was released. 

                 "It was amazing. The first weekend the film was on we
                 had seven or eight phone calls and a lot of people were
                 driving in wanting to book accommodation," says the
                 property manager for the camp owners, Phil Lewis. 

                 He gives some credit for his full houses at long
                 weekends to the film's depiction of the camp and its
                 tantalising backdrop of kilometres of white, sandy
                 beach. 

                 But Mr Lewis quickly adds that he has been promoting
                 the place recently with signs as well. 

                 The film, a comedy about a West Auckland couple at
                 the camp for a weekend, received publicity when it was
                 given an R18 rating for its characters' "conspicuous and
                 substantial" drinking and a scene where a gas cylinder
                 is thrown on a bonfire. 

                 "When I heard it was to be called Savage Honeymoon I
                 wondered what sort of film it would be," says Mr Lewis.
                 "But it turned out that Savage was the name of the
                 people who were on their second honeymoon." 

                 He has qualms about the foul language in the film, "but I
                 had a good laugh." 

                 Mr Lewis says that in real life Pakiri Beach is a family
                 camp and its managers have strict control on people
                 going in and out. 

                 Many of the campers are regulars and tourists - "we get
                 a good cross-section of people" - and marketing is
                 aimed at encouraging more use by schools. 

                 Caravans let at the camp are also better quality than the
                 Savages' accommodation. "It's a real old one that they
                 have just done up and towed up there." 

                 Mr Lewis has seen the film twice, at New Lynn and
                 Newmarket. 

                 "I heard people wanting to know where the camp was. I
                 had to bite my tongue." 

                 He suspects that cinema staff reveal the whereabouts or
                 direct inquiries to the film company. 

                 "Pakiri has been isolated but it's a popular surf beach,
                 and now with the motorway we are an hour and a half
                 away from Auckland. 

                 "The new managers have found it busier than they
                 expected. A few weekends ago I arrived on a Saturday
                 and the managers could not find me a bed. They sent
                 me home," says Mr Lewis. 

                 "The film director called me and said he would like to
                 stay at Easter. I said to him 'What year?'"

Police hunt child-sex predator

                 12.04.2000 - By SCOTT KARA and NZPA 

                 Police were hunting a sexual predator last night after a
                 3-year-old boy was abducted and asked to perform
                 sexual acts. 

                 The boy was one of two the man approached within a
                 short time, the police say. 

                 The man snatched the 3-year-old from the roadside at
                 Paparoa, 52km southeast of Dargaville, on Sunday. 

                 The boy was found unhurt about 90 minutes later on
                 State Highway 12, 4.6km from the kidnap scene. 

                 About 45 minutes before that abduction the man
                 apparently tried to lure a 4-year-old boy into his car near
                 Maungaturoto, the police said yesterday. 

                 A Paparoa resident, who did not want to be named but
                 reported the second incident to the police, said there
                 had been a lot of talk among worried locals yesterday
                 after it was discovered that a second boy had been
                 approached. 

                 She said people were particularly looking out for their
                 children because of the school holidays. 

                 "We don't know where he is or what he's doing, and he's
                 obviously been lurking around here on the weekend." 

                 Another local said: "It's a bit of an eye-opener. It makes
                 you stop and think that this sort of thing doesn't just
                 happen in the big city." 

                 Senior Constable Dai Harding, who was labelled
                 alarmist recently over his scheme to fingerprint
                 youngsters as insurance in case they went missing or
                 were abducted, said the incidents proved that New
                 Zealand was not immune to such events. 

                 "Some people tend to isolate New Zealand by saying,
                 'That doesn't happen here'." 

                 He said he had fingerprinted about 130 children at the
                 Whangarei District Library in the past two days.
                 However, he could not tell whether parents were getting
                 their children fingerprinted because of the Northland
                 incidents. 

                 Police and the Department of Child, Youth and Family
                 interviewed the 3-year-old yesterday. 

                 Detective Constable Dean Walford told National Radio:
                 "He has told us all about what the offender asked him to
                 do and they are basically sex offences. [The man is] a
                 danger to the public, to boys, so we want to catch him
                 quick." 

                 The offender is described as a Pakeha in his 30s, of
                 medium height and thin to medium build with a thin,
                 tanned face and short bleached or brown hair. 

                 He was driving a grey or silver square-shaped, early
                 model Japanese car with distinctive wing mirrors. 




                 12.04.2000 - By FRANCESCA MOLD and FIONA
                 BARBER 

                 Former Gisborne pathologist Dr Michael Bottrill will front
                 up to eight "courageous" women who want to hear how
                 their cervical slides could have been misread. 

                 In a move that stunned those at the Gisborne ministerial
                 inquiry into cervical screening yesterday, Dr Bottrill's
                 lawyer, Christopher Hodson, QC, said his client had
                 decided to make a brief statement before the inquiry
                 tomorrow. 

                 Dr Bottrill has always refused to give media interviews or
                 make statements. 

                 "But over the past two days, we have heard from these
                 eight courageous women," said Mr Hodson. 

                 "Dr Bottrill is aware of their briefs of evidence, the
                 discussion of the emotional impact and their comments
                 that they want to hear from him." 

                 Dr Bottrill's appearance is on the condition that he is not
                 cross-examined until he gives more detailed evidence in
                 July. 

                 Mr Hodson's announcement was greeted with cheers
                 from women and their supporters in the public gallery. It
                 is the first time they will hear what Dr Bottrill has to say
                 about the health scare that has rocked their lives. 

                 Meanwhile, the hearing heard that there was concern up
                 to 11 years ago about Dr Bottrill's performance. 

                 Counsel for the Ministry of Health and Health Funding
                 Authority, Kim Murray, said witnesses would give
                 evidence about a complaint from a Gisborne GP in May
                 1989 that he had never received an abnormal smear test
                 result from Dr Bottrill's lab. 

                 This opinion was checked at the time with other doctors
                 in the area but they did not appear to share the GP's
                 concern. 

                 Mr Murray also foreshadowed evidence from a former
                 Midland Regional Health Authority chief executive, Chris
                 Mules, about a letter sent to Dr Bottrill in 1994 after a
                 pathology scare at Good Health Wanganui, asking him
                 about his quality assurance programmes. 

                 In response, Dr Bottrill said he had applied for
                 registration with Telarc, an accreditation agency, and
                 went to an overseas conference every year. 

                 Mr Murray said Dr Bottrill's letter concluded: "There is
                 little likelihood of a major misdiagnosis occurring of the
                 Good Health Wanganui type." 

                 This letter caused concern at Midland Health, but no
                 complaints from local doctors, patients or from the
                 cervical screening management had been received. 

                 Midland Health did begin developing standards for
                 laboratories that became part of laboratory contracts in
                 1997, a year after Dr Bottrill retired. 

                 The ministry's chief medical adviser (safety and
                 regulatory), Dr Bob Boyd, gave evidence about cervical
                 screening at yesterday's hearing. He said systems were
                 in place and "moving forward," but he did not believe
                 patients' rights were fully protected in all healthcare
                 services. 

                 "I don't believe there is informed consent or that people
                 know enough to become clients and partners in their
                 healthcare yet." 

                 Dr Boyd told the hearing he found the stories of the
                 eight women who had given evidence harrowing. 

                 In each case, someone had let the client down, he said.

                 "It was not just the cervical screening programme and
                 not only the pathologist. There were examples of failure
                 to communicate, to provide support when support
                 looked like it was really needed. 

                 "There are salutary lessons for the whole health service
                 in hearing these histories." 



                 Thousands of fathers getting off scot free

                 12.04.2000 - By CATHERINE MASTERS 

                 Fourteen thousand domestic purposes beneficiaries
                 cannot or will not name the father of their child. 

                 New figures show that of the 14,000 beneficiaries, two
                 are mothers with 10 children each, one woman has nine
                 children, five have eight children and 16 women have
                 seven children. 

                 The majority, around 11,000 women, have one or two
                 children. 

                 Act MP Muriel Newman, who requested the figures,
                 says the Government must urgently find out why so
                 many fathers are getting away without contributing
                 financially to their child's upbringing. 

                 She says there is a dearth of information about why so
                 many women fail to name the fathers. 

                 Associate Social Services Minister Ruth Dyson said
                 last night the Social Policy Ministry had been asked to
                 look into the issue, but because of a huge workload
                 could not do so until after the Budget. 

                 She agreed with Dr Newman's concern but said there
                 might be a variety of reasons why so many fathers
                 remained unnamed. 

                 "There are some obvious reasons, like the woman may
                 be a victim of rape or incest. I mean, tragically, there
                 are more incest cases than I guess most of us would
                 like to consider in New Zealand," she said. 

                 "There are other security reasons like domestic
                 violence, or whatever, but I don't think that reasonably
                 explains the high number." 

                 The primary consideration was that men who fathered
                 children were responsible at least financially for the
                 child, but it was important to get the information first,
                 before considering policy changes. 

                 "If we suddenly discover that a lot of woman are saying
                 that for violence reasons they can't name the father then
                 we really have to look at the level of domestic violence
                 ... and what we do to offer better protection to women.
                 That could have major social policy implications," Ms
                 Dyson said. 

                 "There are also a lot of cultural reasons. We have an
                 increasing number of Pacific Island families in New
                 Zealand and if they're not married, for cultural reasons
                 they might not want to name the father." 

                 Underage women who had children might not name the
                 father for fear he would be prosecuted. 

                 Dr Newman said the state welfare bill to support sole
                 parents added up to more than $1.5 billion a year, and
                 women who did not name fathers received $22 a week
                 less than the standard rate. 

                 The number of such women had risen 60 per cent, from
                 around 8700 in 1994 to 14,000, she said. 

                 In some cases, she added, fathers refused to
                 acknowledge the child or had left the country, landing
                 the women with the lower benefit rate. 

                 The Government might have to look overseas to see
                 how other countries dealt with the problem. 

                 "If the fathers are being irresponsible, that is not good
                 enough and we have to have a system that makes any
                 parent realise that the moment they are a parent they
                 are basically a parent for life."



                 12.04.2000 - By REBECCA WALSH 

                 Background noise may help to keep babies at risk of
                 cot death alive, says an Auckland clinical psychologist. 

                 Dr Malcolm Stewart, a senior lecturer at the Auckland
                 School of Medicine, has completed a review of
                 cot-death literature with Scottish acoustics specialist Dr
                 Sean Smith and two Italian researchers. 

                 Their theory suggests that from about 3 months old,
                 babies' breathing during sleep is improved by exposure
                 to a level of background noise. 

                 A lack of noise over a period could trigger breathing
                 problems among vulnerable babies, resulting in cot
                 death. 

                 The theory has been greeted with reservation by
                 cot-death researcher Dr Shirley Tonkin, who said she
                 would be surprised if sound was a big factor. 

                 Dr Stewart said that from the age of about 3 months
                 babies learned the finer control of their breathing
                 necessary for developing vocalisation, but for some the
                 change from a more automatic response did not happen
                 smoothly. 

                 "It may be that outside stimulus just gives a little extra
                 reminder to help the baby to breathe." 

                 The theory was partly developed from research Dr
                 Stewart did 10 years ago at Otago University on infant
                 pigs and dogs. 

                 He found that if a sound was put into the animals' sleep
                 environment their rate of breathing increased and they
                 suffered fewer periods of apnoea, where they stopped
                 breathing for a short time. 

                 Dr Stewart said premature babies, those whose parents
                 smoked and babies who had suffered some form of
                 respiratory illness or glue ear were more at risk from cot
                 death. 

                 Ear infections made it more difficult for babies to hear
                 background noise. 

                 He said the theory fitted with advice that parents should
                 put babies to sleep on their backs rather than their
                 stomachs. 

                 "If you sleep a baby on their side or stomach, the baby
                 will have a reduced amount of auditory input because
                 one of the ears is going to be covered." 

                 Dr Stewart was not advocating that parents play loud
                 music for their babies and did not want parents to be
                 scared about putting babies in a quiet room. 

                 "The sort of sound levels we are talking about are very
                 normal types of sound levels." 

                 He said a baby should share a room with his or her
                 parents for the first six months of life, if feasible. 

                 Dr Tonkin said a baby was more likely to be safe
                 sharing a room because the parents could hear any
                 unusual noises. 

                 While she welcomed any research into the area, she
                 said the biggest factor in reducing cot death had been
                 the move to put babies to sleep on their backs. 

                 "I treat it [the theory] with interest but from what I know
                 about cot death it's unlikely to be a big factor."



                 David Bryant answered an ad offering big money for driving trucks in
                 the US, but has now been ordered out. Herald Picture

                 Wheels fall off big-rig dream

                 12.04.2000 - By PATRICK GOWER 

                 Ninety New Zealand and Australian big-rig truck drivers
                 face deportation from the United States after a federal
                 probe into illegal immigration. 

                 The long-haul truckies, recruited by newspaper
                 advertisements offering them the chance to see
                 America and make lots of money, had been kept in the
                 US by federal authorities as potential witnesses against
                 the people who brought them there. 

                 But at the end of last month, prosecutors ordered most
                 of the drivers, who had been working on false visas, to
                 leave by the end of this month. 

                 The deadline will end the odd, transient life of the
                 truckies, who have been held for the past year but were
                 allowed to keep driving. 

                 Prosecutors allege the ringleader of the immigration
                 operation was a Little Rock-based Australian driver,
                 Peter Andrew Ruston, aged 51. 

                 They say he placed the newspaper advertisements and
                 organised associates to recruit drivers and send them to
                 be trained as Arkansas-licensed truckies. 

                 Prosecutors in Little Rock, Arkansas - an American
                 transport hub - say Ruston gave the truckies contracts. 

                 In return, they paid him part of their earnings of 50c to
                 60c a mile. 

                 A trip from Little Rock to Los Angeles and back was
                 worth about $US800 ($1610) to a driver and $US160
                 ($321) to Ruston. 

                 Federal officials allege that, from the mid-1990s, Ruston
                 made about $US10.9 million ($21.9 million). 

                 He and his associates handled the drivers' paperwork
                 and charged them up to $US1800 for arranging it. 

                 Among the New Zealand recruits was Dave Bryant, a
                 former ballroom dancer from Hamilton, who was left
                 wondering what to do with his life after his dancing
                 partner became ill in 1995. 

                 He saw an advertisement offering big money and a
                 chance to see the States. 

                 "I thought, 'What could be wrong with that?'" he said. 

                 Mr Bryant arrived in Little Rock five years ago, on a
                 Sunday. 

                 By the following Wednesday, he had a commercial
                 driver's licence. Next day he was on the road. 

                 But last year, federal agents raided trucking companies
                 in Arkansas and elsewhere looking for illegal workers. 

                 Held in the US as potential witnesses, the truckies
                 formed an encampment in Little Rock, living in their
                 truck cabs and spending their days fishing, drinking and
                 telling stories. 

                 "We're just the piggies in the middle," says Mr Bryant,
                 42. 

                 His father, Roger Bryant, told the Herald from Hamilton
                 last night that Dave had told them there was nothing to
                 be worried about. 

                 "We don't know anything about the legality of the
                 permits, but he has always liked it over there," he said. 

                 "Last we heard, he is okay and he will be home for
                 Anzac Day." 

                 The secretary of the Amalgamated Workers' Union,
                 Lindsay Chappell, said the 90 truckies in Little Rock
                 were the largest number of stranded drivers he had
                 heard about. "I've heard of plenty of New Zealand and
                 Australian drivers being caught out when schemes like
                 this have fallen through, but never this many." 

                 Mr Chappell said New Zealand drivers were easily lured
                 by the apparent glamour of driving big rigs across the
                 United States on long hauls. 

                 But the reality was often quite different. 

                 "We see guys who want to go over there all the time. 

                 "Our advice is make sure you are working for a legal
                 operation," he said. 

                 "They go over under the illusion they are there legally,
                 but it turns out they are down as tourists or on student
                 visas." 

                 New Zealand drivers have been left stranded as illegal
                 aliens in the past. 

                 Last year, two New Zealanders were part of a mainly
                 Australian group accused of smuggling Kiwi truck
                 drivers into the United States to work illegally. 

                 The United States Attorney-General's Office sought to
                 extradite New Zealanders Hoani Harawira and Bob
                 Cullinane for recruiting the drivers. 


                 or else

                 12.04.2000 - By WAYNE THOMPSON 

                 The sacking of the Rodney District Council was
                 yesterday called a stern warning to all councils who get
                 into political strife. 

                 Local government expert Professor Graham Bush said
                 most local authorities had never considered that they
                 could be "biffed out" before the Government replaced the
                 council with a commissioner on Monday. 

                 "But now the Government has broken the mould. When
                 other councils get into serious political strife that
                 threatens their work, they will remember what happened
                 to Rodney." 

                 Professor Bush said local bodies were not laws unto
                 themselves and were a subordinate part of the nation's
                 government structure. No Government could waive its
                 right to intervene if a local body failed to carry out its
                 statutory duties. 

                 Professor Bush approved of the way the Minister of
                 Local Government, Sandra Lee, had handled the issue,
                 which had no modern precedent. 

                 She had given Rodney a nice, clean break by arranging
                 for the commissioner, Grant Kirby, to start work the day
                 after she sacked the dysfunctional council. 

                 Mr Kirby, who lives on a lifestyle block at Kaukapakapa,
                 in Rodney District, had his first briefing session with
                 senior council staff yesterday afternoon. 

                 A management consultant since 1993, he has been a
                 senior Auckland City Council executive and is now
                 part-time manager of the Museum of Transport and
                 Technology. 

                 Being a Rodney resident for three years helped him to
                 understand the issues, he said. 

                 Professor Bush said the minister had been astute and
                 sensitive towards local democracy by saying the
                 commissioner was a holding measure until fresh
                 elections by next March at the latest. 

                 The election gave former councillors the opportunity to
                 convince voters they were unfortunate victims of the
                 need to dismiss the council. 

                 Four out of 12 former councillors said yesterday they
                 would stand at the next elections, which carry through
                 to October 2004. 

                 The former mayor, Doug Armstrong, and long-serving
                 councillor Jill Jeffs are doubtful starters. Arnold Gosling,
                 who was acting mayor, David Steele and John Wynyard
                 confirmed they were seeking re-election. 

                 Former councillor Ross Meurant has sold his property in
                 the district. His work as an investment adviser, and as a
                 part-time policy adviser to New Zealand First leader
                 Winston Peters, takes him out of the district. 

                 But he said yesterday that although he had not intended
                 serving more than one term, he was considering
                 standing against Murray Sampson in Wainui Ward. 

                 Mr Sampson said he would seek re-election and was
                 considering standing for mayor. "You have to have
                 someone with gumption to stand up against the likes of
                 Ross Meurant." 

                 Former councillors Gaye Harding, Elizabeth Foster,
                 Christine Rose and Grahame Powell said they were still
                 considering fresh bids.


                 RSA members Ted Hilson (left) and Geoff Parker, disagree with the
                 association's stance on the pardons. Herald Picture

                 Veterans divided on execution pardons

                 12.04.2000 - By BRONWYN SELL 

                 The Returned Services Association has dissension in
                 its ranks over Government moves to pardon five First
                 World War soldiers executed for desertion or mutiny. 

                 National president David Cox said the association did
                 not support singling out the men for exoneration when
                 about 300 others had been disciplined, some of whom
                 were sent back to the front line and were killed. 

                 But many veterans are outraged at his stance, which
                 has offended relatives of the executed men. 

                 "He's got no authority to speak along these lines on
                 behalf of returned service people," said Peter Campbell,
                 who is secretary of an alliance of 32 RSA clubs in
                 Greater Auckland. "What happened was abhorrent and
                 we feel greatly for the living families of these people." 

                 Prime Minister Helen Clark said on Monday that a bill
                 would be introduced exonerating Privates Victor
                 Spencer, Frank Hughes, John Sweeney, John King and
                 Jack Braithwaite, who she said had probably suffered
                 illness, shellshock or alcoholism. 

                 Ministry of Defence files show the men were executed
                 by firing squad in France between August 1916 and
                 February 1918. 

                 Private Braithwaite was executed at age 34 for joining a
                 mutiny in a military prison where he had been jailed for
                 escaping custody and other offences. He claimed he
                 was innocent. 

                 Privates King, aged 39, Hughes, 28, and Spencer, 23,
                 were shot for repeatedly being absent without leave.
                 Private Spencer had been sent back to the front line
                 after being wounded. 

                 Private Sweeney, 37, went missing from the trenches of
                 Armentieres when he was due on duty. He claimed he
                 had lost his unit. 

                 Private Braithwaite's nephew, David Braithwaite, said he
                 had a lot of respect for the association and regretted its
                 opposition. 

                 "I believe that the RSA should be supporting the men
                 and women who have served our country," he said. 

                 Fred Ryan, second cousin of Private Spencer and a
                 member of the Bluff RSA, said many veterans he had
                 spoken to disagreed with the association's stance. 

                 Mr Cox said yesterday that the stance was the official
                 position of the association and had been decided at
                 national level by delegates representing clubs. 

                 He was not opposed to the men being pardoned, but
                 said it would be inequitable to pardon five men and
                 ignore hundreds of others who were disciplined. 

                 "You can't forget about the rest. If you're going to do it
                 for one, then you must do it for all." 

                 Pt Chevalier RSA president Peter Pitman said Mr Cox's
                 views did not reflect members' opinions. 

                 Steve Matheson, a welfare officer for the Auckland RSA,
                 said the club supported the pardons. 

                 "Everyone gets scared in those situations and everyone
                 has a point at which they say 'enough'." 

                 Titirangi RSA president Matthew McMillan was angry at
                 Mr Cox's comments and had received many complaints
                 about them. 

                 "We support the pardons. To come out and make this
                 statement a week before Poppy Day is inappropriate." 





                 This vehicle, written off less that three weeks ago, was spotted for
                 sale in a Kumeu caryard.

                 Just what do you mean by write-off?

                 12.04.2000 - By CHRIS DANIELS 

                 Three weeks after Earl McIntosh's four-wheel-drive was
                 swamped in seawater off the Coromandel Coast, he
                 found it offered for sale in a Kumeu car yard. 

                 Mr McIntosh was trying to tow his boat out of the sea at
                 Kennedy Bay on March 10 when the Isuzu Bighorn
                 bogged down in the water for nearly 15 minutes. 

                 But just two weeks after being paid $20,000 by his
                 insurance company and the vehicle written off, Mr
                 McIntosh saw a curious advertisement in the
                 newspaper. 

                 Same number of kilometres, same type and size of
                 vehicle, but selling for only $16,000. 

                 His interest piqued, Mr McIntosh took a trip to Norris
                 Farrow Motorcycles in Kumeu, where, sure enough, his
                 once-waterlogged wagon was up for sale. 

                 Mr McIntosh said he asked the dealer why the vehicle,
                 now reregistered with new licence plates, was so
                 cheap. 

                 The salesman did not tell him it had been in the sea just
                 three weeks earlier. 

                 There was also no mention of the recent saltwater dip
                 on the window sticker. 

                 Car-yard owner Graeme Giles said yesterday that he
                 would always tell a genuine customer this fact, but his
                 weekend visitor (Mr McIntosh) had not been genuinely
                 interested in it. 

                 Mr Giles said he was told the vehicle had been in
                 seawater when he bought it from Turners Car Auctions,
                 but felt his visitor was a troublemaker. 

                 "I can tell genuine people when I see them and we had
                 a turkey in on the weekend. I felt very suspicious over
                 him so I didn't tell him anything. 

                 "Because of his attitude I told him nothing because I
                 knew he was just here to be a problem to me," said Mr
                 Giles. 

                 "He was the sort of man I would tell nothing to because
                 he is not a genuine buyer." 

                 The vehicle was a four-wheel-drive, designed to go
                 through water anyway, and the wiring had not been
                 affected, he said. 

                 "Any vehicle that has any history like that, we have to
                 reveal it, so that's not a problem. That is the reason it is
                 at that price." 

                 Land Transport Safety Authority spokesman Craig
                 Dowling said if a vehicle had been deregistered, it
                 needed to go through a rigorous inspection to prove it
                 was safe. 

Long arm of law arrests man for assault in
                 1979

                 12.04.2000 - By ROSALEEN MACBRAYNE 

                 TAURANGA - Police have arrested a man for an attack
                 on an elderly woman more than 20 years ago. 

                 The assault occurred late in l979, when a 66-year-old
                 Gisborne woman, Betty Johnson, woke up in her
                 bedroom to find a man standing over her. 

                 After attacking Mrs Johnson, he ran off and she was
                 able to ring the police. She suffered facial injuries,
                 including a broken nose, and was in hospital for 17
                 days. 

                 She died in 1992 of natural causes. 

                 Last Friday, two Gisborne detectives charged a man in
                 Tauranga with assault with intent to commit rape. 

                 The 42-year-old driver, who had lived in Gisborne until
                 the mid-1990s, will appear in the Tauranga District Court
                 next week. 

                 Detective Senior Sergeant Malcolm Johnston, one of the
                 arresting officers, said the alleged offender had not been
                 a suspect at the time. Recent information had led police
                 to him in Tauranga, where he lived with his wife. 

                 Mrs Johnson's daughter Sandra, who lives in Auckland,
                 said she was stunned to hear police had arrested a man
                 after 20 years. 

                 "It's a tremendously long time. I think I had basically
                 given up," she said yesterday. "It was amazing that
                 they found him." 

                 Sandra Johnson said she was overseas at the time of
                 the attack. Her mother, who lived alone, had not wanted
                 her daughter to know about the assault and was
                 adamant she should not travel home because of it. She
                 only found out when she made a late Christmas call to
                 her mother toward the end of December 1979 and a
                 policeman answered the telephone. 

                 The accused man was a stranger to her. 

                 Although the case would now be described as a home
                 invasion, a spokesman for the Minister of Justice was
                 unsure yesterday whether the new, heavier penalties for
                 such crimes would apply. 

                 Laws passed after the November 1998 murder of
                 Reporoa woman Beverly Bouma were retrospective but
                 Mrs Bouma's killer, David Poumako, has taken the
                 matter to the Court of Appeal. 

                 His lawyer argued last week that it was a fundamental
                 principle that defendants should not face penalties that
                 were not in place at the time the crime was committed.
                 The decision was reserved.

Mallard, officials differ on gangs

                 12.04.2000 - By THERESA GARNER 

                 Education Minister Trevor Mallard appears to be at odds
                 with his officials over a booklet that encourages schools
                 to set up networks with community organisations and
                 gives the Black Power gang as an example. 

                 Mr Mallard said yesterday he did not believe in
                 consulting gangs or forming networks with them. 

                 The segment in the Ministry of Education booklet was
                 confusing, he said. "If I had written this booklet, I
                 wouldn't have phrased the particular paragraph that way,
                 but that does not diminish the work being done." 

                 A ministry spokesman, Gorham Milbank, said: "If there
                 is a Maori grouping of some sort that gets together for a
                 particular purpose, and among those there is a
                 significant number of parents, it's quite likely that
                 organisation will become one of the consulting groups
                 with the school." 

                 Mr Mallard said he supported consulting parents, and
                 forming networks with them. "If those parents are in a
                 gang, then that is the reality of the situation. 

                 "Schools will use common sense and local knowledge
                 in deciding how they liaise with their parents." 

                 He said parents should not be excluded from taking part
                 in the school community because they are in a gang. 

                 Meanwhile, the school held up as an example,
                 Pukekohe North Primary, said it had excellent, close
                 relationships with its community. 

                 The school was 97 per cent Maori, and a number of the
                 parents were Black Power members. 

                 Principal Robyn Withers-Lauer said Black Power had
                 been used as security for the school. "They want a
                 good education for their children. They support us in our
                 school."



                 Switch by Crown should have been
                 obvious: QC

                 12.04.2000 - By EUGENE BINGHAM 

                 WELLINGTON - A crucial concession by the Crown in
                 the Marlborough Sounds murder trial should not have
                 come as a surprise to Scott Watson's lawyers, the
                 Court of Appeal was told yesterday. 

                 Defence lawyers have appealed against Watson's
                 convictions for the murders of Olivia Hope and Ben
                 Smart on seven grounds, including a claim that an
                 apparent turnaround by the Crown late in the trial
                 prejudiced Watson and was unfair. 

                 But prosecutor Paul Davison, QC, told the court
                 yesterday he was surprised they did not realise the
                 Crown was going to acknowledge Watson may have
                 returned to his boat alone and then rejoined the party on
                 shore. 

                 "It must have been obvious to my learned friends, who
                 are both experienced counsel, that this issue was not
                 going to be left hanging in the air," said Mr Davison. 

                 The 13-week trial in the High Court at Wellington last
                 year heard evidence suggesting Watson took a lone trip
                 back to his yacht, Blade, in the early hours of New
                 Year's Day, 1998 - an apparent conflict with the Crown
                 case that he was dropped off with Olivia and Ben. 

                 In his closing address, Mr Davison acknowledged for the
                 first time that it may have been Watson on the earlier
                 trip, driven by Donald Anderson. The jury could reach its
                 own conclusion as to how Watson had returned to
                 shore and been on the later water taxi driven by Guy
                 Wallace. 

                 "Quite obviously, [the jury] was satisfied by one route or
                 another that the Naiad trip taken by Mr Wallace had on
                 it not only Olivia Hope and Ben Smart but the appellant
                 [Watson]," Mr Davison said yesterday on the second
                 day of the appeal hearing. 

                 "Whether they adopted the Crown contention about it or
                 got there by another route is not a matter that needs
                 answering at this hearing and nor could it be." 

                 One of Watson's lawyers, Bruce Davidson, told the
                 court it was easy to say in hindsight the defence should
                 have seen the concession coming. 

                 "But the whole course of the way Mr Anderson's
                 evidence was treated suggested [the Crown] were not
                 accepting of what he had to say," said Mr Davidson. 

                 "The Crown neither opened on it ... nor did they
                 specifically elicit evidence from [Mr Anderson]. 

                 "The view taken by the defence was that the whole
                 course of the process and trial meant that the Crown
                 were left with the only option of suggesting to the jury
                 they should reject Mr Anderson's suggestion." 

                 In other submissions from the Crown, Mr Davison also
                 rejected the contention that trial judge Justice Heron's
                 repeated interruption of the defence opening had been
                 unjustified and demeaned Watson's case. 

                 The defence had been trying to cover material that
                 should have been left until their closing address, said Mr
                 Davison. 

                 "The judge had an overriding responsibility to maintain
                 balance and a fair trial ... The defence were not going to
                 be entitled to two closing addresses." 

                 He also believed Justice Heron had been consistent in
                 his summing-up to the jury and had not undermined the
                 defence as claimed. 

                 Upon the completion of Mr Davison's response to the
                 appeal grounds, Mr Davidson was given another
                 opportunity to address the court. 

                 The three judges hearing the case, Court of Appeal
                 president Sir Ivor Richardson, Justice Gault and Justice
                 Henry, then adjourned to consider their decision. 

                 They are expected to issue a written judgment.


                 Dennis Hedley claimed $10,000 for the stress of living in this house.
                 Herald Picture / Clint Marston

                 Aids house buyer drops his claim - but
                 faces another

                 12.04.2000 - 

                 Aucklander Dennis Hedley has dropped legal action
                 against a family trust which he claimed failed to tell him
                 that a house he bought had been previously occupied
                 by a tenant who died of Aids. 

                 But in an about-turn, the Deverick Family Trust now
                 plans to sue Mr Hedley, trust lawyer George Ireland
                 said yesterday. 

                 Mr Hedley was claiming $85,000 in damages and costs
                 - including $25,000 to "sanitise" the property and
                 replace carpets and flooring, partially replace the
                 kitchen and launder drapes - from the trust, which sold
                 him the house in Milford on the North Shore. 

                 Mr Hedley claimed his rights under the Fair Trading Act
                 were breached, saying knowledge of the illness suffered
                 by the previous tenant would have influenced the price of
                 the house. 

                 Included in his claim was $10,000 for stress and
                 anxiety. 

                 Mr Ireland said Mr Hedley had dropped the case, filing
                 discontinuance documents in the North Shore District
                 Court yesterday. 

                 He said it was disappointing the Court of Appeal would
                 not now have the opportunity to consider the matter as
                 it would break new legal ground. 

                 The trust had been seeking to have the court case
                 struck out. 

                 This could be done if the judge considered the claim
                 had no prospect of success. 

                 "We believe that there was a very good case for the
                 court to have struck the proceeding out against all the
                 defendants," Mr Ireland said. 

                 "To allow Mr Hedley's claim to proceed would have cut
                 across such important legislation as the Bill of Rights
                 Act, the Human Rights Act and the Privacy Act." 

                 The case had been stressful for members of the
                 Deverick family, Mr Ireland said. 

                 They would therefore seek "substantial" costs from Mr
                 Hedley, although this would not compensate them for
                 the stress and worry they had been put through in
                 defending the "absurd" claim. 

                 Mr Hedley's claim sparked controversy when it was
                 revealed last month. 

                 Medical experts said the HIV virus which causes Aids
                 could survive outside the body for only about an hour, so
                 it was extraordinary for someone to be worried by a
                 man's dying in the house two years earlier.

                 titles

                 12.04.2000 - 

                 WELLINGTON - New Zealanders with titles are an
                 endangered species, says Sir Howard Morrison. 

                 But many of them seemed unfazed yesterday by
                 Government plans to do away with knighthoods and
                 damehoods and replace them with a New Zealand
                 honours system. 

                 "Things change," said Sir Howard. "We severed our
                 apron strings from the old country many years ago. I
                 hope we have a wider plethora of awards given to
                 deserving people." 

                 Constitutional lawyer and former Prime Minister Sir
                 Geoffrey Palmer agreed with the Government's decision,
                 saying it was inevitable, as did businessman Sir Ron
                 Trotter. 

                 "The New Zealand Order of Merit is also a great honour,
                 but there is no designation like dame, lady or sir," said
                 Sir Ron. 

                 "All the name does is allow people to know who has
                 been honoured, because you don't go around telling
                 everyone." 

                 Labour Party stalwart and former Pencarrow MP Sonja
                 Davies, who turned down four chances to become a
                 dame, said it was better that people were remembered
                 for what they did for others rather than their titles. 

                 She applauded Prime Minister Helen Clark's
                 announcement this week that the Government would
                 abolish the top honours. 

                 "I never wanted to be a dame because I already was
                 one," Ms Davies said from her Wairarapa home. 

                 She was offered the title four times in the 1980s but
                 each time turned it down, partly because it was not
                 egalitarian. 

                 "When you think about it, the dame's husband did not
                 get anything out of it, yet when a man becomes a
                 knight his wife becomes a lady. 

                 "If you were going to be egalitarian you would give them
                 both titles." 

                 Ms Davies said she was much happier to be known as
                 a recipient of the Order of New Zealand, an honour
                 limited to 20 living New Zealanders. 

                 Other titleholders were less happy about the
                 announcement. 

                 Former Governor-General Sir David Beattie said he and
                 his wife, Lady Beattie, admired the monarchy and were
                 sorry to see the titles abolished. 

                 If Labour was so keen to get rid of such a system it
                 should fulfil its promise to sever ties with the Privy
                 Council, which he believed was an outmoded relic of
                 colonialism. 

                 Former Court of Appeal judge Sir Gordon Bisson said
                 he was not in favour of abolishing the titles. 

                 "I don't think people should seek to have a title as such,
                 but if it's bestowed on them I think they can be proud of
                 it and other people respect it - and I don't see any need
                 to change it." 

                 Sir Gordon said he had not noticed any groundswell to
                 abolish the honours and it appeared to be a purely
                 political move by Labour. 

                 But former National cabinet minister Philip Burdon, who
                 chaired the committee that recommended the titles be
                 scrapped, backed the decision. 

                 He said sirs and dames had their place when New
                 Zealand was a colony but had become increasingly
                 suspect as the country moved beyond what was a
                 uniquely English custom. 

                 "We shouldn't continue what in effect is a curiosity and
                 quaint mix that compromises our unique nationhood." 

                 Mr Burdon also criticised the fact that New Zealand's
                 highest court was 20,000km away and questioned the
                 merit of having a European monarch as head of state. 

                 He disagreed with Opposition leader Jenny Shipley's
                 promise that the titles would be reinstated if National
                 was returned to Government.



                 12.04.2000 - By VERNON SMALL 

                 The right of appeal to the Privy Council will stay, at least
                 for the Government's first term in office, says Prime
                 Minister Helen Clark. 

                 Attorney-General Margaret Wilson is keen to review the
                 final right of appeal to the London-based Law Lords. But
                 Helen Clark poured cold water on any quick change,
                 saying its importance to Maori necessitated a careful
                 process. 

                 "I am flagging it is not a one-term issue," she said
                 yesterday. 

                 Dropping the Privy Council appeal should be done within
                 a redesign of the whole court structure. 

                 Helen Clark said she had yet to see a satisfactory
                 proposal for change, although she favoured a four-tier
                 court system. That might mean a strengthened Appeal
                 Court or a fourth structure within New Zealand. 

                 She said the Privy Council was tending to refer cases
                 back to New Zealand courts. 

                 "In a sense, I think this proves the point about the
                 growing irrelevance of the Privy Council to New
                 Zealand." 

                 The increased status of the Treaty of Waitangi in New
                 Zealand constitutional arrangements made it much
                 harder for a court in London to rule, she said. 

                 Ms Wilson said she was reviewing work done on
                 whether to retain the right of appeal. It had not been a
                 priority but was becoming one because of the cost of
                 taking a case to London. 

                 Her own view was that the link to the Privy Council
                 should be dropped.

- Three Kings plan has bitter
                 taste

                 12.04.2000 - By BRIAN RUDMAN 

                 When the Mangere sewerage plant opened many years
                 ago, Auckland Mayor Sir Dove Myer-Robinson drank a
                 glass of the treated water to show how pristine the
                 outflow into the Manukau Harbour would be. 

                 As a beverage it didn't catch on. Who in their right mind
                 would choose to drink treated effluent, however pure,
                 when there was an endless supply of A-grade water
                 flowing from their taps? 

                 Robbie's stunt came to mind yesterday when a Three
                 Kings resident rang to say that Auckland City
                 bureaucrats were continuing a five-year campaign to
                 force him and 40,000 of his neighbours, to drink, as it
                 were, from Robbie's cup. 

                 The city officials want to switch off water from the
                 protected Waitakere dams, and feed the residents
                 lower-grade bore water from beneath the quarry and the
                 three rubbish dumps of the Three Kings hills. 

                 In a report to tomorrow night's council meeting, Michael
                 McQuillan, the manager of utility planning, recommends
                 the council agree "it is satisfied with the water quality"
                 and "that the water is safe to drink." 

                 This is a view which two of the consultants to the
                 council-owned water company Metrowater, Professor
                 Tord Kjellstrom and Dr Carol Boyle, continue to
                 question. 

                 In a late plea to the council they "highlight the fact that
                 the information available is insufficient to draw the
                 conclusion that this water source is safe for human
                 consumption in the long term." 

                 Putting aside the health considerations for a moment, it
                 is something of a scandal that the council even bothers
                 to waste any more ratepayer money on reports and
                 tests and hearings into the Three Kings water source. 

                 With the water supply dams more than 70 per cent full
                 and the Waikato pipeline to come on stream by March
                 2002, the Three Kings source, whatever its quality, is
                 not needed. Nor will it be, except in the highly unlikely
                 case that this winter we experience a once-in-200-year
                 drought like the 1994 one. 

                 It was in the aftermath of 1994 that the city went in
                 search of additional water sources. Mt Wellington,
                 Western Springs and Three Kings were singled out.
                 Three Kings proved the most promising. 

                 It fitted in with the plans of the scoria mining company
                 Winstone Aggregates, which wanted to lower the water
                 table in its Three Kings quarry so it could mine deeper. 

                 As for Auckland City, it saw the Three Kings source as
                 the chance to break Watercare's regional water
                 monopoly with a competing water company of its own. 

                 However, the circumstances that gave birth - and some
                 sense - to the Three Kings water project, soon changed.
                 Auckland City became part-owner of Watercare. And
                 the region, instead of looking for bitsy solutions to future
                 water supply needs, voted to plug into the mighty
                 Waikato instead. 

                 Despite these changes, those pushing the
                 now-pointless Three Kings project soldiered on. 

                 Meanwhile, anti-mining protesters, horrified at the
                 thought of the scoria quarries being extended, were
                 joined by other locals appalled at the thought of being
                 forced to drink the water. 

                 The council report says the water meets present
                 drinking standards and "based on current knowledge
                 (including toxicological information) the water is
                 considered to constitute no significant risk to health
                 over a lifetime of consumption." 

                 Professor Kjellstrom and Dr Boyle are not so sure. They
                 point to very high nitrate levels in samples and worry
                 about the health consequences for the vulnerable, such
                 as infants. Another concern is where the nitrate comes
                 from. One suspicion is that it comes from fractured
                 sewerage pipes. If this is the case, there are concerns
                 that the supply could become vulnerable to disease. 

                 What all the experts do agree on is that the bore water
                 will be of a lower quality than that enjoyed by those
                 living around Three Kings. 

                 Given there is no foreseeable shortage of supplies, what
                 possible justification can there be for cutting 40,000
                 Aucklanders off this supply line and forcing them to
                 drink something of inferior quality?


                 grievance

                 12.04.2000 - 

                 The Presbyterian Church's highest court is to
                 investigate a "breakdown in relationships" in an
                 Onehunga parish that has seen a Samoan congregation
                 threatened with being locked out of their church. 

                 A Presbyterian Assembly Commission is being formed
                 to look into a complaint by the Samoans that an
                 Auckland Presbytery decision to allow them to worship
                 independently at the multi-congregational Onehunga
                 church was not followed through. 

                 The church contends, however, that the Samoans failed
                 to comply with conditions imposed in return for being
                 allowed their own minister. 

                 The breakdown, which senior church officials yesterday
                 referred to as frustrating, has already been the subject
                 of High Court proceedings. 

                 A lawyer for the Samoans, Olinda Woodroffe, said the
                 congregation numbered up to 300 people, some of
                 whose family groups had belonged to the Onehunga
                 parish for more than 30 years. 

                 In 1996, a proposal to form a cooperative venture at the
                 Onehunga church between Presbyterians, Methodists
                 and the Church of Christ was put forward. Most of the
                 Samoans felt it was time for independent worship. 

                 "There is a large youth group; a large women's group. It
                 is a vibrant congregation and a united one," said Olinda
                 Woodroffe. 

                 "The elderly people felt more comfortable with a
                 Samoan minister because the church in New Zealand
                 not only provides for their spiritual needs but it also
                 replaces the functions that their villages used to provide
                 in Samoa. 

                 "They were also keen to have the children at Sunday
                 School taught in the Samoan language." 

                 She said the church had agreed that the Samoans
                 could be a separate congregation but progress had
                 stalled. An interim Samoan minister was appointed but
                 not in consultation with the congregation. 

                 The Samoans had refused to comply with a condition or
                 directive from Presbyterian headquarters that they pay
                 petrol money to the interim minister. The payment was
                 withheld when the Samoans considered it to be contrary
                 to New Zealand tax law, Olinda Woodroffe said. 

                 The convener of the church's Book of Order and judicial
                 committee, Colin Pigeon, QC, said the Assembly
                 Commission would look into an appeal by the Samoan
                 congregation against a recommendation by the
                 Auckland Presbytery to dissolve the congregation. 

                 The recommendation, he said, was made with the
                 support of most Pacific Island ministers in Auckland. 


                 Constuction is almost completed on the new kids hospital. Picture /
                 Fotopress

                 Kids come first at new hospital

                 12.04.2000 - By FRANCESCA MOLD 

                 Sick children may find themselves sleeping in their
                 hospital room with Mum or Dad. There will be private
                 washing and toilet facilities right there. 

                 And the place they sleep in will be "safe" - away from
                 the area they might associate with some unpleasant
                 treatment such as an injection or a wound dressing. 

                 These are just some of the things South Auckland
                 Health believes the area's children deserve. 

                 And they will be there in Kidz First, as the healthcare
                 provider is calling its new children's hospital at
                 Middlemore, and the associated community health
                 services aimed at stopping youngsters getting sick so
                 often. 

                 The building, now receiving its finishing touches, is due
                 to open in July, just as the worst of winter sets in. 

                 Much of South Auckland Health's focus for its $60
                 million modernisation project - which also includes a
                 new academic and research centre, adult in-patient
                 facility and emergency department - was on greatly
                 improving the treatment for children. 

                 And the new hospital was first on its list of priorities. 

                 It is an 82-bed, three-storeyed building built in a crucifix
                 shape. It will provide all medical and surgical in-patient
                 services for South Auckland children and a specialist
                 paediatric burns and plastic surgery unit. 

                 At the moment, Middlemore has beds for about 72
                 children. 

                 The need for a hospital dedicated to the care of
                 youngsters was considered vital, given South
                 Auckland's growing population, which in the 1996
                 census was 341,730. 

                 South Auckland Health's chief executive officer, David
                 Clarke, says the number of children being admitted with
                 acute illnesses has been rising about 10 per cent a
                 year. 

                 "That means it doubles every five years. We do
                 everything we can to get children treated quickly and
                 get them in and out of hospital safely, but we have just
                 got to build more beds." 

                 There are about 95,000 children under the age of 15
                 living in the Manukau-Counties region. 

                 South Auckland has the largest concentration of urban
                 poor of any hospital and health service in the country. 

                 Diseases such as whooping cough, measles, rheumatic
                 fever and meningococcal meningitis occur at rates two
                 to three times higher than the national average. 

                 Only 53 per cent of South Auckland children are
                 immunised, leaving more than 40,000 who are not. 

                 Mr Clarke says facilities for children at Middlemore
                 Hospital have been "fundamentally substandard," with
                 shabby furnishings, no insulation and no provision for
                 privacy and the control of infectious diseases. 

                 The clinical director of child and youth services, Dr
                 Wendy Walker, describes Middlemore's present
                 facilities as grossly inadequate and says they provide
                 an unacceptable environment for children, considering
                 the hospital must cope with up to a 40 per cent
                 increase in paediatric admissions every winter. 

                 She is excited about moving into the new hospital,
                 which she and other staff helped to design. 

                 The layout and structure of the new building are unique
                 and will make the treatment of children a much more
                 pleasant experience for staff and patients. 

                 The ground floor and entry will be taken up with
                 administration and a short-stay treatment area. 

                 The floor above is set aside for medical care, with three
                 wings of the crucifix divided into individual pods each
                 with mostly single and some double-bedded rooms. 

                 This design allows pods to be shut down or opened
                 easily, depending on the demand for beds. 

                 The single-bedded rooms are also considered vital to
                 cope with the large number of children admitted with
                 infectious diseases who need to be segregated from
                 others. 

                 Each room will have an ensuite and a built-in bed for
                 parents, who will be able to stay with their child.
                 Cooking facilities and family lounges will also be
                 provided. 

                 "A large proportion of our admissions are Maori and
                 Polynesian, who have a very strong family focus when it
                 comes to healthcare. We need to reflect and allow for
                 that," says Mr Clarke. 

                 He says ensuites will also give children more dignity
                 and privacy. 

                 "They should not have to go and try to find a toilet in the
                 middle of the night. 

                 "I just don't think the largest acute hospital in the
                 country should have to put up with that." 

                 Small substations for nurses will be located within each
                 wing of the crucifix so children needing fulltime
                 monitoring have help close at hand. 

                 Treatment areas for the children will be kept separate
                 from the pods where they sleep and play. 

                 The second floor will cater for children waiting for or
                 recovering from surgery. 

                 The hospital has also been designed so that another
                 level can be added to the building as the need for beds
                 grows. 

                 A specialist unit for children with burns or needing
                 plastic surgery will also be set up. 

                 Several treatment rooms will have observation mirrors,
                 where staff and family can watch a child having a burn
                 or wound dressed without the youngster being aware
                 there are extra people watching. 

                 This has been designed so the child is less stressed or
                 overwhelmed by people during treatment. 

                 A central core, which runs up through the middle of all
                 three storeys, will provide a large circular administration
                 area for the nurses' station and staff offices on each
                 floor. 

                 Rooms will also be set aside for school and play areas. 

                 In addition to the new hospital, an "acute hub" is being
                 constructed nearby to handle Middlemore's accident
                 and emergency cases. 

                 It will be very different from the present overworked
                 facilities. 

                 The main differences will be more space and, more
                 importantly, that children and adults will be treated
                 separately. 

                 "The separate areas will mean kids don't have to sit
                 around with drunk, violent or aggressive patients who
                 can be found in any emergency department at night,"
                 says Mr Clarke. 

                 South Auckland's population growth and health
                 problems have long been threatening to overwhelm its
                 health facilities. 

                 The new state-of-the-art children's hospital is here now
                 because South Auckland Health did not waste time
                 waiting for Government money when it decided to build. 

                 Instead, the hospital and health service did something
                 almost unheard of in the public health sector - it went
                 private. 

                 It took out bank loans and began a massive fundraising
                 and sponsorship drive to gather the $60 million needed
                 for the three-year project to modernise and expand the
                 outdated facilities. 

                 "We could have run to the Government and waited and
                 waited for funding," says Mr Clarke. 

                 "Instead we decided to get off our hands and do
                 something about it ourselves." 

                 But although construction is nearly complete, there is
                 still a great sum of money needed to finish the project
                 and buy vital new equipment. 

                 Funds will be found from South Auckland Health's
                 budget to pay off the bank loans over time. 

                 But the organisation has also set up a charitable trust,
                 known as the Foundation and Friends of Kidz First, in
                 the hope of raising an extra $5 million. 

                 Chairman John Maasland says the foundation will
                 actively market the hospital by approaching corporate
                 groups for sponsorship, as well as leading community
                 fundraising projects. 

                 A significant amount of money has been "promised" so
                 far, but more is needed. 

                 Mr Maasland says South Auckland and Greater
                 Auckland have been very supportive of the
                 modernisation project and are committed to helping the
                 fundraising effort.


                 Jim Anderton in front of Vogel House. Herald Picture / Mark Mitchell

                 Come in - Jim's place is our place

                 12.04.2000 - By AUDREY YOUNG 

                 OPEN HOME 

                 Where: the "people's palace," aka Vogel House, former
                 prime ministerial residence. 

                 Value: $2.4 million. 

                 Owner: Ministerial Services. 

                 Former tenants: Sir Robert Muldoon, David Lange, Sir
                 Douglas Graham. 

                 Present tenants: Alliance leader Jim Anderton, wife
                 Carole and - says Mr Anderton - the ghost of Muldoon. 

                 Where: set in 4.5ha of land, 75 Woburn Rd, Lower Hutt.

                 When: Sunday, April 16, noon. 

                 Why: "To demonstrate that a new era of inclusive and
                 accountable government has begun." 

                 Entertainment: NZ string quartet, welcome speech from
                 Mr Anderton. 

                 Let yourself loose in this decorator's dream and do what
                 you will with the cracked lounge ceiling, fur-like cream
                 carpet, mustard wallpaper, plastic floral arrangements
                 and the cottage garden and a canary yellow room styled
                 by Lady Beverley Graham. Don't walk into this room with
                 a hangover, the tenant warns. 

                 Mr Anderton gave reporters a preview of the "open
                 home," which he says is proof of a new era of inclusive
                 and accountable government. Such was his
                 accountability, he even let reporters roam around his
                 spacious bedroom, and poke into his pantry. 

                 (The gingernuts were not part of his successful diet and,
                 as he pointed out, they were not opened.) 

                 Mr Anderton and his landscape gardener wife, Carole,
                 plan to convert Lady Beverley's cottage-style garden
                 back to a more stately creation. 

                 He says he wants to give the community a sense of
                 owning the state mansion. 

                 But he may have other motives for throwing open the
                 doors. 

                 If he is to get money to do the place up, he has to
                 soften up the people before softening up Prime Minister
                 Helen Clark to agree. 

                 "People think, 'Gee, this is Vogel House,' but you
                 realise a lot of state houses are renovated better than
                 this." 

                 Mr Anderton calls it "the people's asset" and says the
                 state must take better care of it, or not own it at all. 

                 It is a pristine palace on the outside, but the inside
                 show signs of a house neglected for 25 years - since Sir
                 Robert Muldoon turned it into an official residence. 

                 Alliance MPs and officials turned up in their
                 bumper-sticker cars yesterday to a caucus at Vogel
                 House, eating their buffet lunch off the 22-seat dining
                 table. 

                 But Mr Anderton says he shares the house with the
                 spirit of Sir Robert, who wouldn't budge from it after his
                 1984 election defeat. 

                 "The first time I came in here, he was here. I could just
                 feel his presence," said Mr Anderton in the windowless
                 room in which Sir Robert composed his speeches. 

                 "But the idea of sitting here locked away is a bit grim." 

                 Vogel House was built in 1933 for James Vogel, a
                 grandson of Prime Minister Sir Julius Vogel, and his
                 new wife, Jocelyn Riddiford, by her parents. It was
                 bequeathed to the Crown in 1965. 

                 The last word goes to Lady Beverley, who defends that
                 yellow room: "I loved it. It was nice and bright and very
                 refreshing."


                 unfair

                 12.04.2000 - By PAUL YANDALL 

                 Plans by Hamilton radio stations to sway voters in an
                 upcoming referendum have been criticised as unfair and
                 undemocratic. 

                 The Radio Network, The Radio Works, More FM and
                 Radio Tainui are preparing to contribute thousands of
                 dollars of advertising and news air time towards
                 promoting a "yes" majority in next month's stadium
                 referendum. 

                 The referendum, to be conducted by the Hamilton City
                 Council, will ask residents whether they want the
                 council to contribute up to $9 million towards $30 million
                 redevelopments of Rugby Park and WestpacTrust Park.

                 The Waikato Stadium Trust, which has drawn up the
                 plans, needs the backing of the referendum to ensure
                 the council contributes. 

                 The trust met the radio networks, which own 12 stations
                 in the region, on Monday to persuade them to campaign
                 for the twin stadium redevelopments. 

                 But opponents of the projects have criticised the move,
                 saying that only one side of the issue will be given
                 publicity leading up to the vote. 

                 Councillor Garry Mallett said people would be hearing
                 only one side of the story because there was no
                 coordinated campaign to inform them of all the issues. 

                 "It's just not fair. I'll be letting people know the other
                 side. The shame is that the trust is using ratepayers'
                 money." 

                 Mr Mallett said that if people voted for the
                 redevelopment plans they would be paying for it in their
                 rates for the next 25 years. He said the trust had been
                 doing a good job of ignoring that. "But I think the public
                 are smart enough to see through it." 

                 Brian Barclay of The Radio Network Waikato, which
                 owns Classic Hits, Hauraki, and NewstalkZB, said the
                 network would be spending thousands of dollars on an
                 advertising campaign aimed at getting people to
                 endorse the plans. 

                 He said people were welcome to advertise on the radio
                 stations against the plans but they would have to pay
                 for it themselves. 

                 Moves by other stations to devote news air time to the
                 campaign have worried media watchers, with one saying
                 the stations would destroy their credibility if they did not
                 cover both sides of the issue. 

                 Hamilton mayor Russ Rimmington said the trust had to
                 promote its plans but the actual postal ballot would
                 inform voters of all the issues involved. "I think the
                 checks and balances will be there," he said. 

                 The council was not legally bound by the referendum
                 result, but it would meet the day after ballots had been
                 returned, to consider the result. 

                 The postal ballot will be mailed out on May 6.



                 12.04.2000 - 

                 HAMILTON - The Morrinsville firefighter who drove a
                 water truck that crashed killing a 17-year-old volunteer
                 last month has been charged by police. 

                 Kevan Hickey, 35, will face a charge of careless driving
                 causing death. 

                 Rookie firefighter Kieran O'Hanlon died after the water
                 tanker went off Airport Rd at Narrows Bridge, south of
                 Hamilton, as the pair responded to a scrub fire on
                 March 18. 

                 The tanker crashed through a metal barrier, rolled 7m
                 down a bank and landed upside down. 

                 Mr O'Hanlon died the next day. Hickey suffered a
                 broken pelvis and is still recovering at home. 

                 Inspector Leo Tooman of Hamilton said the charge
                 followed a report by the police crash analysis unit. 

                 The maximum penalty for careless driving causing death
                 is three months' imprisonment, a $4500 fine and
                 disqualification from driving for a period at the judge's
                 discretion. 

                 Morrinsville volunteer firefighter and Anglican minister
                 the Rev Steve Turfrey said he was stunned at the
                 charge against Hickey, describing it as a "tragedy upon
                 a tragedy." 

                 "It's hard for us to see a colleague we have great
                 respect for in this position. Kevan and his family will be
                 devastated." 

                 He said that firefighters accepted police had to follow
                 the legal process. "We need to be seen to be
                 accountable - we would expect nothing less." 

                 They would continue to support Hickey, whatever the
                 outcome. 

                 "The Morrinsville fire station is an incredibly close
                 community - we'll be giving Kevan and his family plenty
                 of support." 

                 Bay of Plenty/Waikato area manager Jim Stevens said
                 the Fire Service was compiling its own crash report,
                 which was due next week. 

                 A team from several regions would report to Fire Service
                 acting chief executive Alison Timms, who would decide
                 on any further action, he said. 

                 Mr O'Hanlon's family could not be reached for comment.



                 12.04.2000 - 

                 WELLINGTON - The number of New Zealanders who die
                 from alcohol-related illness or accidents far outweighs
                 corresponding cannabis-related deaths, according to
                 figures released yesterday. 

                 In response to a series of written parliamentary
                 questions by Labour MP Tim Barnett, Health Minister
                 Annette King said the number of deaths in which
                 alcohol was the underlying cause was 419 between
                 1994 and 1996. Some of the causes included gastritis,
                 liver disease, cardiomyopathy, alcoholic psychoses or
                 dependence syndrome, non-dependent alcohol use
                 disorder and accidental poisoning. 

                 There were a further 509 deaths from external causes
                 such as road accidents, drownings, suicide and falls,
                 where alcohol may have been responsible. 

                 For the same period, there was one death where
                 cannabis was listed as the underlying cause, and 23
                 deaths from external factors such as drowning and
                 suicide, where cannabis may have contributed. 

                 Conditions in which cannabis could be the underlying
                 cause of death included drug psychoses, cannabis
                 dependence syndrome and non-dependent cannabis
                 use disorder. 

                 There appears to be widespread support within the
                 Government for a revamp of cannabis laws, with many
                 favouring partial decriminalisation. 

                 The Government intends reviewing the current cannabis
                 law and has said any change to the legislation would be
                 decided by a conscience vote of MPs. 

                 The issue is whether possession of small amounts of
                 the drug for personal use should continue to be a
                 criminal offence. 

                 Partial decriminalisation could mean that someone
                 found with a small amount of cannabis for personal use
                 would not face going to court, but receive an instant fine
                 instead. 

                 In response to further questions by Mr Barnett, Justice
                 Minister Phil Goff said 3134 people were convicted in
                 1998 of possessing less than 28 grams of cannabis,
                 compared with 3046 in 1997 and 2884 in 1996. Most
                 were aged between 20 and 30. 

                 Police Minister George Hawkins said more than 75,000
                 police hours were spent dealing with incidents involving
                 possession of cannabis during 1998-99 and more than
                 12,000 offences of cannabis possession were recorded.
                 Not all cases went to court. In some cases only a
                 warning was issued.



                 12.04.2000 - By MARTIN JOHNSTON 

                 Nurses' training courses could be extended from three
                 years to four. 

                 Longer bachelor's degree courses for nurses at
                 polytechnics and universities will be explored in a
                 wide-ranging review of training being done for the
                 Nursing Council by management consultants KPMG. 

                 The review will also ask whether the extra time should
                 be spent in the present mix of study and clinical
                 practice or in a year as an intern. 

                 Undergraduate training now provided at 13 polytechnics
                 and three universities is divided 50-50 between study
                 and clinical practice. 

                 Union and student groups yesterday were concerned
                 about nursing students possibly facing an extra year's
                 fees. 

                 However, the council, which controls nurses' registration
                 and oversees education, said it did not yet have a view
                 on extending undergraduate courses. 

                 Council chairwoman Judy Kilpatrick, who is associate
                 professor of nursing at Auckland University, said
                 three-year courses still predominated overseas but
                 some countries were switching to four. 

                 With an academic year of 32 weeks, nurses' training
                 had effectively lost a year compared with the old
                 "apprenticeship" system, although the present system
                 was much better as it was more focused. 

                 Ms Kilpatrick said that, when degree courses were
                 introduced in the early 1990s, they were intended to be
                 four years, but were only three because the Government
                 had refused to subsidise the longer course costs. 

                 The Government's Clinical Training Agency last year
                 recommended a fourth year for nurses, either in
                 education or internship. 

                 Hospitals had become keen on internship or first-year
                 programmes for new graduates, she said. 

                 Such programmes were offered in at least four cities.
                 Auckland Hospital began one this year. 

                 The Ministry of Education was unable to comment last
                 night and a spokesman for minister Steve Maharey said
                 the issue had not been raised with him. 

                 Nurses' Organisation chief executive Brenda Wilson
                 said an extra year "would not be a goer" if nurses had to
                 pay another year's fees, as many already had difficulty
                 repaying loans on salaries that started at $26,000,
                 excluding penal rates. 

                 She said more programmes were needed to help nurses
                 make the transition from student to practitioner, and
                 another educational year would not provide that. 

                 Aotearoa Polytechnic Students' Association president
                 David Penney said he doubted the need for a fourth year
                 because of the cost and nursing's low pay.



                 12.04.2000 - 

                 MELBOURNE - Young women may be more
                 susceptible than their male counterparts to the
                 cancer-causing effects of smoking. 

                 A New Zealand study released yesterday found that
                 people who developed lung cancer before the age of 45
                 were more likely to be female. 

                 Dr Megan Cornere, respiratory registrar at Auckland's
                 Green Lane Hospital, said the findings were a major
                 concern because of the rate at which teenage girls and
                 young women continued to take up smoking. 

                 "The cancer risks of smoking are applicable not just to
                 older smokers," she told the Thoracic Society of
                 Australia and New Zealand's annual scientific meeting in
                 Melbourne. 

                 "Our study is further evidence that young women seem
                 to be at increased risk of lung cancer." 

                 Researchers compared the characteristics of people
                 under 45 who developed lung cancer with those who had
                 a later onset of the disease. 

                 Women made up only 32 per cent of patients over 45,
                 but 67 per cent of the younger group. 

                 Although there might be genetic or other factors that
                 influenced the onset of lung cancer, between 80 and 90
                 per cent of the study group had been or were still
                 smokers. 

                 In New Zealand, lung cancer represents 12 per cent of
                 all registered cancer cases and 20 per cent of all cancer
                 deaths. 

                 Another study presented yesterday contradicted the
                 long-held belief that breastfeeding protects infants
                 against asthma and allergic skin conditions. 

                 The joint Austrian-New Zealand study found no
                 significant reduction in the lifetime diagnosis of asthma
                 among infants who had been breast-fed compared with
                 those who had not. 

                 It also found that, while breast-feeding did protect
                 infants against hayfever, breast-fed babies were more
                 likely to develop eczema. 

                 Wellington School of Medicine paediatric research
                 fellow Dr Angela Zacharasiewicz said the conclusions
                 were based on a survey of 35,000 Austrian children. 

                 Breast-feeding had advantages for child nutrition, had
                 been found to have a protective effect against infection
                 and was an important means of mother-child bonding,
                 she said. 

                 But she cautioned against over-emphasising the
                 importance of a recommended length of exclusive
                 breast-feeding for allergy prevention. 

                 Dr Zacharasiewicz said some assumptions were widely
                 taken for granted without convincing evidence. 

                 She described the belief that breast-feeding protected
                 infants from asthma in the long term as a simplistic
                 one. 

                 "There are many other factors that influence the
                 development of a child's immune system, including
                 lifestyle, early childhood infection and socioeconomic
                 status," she said. 

                 She hoped the research results would allow women to
                 make an informed choice about how they fed their child.

                 "For one reason or another, some women choose not to
                 breast-feed, so we should be clear about the evidence
                 for actual advantages concerning allergies and asthma."


                 Teen tourist sets seal on Gisborne

                 12.04.2000 - By ANNE BESTON 

                 Like a youngster on his OE, Homer the sea elephant
                 exhibits fairly typical adolescent behaviour - he sleeps
                 all day, has a voracious appetite and just cannot seem
                 to stay out of trouble. 

                 The southern elephant seal, named after the bumbling
                 head of television cartoon family The Simpsons, has
                 become one of Gisborne's biggest entertainment
                 attractions since he took over the Port of Gisborne's
                 boat-ramp 16 days ago. 

                 But while the 5m-long animal likes the free food, he is
                 less keen on all the attention. 

                 "It's a classic case of a wild animal and people not
                 showing enough respect," said Department of
                 Conservation officer Jamie Quirk. 

                 "Ninety-five per cent of the people coming down there
                 are just rapt to see him. He's a neat animal. But others
                 stand their kids next to him to take a photograph or sit
                 really close to him - just brain-dead behaviour." 

                 The department is so worried that either Homer or one
                 of his visitors will be hurt that they have assigned him a
                 bodyguard. 

                 "We've got so many signs down there it looks like a
                 real-estate agent's - asking people to keep at least 10m
                 away, not to touch him and not to feed him." 

                 So far two cars, a van, a 44-gallon drum (squashed like
                 a soft-drink can, according to onlookers), a steel pole
                 and a local woman are all the worse for wear after
                 run-ins with the sea elephant. 

                 "One of the cars had a dog in it and he went after it,
                 stoving the door in," said Mr Quirk. 

                 "Last Wednesday a woman sat down and sang him a
                 song but he didn't like that either. Three guys had to
                 drag him off her even though he can only move 5m
                 before having to stop for a breather." 

                 Department staff say Homer weighs about 1800kg - the
                 same as a small truck. Boaties, particularly
                 dinghy-owners, are being encouraged to use other
                 ramps. 

                 Homer is the second sea elephant in the past two years
                 to visit Gisborne. The species breed on sub-Antarctic
                 islands such as Campbell Island. 

                 Mr Quirk said the department had telephoned sea
                 elephant experts in the United States and South Africa
                 for information on Homer and his likely departure date. 

                 "Basically he'll leave when he feels like it."
                                         


                 12.04.2000 - 

                 WAIROA - Slips brought down by torrential rain
                 complicated the delivery of a baby girl in northern
                 Hawkes Bay yesterday. 

                 Leslie Moses, aged 24, gave birth at the home of
                 District Nurse Aileen Himona at 4.48 am, after a
                 mudslide cut her off from hospital and blocked an
                 ambulance trying to reach her. 

                 When Ms Moses went into labour near Tuai, 53km
                 northwest of Wairoa, Wairoa Hospital sent an
                 ambulance carrying midwife Tungane Kani. 

                 Ms Moses and her mother set off for Wairoa, but were
                 thwarted by an impassable mudslide. They turned back
                 to the home of Mrs Himona, where the baby was born. 

                 Ms Kani and her driver scrambled over the mudslide and
                 were met by Constable John Bruce, of Tuai, who took
                 them to the scene of the birth. 

                 Ms Kani said it was the most dramatic birth she had
                 been called to in her four years as a midwife. 

                 "We tried to get a chopper to go out, but the weather
                 was no good. 

                 "We were notified on our way out to Tuai that the baby
                 had been born, so we carried on to make sure
                 everything would be all right. 

                 "It was definitely dramatic - wondering whether we would
                 get out there or not. 

                 "Not knowing the condition of the road with the heavy
                 rain - that was pretty scary." 

                 Ms Moses and the baby were taken to Wairoa Hospital.
                 A police four-wheel-drive vehicle carried them across the
                 mudslide. 

                 Ms Kani said the family and Mrs Himona had done all
                 the hard work by the time she arrived. 

                 "She had lots of nannies and aunties at the birth. They
                 made sure she was well wrapped and warm. She had
                 been fed a couple of times before we moved on. 

                 "Her mother was the calm person at the birth,
                 apparently. She's had a home birth before, and she's
                 delivered a baby in the back of a van coming in from
                 Tuai." 

                 The baby, Ms Moses' second child, had yet to be
                 named or weighed but was healthy. 

                 Ms Kani said Mrs Himona had warned her to be
                 prepared for more births at Tuai. 

                 "There are a few others [pregnant] out at Tuai, and
                 Aileen's final word was, 'Make sure you get the other
                 ones that are due out.'" 

                 And one item of equipment Ms Kani will be sure to pack
                 for future trips to the village is gumboots. 

                 "We definitely got muddy. We definitely needed
                 gumboots."



                 12.04.2000 - 

                 NELSON - A Motueka man revealed more than he
                 wanted to when he stripped off in front of his girlfriend,
                 after wetting his pants, and business cards advertising
                 massage parlours fell out of his pocket. 

                 The Nelson District Court heard yesterday that Glen
                 John Clark's girlfriend, Mallory Knox, aged 27, stabbed
                 him in anger with a pair of scissors when she learned of
                 his sexual exploits. 

                 Knox, also known as Marama Shirley Davis, has denied
                 a charge of injuring Mr Clark with intent last May 9. 

                 Crown prosecutor David Boldt told the court that Knox
                 had discovered her boyfriend's "extra-marital relations"
                 after he came to her Motueka house about 6 am so
                 drunk he had wet his pants. 

                 Knox ordered Mr Clark to remove his trousers before
                 getting into bed. 

                 While he was doing so, four business cards belonging
                 to women at Motueka and Nelson massage parlours
                 dropped out of his pocket. 

                 Knox was furious and demanded an explanation, Mr
                 Boldt said. Mr Clark ignored her and told her to get out
                 because he was trying to sleep. 

                 Mr Boldt said Knox grabbed a pair of scissors and
                 stabbed Mr Clark in the shoulder, just below his
                 collarbone. 

                 Knox called an ambulance and Mr Clark was taken to
                 Nelson Hospital. 

                 Mr Clark told the court he could not remember much of
                 the night he was wounded because he was so drunk,
                 but he did recall Knox "wanting to know about the
                 cards." 

                 The trial before Judge Patrick Keane and a jury of eight
                 men and four women is to finish today.


                 Mai Time, an upbeat Pacific-style youth magazine show, may lead
                 the way into a new TV era.

                 TV2 shake-out may be radical

                 12.04.2000 - By JOHN ARMSTRONG 

                 TV2 may have to screen far more youth-oriented,
                 special-interest programmes as part of the
                 Government's major revamp of TVNZ. 

                 That could include more New Zealand music, along with
                 programmes that allow young people to discuss current
                 affairs. 

                 TVNZ is also likely to be instructed to run more regional
                 news items in its bulletins as part of the
                 yet-to-be-drafted state broadcasting charter. 

                 "It really must give a perspective that there are New
                 Zealanders who live in Bluff, Kaitaia and on the East
                 Coast," Broadcasting Minister Marian Hobbs said
                 yesterday, outlining progress on developing a
                 broadcasting policy. 

                 However, the Government is backing away from
                 compulsory local content quotas, preferring voluntary
                 arrangements. 

                 A team of officials led by the Prime Minister's
                 Department is scheduled to come up with "broad policy
                 objectives" on the direction of TVNZ by the end of next
                 month. 

                 One option is to transform TVNZ from a commercially
                 driven state broadcaster into a non-profit company such
                 as Radio New Zealand's National Radio and Concert
                 FM, but still carrying advertising. 

                 Ms Hobbs has already written to the TVNZ board
                 outlining a draft statement of corporate intent that says
                 the company must recognise public service
                 broadcasting values and the diversity of its audience. 

                 More specific guidelines will be provided in the charter,
                 which will appear this year after public consultation. 

                 One policy strand being developed covers transmission
                 and technology issues, including the possible splitting
                 off of the profitable Broadcast Communications, TVNZ's
                 transmission arm, into a separate company. 

                 That could allow the Government to turn TVNZ into a
                 crown entity without it being required to return a dividend
                 or profit. 

                 It would still be funded by advertising on both channels. 

                 "That is one model that will be explored," said Ms
                 Hobbs. 

                 The policy work also included rethinking options for
                 digital television after the cabinet rejected TVNZ's $200
                 million joint venture with a British company. 

                 "Digital is not dead for TVNZ," said Ms Hobbs. 

                 The other policy strand covers content and how to
                 deliver programming that satisfies youth, Maori, regional
                 and Pacific Island audiences. 

                 The minister made it clear that TV2 would have to carry
                 its share of such special-interest shows, rather than
                 leave them to a more non-commercial TV One. 

                 The cabinet also has to find an alternative to the public
                 broadcasting fee, rather than fund NZ On Air from
                 general taxation. 

                 That could be a levy on advertising or on users of
                 spectrum rights. 

                 "The bottom line is that we must find something that
                 ring-fences funding away from the Government. 

                 "If you are dependent on the Government, it is easy for
                 the Government to freeze those funds," said Ms Hobbs. 

                 She also talked of allowing regional channels to have
                 access to NZ On Air funding. 

                 At present a channel must have 95 per cent national
                 coverage before it can apply. 

                 The cabinet may finalise the appointment of a new
                 director to the TVNZ board next week. 

                 There are three vacancies and the others may be filled
                 by the end of the month. 

                 National's broadcasting spokeswoman, Katherine Rich,
                 said Ms Hobbs had taken five months to come up with a
                 work programme. 

                 "She's been all talk, no action since taking over the
                 portfolio."



11 May 2000




                 Brian and Yvonne Beggs say Waitemata Health's apology means
                 nothing to them. Herald Picture / David White

                 Apology after double tragedy

                 11.05.2000 - By TONY WALL 

                 Waitemata Health has made an "unreserved apology" to
                 the families of murder victim Malcolm Beggs and his
                 killer, Lachlan Jones, admitting it failed in its mental
                 health treatment of Jones. 

                 The healthcare provider yesterday made public the
                 damning findings of a review of its care of Jones, aged
                 19, who killed Mr Beggs then apparently committed
                 suicide last August. 

                 Two weeks earlier he had discharged himself from
                 Waitemata Health's acute psychiatric unit. 

                 The "quality assurance review," a type of internal audit,
                 says Waitemata Health's mental health services failed
                 to give Jones proper care. 

                 It said Jones met the criteria to be committed to the
                 unit, but was not because staff did not want to damage
                 their "rapport" with him. 

                 The panel that conducted the review has made 54
                 wide-ranging recommendations. 

                 Areas singled out as needing improvement include
                 communication with families and among staff,
                 assessment of at-risk patients, care planning and review
                 procedures, management of medication and availability
                 of specialists. 

                 Health Minister Annette King criticised Waitemata
                 Health for holding an internal audit under the Medical
                 Practitioners Act instead of a wide-ranging public inquiry
                 under the Mental Health Act. 

                 This denied the Beggs and Jones families access to the
                 full report, she said. But it was clear from the summary
                 that a "terrible breakdown" had happened in the mental
                 health services provided to Jones. 

                 The Director of Mental Health, Dr Janice Wilson, also
                 criticised the way the inquiry was conducted and said
                 the "serious shortcomings in the treatment of Jones are
                 unacceptable." 

                 Waitemata Health's chief executive, Dr Dwayne
                 Crombie, said the inquiry was done under the Medical
                 Practitioners Act because "in the past, when everything
                 was public, they seldom got the truth." 

                 Dr Crombie admitted that his organisation's care of
                 Jones was not good enough, and "unreservedly
                 apologised" to both families. 

                 He said no disciplinary action would be taken against
                 any individual as a result of the findings. 

                 Brian and Yvonne Beggs, parents of Malcolm, said
                 yesterday that the apology meant nothing to them and
                 they still wanted answers. 

                 Mr Beggs said someone had to be held accountable for
                 the deaths. 

                 "Lachlan Jones was purely an instrument - he wasn't
                 responsible for his own actions." 

                 Jones' father, Owen Jones, said last night that it was a
                 pity it took two deaths to make Waitemata Health
                 review its procedures. 

                 He was glad steps had now been taken to prevent
                 another tragedy, but "the whole damn affair was lack of
                 care by those involved." 

                 Clinical case notes leaked to the Herald show that
                 Lachlan Jones was admitted to the Te Atarau acute
                 psychiatric unit last July 14 as an informal patient after
                 carving the word "murder" on his leg with a knife. 

                 He told clinicians that he heard voices telling him to kill
                 someone, but he later left against medical advice. He
                 then answered a flatmate-wanted advertisement placed
                 by Mr Beggs and began living at his home. 

                 Dr Crombie said Waitemata Health's own policy, not the
                 Privacy Act, prevented staff telling Mr Beggs about
                 Jones' illness. 

                 The policy would be reviewed.



                 11.05.2000 - By CHRIS DANIELS and VERNON
                 SMALL 

                 Hard-up smokers facing higher-priced cigarettes should
                 beware - some retailers are cashing in on the tax rise. 

                 Within hours of the Government revealing on Tuesday
                 its tax rise of at least $1 for a packet of 20 cigarettes,
                 some shops and dairies had already put up their prices
                 - on old stock for which they had not paid the higher
                 tax. 

                 Parliament took extraordinary urgency to pass the
                 tobacco tax rise, and it took effect from midnight on
                 Tuesday. 

                 A Herald check of six Auckland dairies and shops
                 yesterday found two dairies and one petrol station
                 selling cigarettes at the higher price. 

                 Peninsula Price Cutter, in Te Atatu, was selling
                 cigarettes at the old price. Operator Satnes Kumar said
                 he would not put up his prices until the wholesalers did
                 so. 

                 A similar deal was available to shoppers at Arvind
                 Patel's Carruth Rd dairy in Papatoetoe and at The Pipe
                 Centre in Queen St. 

                 But on the North Shore, the Takapuna Mobil Mart was
                 selling cigarettes for $1 more than the day before. The
                 Killarney Superette and the Beachside Dairy and
                 Takeaways were also charging the new price. 

                 A random phone survey of petrol stations and shops
                 around Auckland discovered no common approach. 

                 Barry Hellberg, of the Retail Association, said the speed
                 and lack of consultation surrounding the increase had
                 left retailers and consumers confused. 

                 Shops and supermarkets could charge whatever they
                 liked for a packet of cigarettes as this was a
                 commercial decision. 

                 John Galligan, a spokesman for British American
                 Tobacco, which distributes most cigarettes in New
                 Zealand, said the company was working out the prices
                 it would charge the wholesalers, who then sell to
                 dairies, petrol stations and supermarkets. 

                 He said the increase could be more than $1 once it was
                 passed on. 

                 Government urgency over the price rise came after the
                 Treasury advised it would miss out on $6 million in
                 revenue if it waited until the Budget to lift tobacco tax. 

                 A spokeswoman for Finance Minister Michael Cullen
                 said the Treasury believed the tobacco industry was
                 beginning to suspect the possibility of a tax rise in the
                 Budget. 

                 The Treasury estimated that by moving manufactured
                 product early, businesses could avoid paying $6 million
                 in extra tax. 

                 Officials are nervous about leaks after reports before last
                 year's Budget that the broadcasting fee and stamp duty
                 would be axed led to the loss of millions of dollars in
                 revenue. 

                 The law putting the tobacco changes in place was
                 passed at 5.16 am yesterday. The marathon 11-hour
                 debate saw the Opposition making repeated points of
                 order and moving numerous amendments to the brief,
                 five-clause bill. 

                 Opposition MPs said the rise would hit poor smokers
                 the hardest, and summoned the spectre of Sir Arnold
                 Nordmeyer's 1958 Black Budget, introduced in the first
                 year of his Labour Government yet widely blamed for its
                 defeat in 1960. 

                 But in background notes to the measure, the
                 Government said the move would help the poor. 

                 "People in lower-income groups are generally more
                 responsive to increases in the price of tobacco
                 products. Therefore, increases in the excise would
                 improve the health of lower-income groups
                 proportionately more than higher-income groups," the
                 notes said. 

                 Health Minister Annette King said the Government
                 would give more to help people quit smoking than the
                 $1.7 million earmarked by the previous Government after
                 the last increase in tax on tobacco.


                 Police at the scene of the accident.

                 Boy killed as bag catches in bus door

                 11.05.2000 - By ANNE BESTON 

                 A mother arrived to pick up her son from a bus stop
                 yesterday afternoon just minutes after he had been
                 thrown under the wheels of a bus and killed. 

                 It is believed the Browns Bay 12-year-old was fatally
                 injured when his schoolbag caught in the door of a
                 Stagecoach bus and he was dragged a short way before
                 being run over. 

                 "As we understand it, the mother turned up at the scene
                 while her son was lying there," said Senior Sergeant
                 Tim Crosland of Takapuna. 

                 "She didn't see it happen but was there soon
                 afterwards." 

                 Ambulance officers spent some time trying to
                 resuscitate the boy at the scene but were unsuccessful.

                 The head of the Auckland police fatal accident team,
                 Constable Mike Robb, said it appeared that the Murrays
                 Bay Intermediate School pupil's bag was caught in the
                 back door as he tried to get off the bus and he was
                 thrown beneath its wheels. 

                 "It sounds like he tripped as he was trying to get off the
                 bus and the driver didn't see it," he said. 

                 The accident happened when the number 60 "bendy"
                 bus carrying schoolchildren north towards Browns Bay
                 stopped at the corner of Browns Bay Rd and Argyle Rd
                 to let off passengers. 

                 A group of students from Westlake Boys High School
                 and Rangitoto College travelling on the same bus told
                 the Herald they shouted for the driver to stop when they
                 saw the boy fall but the driver did not hear them. 

                 Another witness, Zeryan Mohammad of Browns Bay,
                 was following the bus as it drove away from the stop. 

                 "I thought at first it was a ball that was caught under the
                 bus but then I realised it was a boy," Mr Mohammad
                 said. 

                 The Stagecoach Auckland operations manager, Harold
                 Williams, said the company would investigate the
                 accident and interview the bus driver. 

                 "The guy will be suffering quite a bit of shock. It's a
                 terrible situation all round," he said. 

                 "It's something we absolutely dread happening."


                 Waitemata Health chief executive Dr Dwayne Crombie yesterday
                 apologised to the families of the two dead men.

                 Review of killing leaves victim's family
                 unhappy

                 11.05.2000 - By TONY WALL 

                 A report on the mental-health treatment of Lachlan
                 Jones makes 54 wide-ranging recommendations but
                 has left Brian and Yvonne Beggs of West Auckland still
                 asking: "Why did our son die?" 

                 Jones killed 25-year-old Malcolm Beggs, his landlord,
                 and was later also found dead at their Henderson house
                 two weeks after discharging himself against medical
                 advice from Waitemata Health's Te Atarau acute
                 psychiatric unit last August. 

                 Jones, 19, had told clinicians at the unit about his
                 murderous thoughts in graphic detail, but there was no
                 move to commit him under the Mental Health Act. 

                 Brian Beggs said yesterday that the report and an
                 apology from Waitemata Health were meaningless. 

                 "We want to know who is going to be held accountable.
                 In all other fields people are held accountable. Why
                 should the medical field be any different? 

                 "Serious mistakes were made by individuals and there
                 was a serious lack of supervision by management to let
                 more junior staff make those mistakes." 

                 Mr Beggs was critical of the decision to hold a
                 "quality-assurance review" instead of a more
                 wide-ranging and transparent inquiry under the Mental
                 Health Act. 

                 It meant that evidence gathered by the review team
                 remained secret, and his family still had no idea what
                 exactly went wrong. 

                 It is clear to all parties that Jones could not have
                 signalled his intent any more clearly. 

                 A copy of Jones' clinical case notes, leaked to the
                 Herald, show that when he arrived at the unit on July 14,
                 he had branded the word "murder" on his leg with a
                 knife and had superficially cut his wrists. 

                 He described hearing the words "murder and suicide"
                 and had thoughts of murdering a stranger or someone
                 known to him by using a crossbow, gun or poison. He
                 described vivid hallucinations of people murdering one
                 another and heard a voice on the television telling him to
                 kill. 

                 The psychiatrist assessing Jones rated him 10 out of 10
                 for severity of symptoms. 

                 Yet Jones convinced staff within four days that he was
                 not a danger to himself or anyone else and was allowed
                 to leave. One clinician noted he had used drugs and
                 alcohol and even suggested his symptoms might be
                 fabricated. 

                 The quality-assurance review was conducted by a
                 three-person panel chaired by Dr Murray Patton, clinical
                 director of South Auckland Health. 

                 The panel said that no single factor appeared to have
                 been responsible for the "terrible event," but many
                 aspects of Waitemata Health's services needed
                 improvement. 

                 The review said that over time, there appeared to have
                 been a "dilution" of concern over Jones' state. The
                 community assessment and treatment team dealing
                 with him seemed to view their role as a "holding" one
                 until Jones was picked up by another service. 

                 The panel found that Jones met the criteria for a
                 compulsory committal. But undue emphasis was placed
                 on Jones' stated willingness to "engage" with his
                 caregivers, despite little evidence of this. 

                 Staff were also overly concerned about damaging
                 "rapport" with Jones should they commit him. 

                 The panel found that Jones was not able to access
                 specialist care. Only nursing and medical staff dealt
                 with him. 

                 "Because he was deemed not to meet entry criteria of
                 other teams, he was effectively unable to access care
                 that would have enabled him to access more effective
                 interventions. 

                 "The service as a whole failed to provide for him." 

                 The panel recommended that systems be put in place
                 to ensure that people for whom medication was critical
                 to their wellbeing take that medication. 

                 After Jones died, 17 unused doses of medication were
                 found in his bedroom. 

                 The panel recommended better communication between
                 staff and noted that "loss of information" was a risk. 

                 It did not say if information on Jones was lost. 

                 The review also found that there was a lack of
                 communication with families. 

                 "Family members have a vital interest in care
                 arrangements. In regard to Lachlan, there was limited
                 involvement of family or other actual potential carers.
                 Corroboration of history would have been useful, and
                 involving other people in support of monitoring Lachlan's
                 progress would have been helpful." 

                 The chief executive of Waitemata Health, Dr Dwayne
                 Crombie, said yesterday that he took on board all the
                 panel's recommendations and steps had been taken to
                 implement them. 

                 "There were elements of our care that frankly could have
                 been better and for this we unreservedly apologise to
                 the families." 

                 He said he believed that Waitemata Health needed to
                 focus particularly on improving assessment and care
                 planning, clinical and operational relationships and
                 accountabilities, and communications with families and
                 between teams. 

                 No disciplinary action would be taken against any
                 individual. 

                 Dr Crombie said it was no excuse, but Waitemata
                 Health was working under extreme pressure through
                 lack of resources. 

                 The organisation was well short of staffing levels
                 recommended by the Mental Health Blueprint. 

                 It needed an extra 91 staff for youth and child services
                 and 54 for adult mental health services. 

                 Dr Crombie said it was impossible to guarantee that
                 another tragedy would not happen. 

                 "But I can promise that Waitemata Health has made
                 significant improvements since the tragic deaths ... and
                 we will further improve services by implementing these
                 recommendations."



                 Coroner: train alarm could have saved teen

                 11.05.2000 - By SCOTT INGLIS 

                 Katie Connolly never heard her quiet killer coming. 

                 The bright 16-year-old had her head down, deep in
                 thought, as she walked across the rail station's platform
                 and on to its pedestrian crossing. 

                 Perhaps she was thinking about her pending doctor's
                 appointment or her dress for the upcoming school ball. 

                 Whatever the thought, it distracted her so much she
                 never saw or heard the whispering Silver Fern passenger
                 train slice through the air at 78 km/h and plough into
                 her, causing severe head injuries. 

                 But Katherine Jane Connolly's death on June 18, 1997,
                 at Glen Innes station was needless, according to
                 Auckland coroner Mate Frankovich, and could have
                 been avoided if Tranz Rail had had simple safety
                 measures in place. 

                 Mr Frankovich, in a report released yesterday, criticised
                 Tranz Rail over safety at the station and recommended
                 that it: 

                 * Install alarm bells at the north end of the station
                 platform with a red flashing neon warning sign; or 

                 * Build an overhead bridge from the platform over the
                 crossing; or 

                 * Cut the speed of trains approaching the station from
                 80 km/h to 25 km/h. 

                 Tranz Rail yesterday refused to comment, saying it had
                 yet to examine the coroner's findings. 

                 But last night the rail operator's safety record was again
                 in the spotlight after shunter Robert Stephen Burt, 43,
                 was killed at the Middleton shunting yards in
                 Christchurch. 

                 The 11.30 am accident was the second fatality at the
                 yards in a fortnight. Labour Minister Margaret Wilson
                 said Mr Burt was the fifth Tranz Rail employee to be
                 killed at work in the past seven months and public
                 interest required more to be known about the causes
                 and what could be done to prevent similar tragedies. 

                 "As Minister of Labour I want to know how they
                 occurred and what we can learn about the adequacy of
                 both the Tranz Rail prevention systems and the
                 statutory framework and its enforcement," she said. 

                 In his ruling on the Glen Innes tragedy, Mr Frankovich
                 found that Katie Connolly, a King's College sixth-former
                 on her way home from school, had got off another train
                 at the station and walked through a maze of metal
                 barriers and on to the crossing. 

                 She was engrossed in thought, oblivious to loud noises
                 from other trains, a nearby timber yard and road traffic
                 surrounding the station. 

                 "I am satisfied that had there been some form of alarm
                 on the platform, Katie would have reacted and not
                 ventured across the railway tracks," said Mr Frankovich.

                 "For this reason, I think it imperative that Tranz Rail
                 install alarm bells at the north end of the platform with a
                 red flashing neon sign ... " 

                 The driver of the southbound train said he had sounded
                 the horn before the accident. But Mr Frankovich was so
                 concerned about the quietness and speed of trains
                 approaching the Glen Innes station, he visited three
                 times to find out for himself how dangerous the crossing
                 was. 

                 Each time he never heard the Silver Fern approach until
                 it was 20m-30m from the crossing and it never sounded
                 its horn. In a note to his report, he says use of horns is
                 essential. 

                 He also reported that during the inquest Tranz Rail's
                 lawyers tried to convince him Katie was suffering
                 medical problems that might have contributed to her not
                 noticing the train. 

                 The lawyers produced a Wellington neurologist, Lindsay
                 Haas, who gave evidence to this effect. 

                 "But after questioning him myself, I was satisfied that
                 apart from her minor respiratory problems, young Katie
                 was a perfectly healthy normal young girl," Mr
                 Frankovich said. 

                 Tranz Rail's lawyers were also unable to produce a
                 safety manual at the inquest and Mr Frankovich has
                 asked the Land Transport Safety Authority to look into
                 this. 

                 Katie's devastated parents have fought for nearly three
                 years to try to make Tranz Rail accountable. 

                 Her father, Stuart, an Auckland barrister, told the Herald
                 yesterday that his daughter's death was a waste. 

                 Her mother, Sue, said: "It is a tragedy that it has taken
                 this to highlight the terrible shortcomings in Tranz Rail's
                 safety management. I would like to challenge Tranz Rail
                 to act on the coroner's recommendations ... 

                 "She wasn't just another statistic. Katie was a
                 much-loved daughter, sister and grandchild."



                 Woman describes her anguish over mother's
                 illness

                 11.05.2000 - By FRANCESCA MOLD and FIONA
                 BARBER 

                 A young woman whose mother died of cervical cancer
                 after several smear slides were misread has told an
                 inquiry of her anguish over "terrible errors" which might
                 have contributed to her death. 

                 The woman, whose identity was suppressed, told of her
                 struggle to cope upon learning her mother might die and
                 how it pushed her into taking an overdose of morphine. 

                 Her mother was diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer
                 in 1997 and died two years later. 

                 She had three cervical smears read by former Gisborne
                 pathologist Michael Bottrill in 1988, 1991 and 1993. He
                 reported all three as normal. 

                 The woman's GP told her in late 1998 that those
                 "normal" smears were actually abnormal. 

                 Two of the smears were sent to a Sydney laboratory
                 last year to determine whether Dr Bottrill had been
                 reading slides accurately. They were found to contain
                 abnormalities. 

                 The mother also had a smear read in 1996 by Tairawhiti
                 Healthcare's laboratory, which called for a repeat smear
                 in six months because there was a "scant" number of
                 cells. This slide was later re-read by a pathologist who
                 detected abnormalities. 

                 The young woman told the inquiry her mother could not
                 understand how she had developed cervical cancer
                 when her smears had been reported as normal. 

                 "Mum thought it ironic that she had cervical cancer
                 when she had been so careful about always having
                 regular smears." 

                 Her mother began feeling unwell in 1995 and
                 complained of pain in her lower abdomen and back for
                 most of the next year. 

                 "It was very difficult for us to watch our mother go
                 through so much pain and torment. Mum was
                 determined that she would beat the cancer and had a
                 number of operations which were painful for her." 

                 The woman said she felt let down by the health system.

                 "Life is very different for us now. It does not seem right
                 or fair. My mother was a woman who did everything that
                 was asked of her by the health system ... She should
                 never have died." 

                 She said the family had received virtually no support
                 from any source since her mother's death. 

                 "I hope that by giving evidence today the committee can
                 learn from the terrible errors ... that caused my mother
                 to die from this disease." 

                 After hearing from the woman, panel chairwoman Ailsa
                 Duffy, QC, questioned the weight the inquiry team could
                 place on her evidence in light of questions raised about
                 the validity of the Sydney re-reading. 

                 She said the evidence simply showed that Dr Bottrill
                 had read the slides one way, and the Sydney laboratory
                 another. 

                 Ms Duffy said the smear read by Tairawhiti Healthcare
                 also clouded the issue. She said looking at the
                 evidence further could be like "opening Pandora's box."
                 However, she agreed to accept it into the record.


                 Paul Thompson and his wife Lori face an agonising wait for results of
                 Hepatitis and HIV tests. Herald Picture / Nicola Topping

                 Patients wait for test results but risks
                 'negligible'

                 11.05.2000 - By STACEY BODGER and NZPA 

                 ROTORUA - Faulty sterilisation equipment may be the
                 cause of a contaminated blood scare at Rotorua
                 Hospital. 

                 Meanwhile, all but one of the 34 patients from Rotorua,
                 Tokoroa and Taupo who were treated with contaminated
                 equipment have had blood tests and initial results are
                 expected by tomorrow. 

                 The affected patients, who received colonoscopies at
                 Rotorua Hospital in February and March, may have to
                 wait five months for final test results for HIV, hepatitis B
                 or hepatitis C, but have been assured by Lakeland
                 Health that the risk is negligible. 

                 The Ministry of Health's chief medical adviser, Dr Colin
                 Feek, said all hospitals were alerted after Lakeland
                 Health discovered the E.coli bacteria - commonly found
                 in the bowel - in one of its colonoscopes. 

                 A colonoscope is a device made up of a flexible tube
                 and camera which is inserted into the bowel for internal
                 investigations. 

                 The bacteria were found after extensive manual cleaning
                 and machine sterilisation. 

                 The equipment thought to be faulty is a Steris brand
                 "quick connect kit," which is used to connect the
                 colonoscope to a sterilisation machine. 

                 Dr Feek has warned other hospitals to stop using the
                 Steris kits and the New Zealand distributor has stopped
                 supplying them, until investigations by the ministry and
                 Lakeland Health are completed. 

                 The chief executive of Lakeland Health, Ray Watson,
                 said he was confident that hospital staff and cleaning
                 procedures were not to blame for the contamination but
                 could not be certain until the investigations were over. 

                 Dr Feek said a United States Food and Drug Agency
                 report cast doubt on whether sufficient tests had been
                 carried out on the Steris kits. Any defects in the
                 steriliser were the manufacturer's responsibility, he said.

                 One of the affected patients, Paul Thompson, of
                 Rotorua, said the issue had hung over him "like a mist"
                 since a Lakeland Health team visited him on Tuesday
                 and told him of the scare. 

                 "It's constantly with me - I should find out soon about
                 the hepatitis ones but it will take five months to clear
                 me of HIV and that's a long time to have it hanging over
                 you," Mr Thompson said. 

                 A spokeswoman for Lakeland Health infection control,
                 Karen Purdie-Davis, justified the six-week delay from
                 the discovery of the bacteria to the time patients were
                 contacted. She said tests had to be done and medical
                 experts consulted. 

                 Meanwhile, the Health and Disability Commissioner,
                 Ron Paterson, is said to be monitoring the situation.



                 TVNZ once banned its new board man

                 11.05.2000 - By LOUISA CLEAVE television editor 

                 The newest addition to the board of TVNZ was once
                 banned from the state broadcaster's Auckland
                 headquarters. 

                 But times have changed for Paul Smith, a journalist who
                 has been one of TVNZ's severest critics during the past
                 12 years through a weekly column in the National
                 Business Review. 

                 With his appointment this week to the TVNZ board, he
                 is joining the team, as he puts it, after "running up and
                 down the sidelines." 

                 And that means the game rules have also changed. 

                 No longer can Mr Smith refer to TVNZ's top
                 management as being "short of high-calibre
                 broadcasting talent" or "the network whose arrogance
                 has antagonised everybody from the Prime Minister to
                 others too numerous to mention," as he has in his
                 columns over the past few months. 

                 He has described TVNZ's bid for digital television as
                 "strategically flawed" and acknowledged the widening
                 gap between the writers of television and TVNZ's top
                 executives. 

                 He wrote that an angry outburst by playwright Roger
                 Hall over this issue pointed to "a network culture rarely
                 seen but widely accepted in the industry - bullying and
                 personality politics." 

                 Mr Smith stands by those views but as of now he
                 cannot say it out loud. 

                 "I'd like to see bridge-building between the creative
                 communities and TVNZ. That's it really. It's about as far
                 as I can take it," he says when pushed to declare what
                 approach he will be taking to the board. 

                 "You have to realise I'm inside the place now. I'm in the
                 team and I'm not going to bag the team being in the
                 team. 

                 "I've been appointed for certain outlooks and views and
                 that's all I can bring to the job." 

                 When it comes to sitting around the boardroom table of
                 one of the most politically hot SOEs, Mr Smith, aged
                 55, acknowledges he is wet behind the ears. 

                 "I've got a very good chairman [Dr Ross Armstrong] who
                 will guide me. I'll be going to Wellington to do an
                 Institute of Directors course. 

                 "It's a learning curve in terms of the board ... but I'm
                 happy to learn. 

                 "I've had 12 years learning a lot about the industry and
                 writing about it and thinking about it, and I hope I can
                 bring that sort of knowledge into the boardroom. I think
                 that's one of the reasons I was selected." 

                 Mr Smith has been supportive of Labour's plans for
                 TVNZ and his appointment is seen as a strategic move
                 by the Government to have an open advocate of public
                 service broadcasting on the board. 

                 In January, Mr Smith wrote: "Policy is the issue here
                 and Labour wins hands down over hands-off simply
                 because it has detailed cultural policy. That represents
                 a startling break from the past 12 years in which
                 broadcasting was increasingly treated no differently from
                 baked beans." 

                 In another column he said: "Once TVNZ is returned to
                 its public service role, culture and cultures should
                 re-assert themselves vigorously as they have on Radio
                 New Zealand. For that to happen, state broadcasting
                 needs a head start in terms of new structure, fresh
                 talent, more resources - and fewer cooks." 

                 Mr Smith was a one-time public relations manager at
                 TVNZ and author of several books, including Revolution
                 In the Air!, about the restructuring of television in New
                 Zealand. 

                 During the reign of Australian chiefs Chris Anderson and
                 Mike Lattin, Mr Smith was unknowingly banned from
                 TVNZ. 

                 He said that for the past few years he had been
                 blacklisted by the broadcaster. 

                 "I still feel strongly and passionately about ownership of
                 New Zealand television by New Zealanders. I'm
                 passionate about local content, all of the things I've
                 written about."
                 Race watchdog told police aggressive

                 11.05.2000 - By EUGENE BINGHAM political reporter 

                 The Race Relations Conciliator believes institutional
                 racism may exist in Waitara and has called for urgent
                 talks to resolve tensions. 

                 Dr Rajen Prasad said last night that he had been told of
                 specific incidents of racism in the "fractured" Taranaki
                 township and the problems were wider than just
                 between the police and Maori. 

                 Steering clear of commenting on the events surrounding
                 the shooting itself, Dr Prasad said he had heard
                 allegations of racist actions by police against local
                 Maori. 

                 Asked for examples of what he had heard, he said:
                 "Police come armed to some of the incidents that occur
                 - I'm reporting one side of the story here, be mindful of
                 that - overly aggressive interrogation, using curfew to, in
                 a sense, be overly vigilant about Maori. 

                 "When an incident occurs in town between five Maori
                 and six Pakeha, the kids who are arrested and put into
                 the van first are the Maori kids." 

                 "The majority of people who are unemployed happen to
                 be Maori. I'm not saying that somebody is to blame for
                 that, it's a process - perhaps institutionalised racism
                 that creates that kind of environment. 

                 "It's clear there is a structured inequality and racism in
                 the particular area and a section of the community is
                 missing out. 

                 "A lot of work needs to be done to bring the
                 communities together." 

                 Dr Prasad completed his fact-finding visit to Waitara
                 yesterday in the wake of last week's police shooting of
                 Steve Wallace and the claims of race relations
                 problems which followed. 

                 Dr Prasad briefed Prime Minister Helen Clark and the
                 Acting Commissioner of Police, Rob Robinson, on his
                 findings yesterday. 

                 Mr Robinson said last night that it was important the
                 police listen to the community of Waitara. 

                 Meanwhile, the name of the police officer who shot Mr
                 Wallace was broadcast yesterday. 

                 A caller to Tame Iti's talkback show, Nga Take a Tame,
                 on Maori station Radio Waatea mentioned the name
                 during an on-air conversation.



                 Rankin objected to draft details

                 11.05.2000 - By AUDREY YOUNG 

                 Work and Income New Zealand's chief executive,
                 Christine Rankin, objected to at least 14 parts of a draft
                 report into her department. 

                 State Services Minister Trevor Mallard released both the
                 objections and the report yesterday. 

                 Ms Rankin objected to a reference to 18 months of
                 mistakes in her 18-month-old merged department. She
                 took issue with assertions that Winz had an inward
                 focus and lacked an understanding of the public service
                 ethic. And she objected to what she believed was an
                 implication that she could be seen as politically aligned.

                 Objections were also made to assertions or implications
                 that Winz was an organisation without a brain; it was
                 authoritarian; the management team was short on
                 public service experience; that staff reported a climate
                 of fear that regarded criticism as disloyal; and that Ms
                 Rankin did not fit with a desired public servant profile. 

                 The report and a draft version had been leaked to
                 National and distributed the day before. 

                 Most of her objections - made after the report's author,
                 former State Services Commissioner Don Hunn, asked
                 for her views on a draft copy - appear to have resulted in
                 changes in the final report.


                 Backstage attention is given to a model's hair in the moments
                 baefore the Zambesi show. Picture / Duncan Cole

                 Designers out to catch international eye

                 11.05.2000 - By CATHRIN SCHAER 

                 SYDNEY - After nearly a week of gloss, glamour,
                 gossip and designer clothing, today is the last day of
                 runway shows at the Mercedes Australian Fashion
                 Week. 

                 Yet again New Zealand designers have made a great
                 impact at the most important fashion trade fair in this
                 part of the world. Most of the 10 designers from this
                 country have now shown their collections. All of them
                 hoped to attract international attention and to sell to
                 Europe, North America and Asia. 

                 So far their plans seem to be working. Straight after his
                 show, designer Nicholas Blanchet had appointments
                 with several major Asian department stores. James
                 Aguiar, the fashion director of exclusive US store
                 Bergdorf Goodman has said he would like to add Karen
                 Walker to his collection. And Kate Sylvester will be
                 seeing representatives from another American store,
                 Saks Fifth Avenue. 

                 Aside from the business, everyone knows it would not
                 be a fashion event without a bit of name-dropping and
                 gossip. 

                 First there was pop singer Macy Gray belting out her hit
                 single at the finale of one Australian label's show. Next
                 up came ageing supermodel Jerry Hall, pouting, flicking
                 her hair and carrying a chihuahua in a tote bag for
                 Australian designer Charlie Brown. And then there was
                 supermodel Eva Herzigova, the original Wonderbra
                 model, making an appearance yesterday afternoon in
                 several Australian runway shows. 

                 Nicholas Blanchet's runway show involved a "virtual
                 runway" complete with jet airliner noises and a wind
                 machine, dressed up to look like the engine of a plane. 

                 The show was entitled "Take Off." Models' hair was
                 done to resemble the plumage of birds and fabric was
                 printed so it looked like the metal plates from a plane or
                 helicopter. 

                 Helen Cherry proved once again that she is a master of
                 that glacially cool, understated urban look. Models wore
                 minimal designs, beautifully made jackets and pants
                 suits with brightly coloured fishnet stockings and high
                 heels. 

                 The first design from Moontide swimwear was their
                 possum leather bikini accompanied by a full-length
                 possum fur coat. They also showed the "tankini," a
                 swimsuit consisting of a singlet and pants. 

                 State of Grace designers Sherilyn Catchpole and
                 Caroline Church had their lace and silk dresses stroll
                 out to poetry readings. 

                 Kate Sylvester staged her show under crystal
                 chandeliers on a dinner table laid for about 60. Models
                 wearing dresses printed with carnations sashayed
                 between the crockery. 

                 Sylvester said she wanted to juxtapose the femininity of
                 ruffles, printed lace and florals with the hard edge of
                 tailoring. 

                 Last year Karen Walker was pilloried by the Australians
                 for her choice of screeching music. So this year she
                 provided personal CD players with headphones for each
                 guest. They could make their own choice from rock or
                 easy listening. 

                 The clothes were another in-joke: Walker's punk
                 interpretation of the trend for what is called "lady
                 dressing." Walker took the trend and turned it on its
                 head by making her models look like debauched
                 royalty, a private girl's school gone mad. 

                 World used cartoon art from designers Francis Hooper
                 and Denise L'Estrange-Corbet. The theme was
                 prehistoric. Jackets in bright red and lime green had
                 perky dinosaur tails. Skirts had scales and models'
                 faces were painted like cave walls. 

                 Zambesi designer Elisabeth Findlay produced
                 distinctively beautiful tailoring combined with the
                 vintage-style prints she loves. She used more colour
                 than she usually does and some of her dress shapes
                 were simpler than the intricately constructed layering of
                 the past. 

                 Newcomers to the event Silk Road revelled in their
                 nationality. They started with a Maori chant, then
                 showed simple but beautifully made clothes in bold
                 colours marked out by their minimalist prints. Skirts
                 were edged with patterns from Maori weaving and shirts
                 were decorated with silhouettes of native plants, kowhai
                 and flax in full bloom.



                 11.05.2000 - By PAUL YANDALL 

                 HAMILTON - Centre Place mall in Hamilton is to
                 undergo a $10 million redevelopment that will transform
                 it into the largest shopping complex in the Waikato. 

                 The development will see the creation of 50 jobs during
                 the construction phase of the project, and potentially
                 dozens of more retail jobs as the central city mall grows
                 from 65 to 81 shops. 

                 The owner of the complex, Kiwi Income Property Trust,
                 said the development was due to be completed by
                 October and would transform the mall into the largest
                 undercover shopping centre in the Waikato. 

                 Property developers Kiwi Income is also behind the
                 retail development of Sylvia Park in Auckland. 

                 Among the new facilities being proposed for Centre
                 Place will be a mothers' room and a new 14,000 sq m
                 international food court. 

                 Centre Place development manager Nick Sharp said a
                 new lifestyle precinct in the mall would be created to
                 cater for adventure and sports shoppers. 

                 "We want to put a lot more emphasis in the
                 entertainment and leisure sectors," he said. 

                 "As well as enhancing the image of the centre we'll be
                 looking at introducing more lifestyle options, such as
                 adventure and sports shops." 

                 He said the selection of shops would also be made to
                 take best advantage of the Village and Rialto cinema
                 complexes already in the mall. 

                 Gaylene Clark, chairwoman of the Hamilton central
                 business district association, welcomed the project and
                 said the move was particularly valuable in helping to
                 bring shoppers back to the central city. 

                 "This is going to be good for the public, especially if it
                 means the introduction of a lot more different retailers." 

                 She said the redevelopment would provide real
                 competition to the popular outlying Chartwell shopping
                 centre. 

                 Hamilton Mayor Russ Rimmington said the $10 million
                 investment from Kiwi Income was a vote of confidence in
                 the city. 

                 "This is great news and we're absolutely delighted," he
                 said. 

                 "They've decided to invest in the central business
                 district of Hamilton and that shows that they've got
                 confidence in the heart of the city." 

                 Mr Rimmington said the council would work closely with
                 the developers to ensure the project succeeded. 

                 Local building firm Hawkins Construction will manage
                 the project and the centre will remain open for business
                 during construction.



                 11.05.2000 - By QUENTIN CLARKSON 

                 Grieving Thames people who were asked by the district
                 council to remove planted flowers from family graves are
                 upset by the request and are determined to fight it. 

                 Meanwhile Thames mayor Chris Lux has acknowledged
                 the way the request was made is "regrettable" and
                 admits the Thames Coromandel District Council should
                 have handled it better. 

                 The council sent letters to eight people, asking them to
                 remove planted gardens from their family plots, because
                 it cost too much to mow around them. 

                 "Unfortunately I have to advise you that we need to
                 remove this garden to allow the lawn mowing contractor
                 to access the area," wrote council community facilities
                 manager Alex Finn. He gave families until May 31 to
                 remove flowers and other items from grave sites. 

                 Mr Finn told the Herald he sent out eight letters.
                 Unfortunately, some people did not receive them while
                 other letters were addressed to dead people. 

                 He said the letters intended to point out that seven
                 cemeteries owned by the council were divided into two
                 types, memorial and mown. Graves in the memorial
                 cemeteries were allowed planted flowers, while mown
                 ones were not. Mr Finn said because of people's grief
                 after the loss of a relative, they sometimes did not take
                 in the distinction, and choose an unsuitable site. 

                 However, Mr Lux said it was regrettable that the council
                 made a mistake in sending the letters. 

                 "We are not there to be insensitive and in this case
                 bureaucracy made mistakes. We could have done it
                 better." 

                 He said the problem concerned only around six people.
                 "We should have had a chat about it." 

                 One of the council's letters went to Karen Cookson, who
                 said she will camp by her garden if necessary to keep
                 the council out. Ms Cookson visits the plot of her son
                 Waharoa Albert Morehu once a week. The 19 year old
                 died in June 1997 on the way back home to New
                 Plymouth after visiting his mum on her 37th birthday. 

                 Ms Cookson says she is determined not to remove
                 flowers from the grave site. "I'll camp up here if I have
                 to," she says.



                 11.05.2000 - By ROSALEEN MACBRAYNE 

                 ROTORUA - The 1100 students at Rotorua Boys High
                 School will give a rousing welcome home tomorrow to
                 their own world golfing champions. 

                 Fifth-former Sam Hunt and sixth-formers Bradley Iles
                 and Mathew Holten yesterday won the international
                 schools golf final in Northern Ireland. 

                 The hotshots finished a huge 28 strokes in front of their
                 closest rivals, from Australia, at the Royal County Down
                 course in Newcastle. 

                 Sam Hunt headed the individual standings with a
                 two-round score of 140 and Bradley Iles was second,
                 helped by a hole-in-one on the 14th. Mathew Holten
                 finished fourth equal. 

                 Principal Chris Grinter said: "We are very proud of them.
                 They are a very young team and it is a huge
                 achievement." 

                 He paid tribute to coach Paul Hartstone and team
                 manager Ian Woon, who had helped the team "through
                 to this pinnacle." 

                 Jordan Rangihika also travelled to Northern Ireland as
                 the reserve. 

                 Mr Grinter said Rotorua Boys won the national schools
                 golf title last year and had been in the finals three times
                 in the past five years.


                 Middlemore Hospital patients Susan Pountley (right) and Una
                 Tanginoa aren't quitting. Herald Picture / Martin Sykes

                 Give it up or pay - new tax's twin aims

                 11.05.2000 - By NAOMI LARKIN 

                 Extra money or a dramatic increase in the number of
                 ex-smokers - the Government is hoping to have it both
                 ways with its sudden move to increase the tax on
                 tobacco. 

                 The tax rise came into effect at midnight on Tuesday,
                 adding $1 to the price of a packet of 20 cigarettes, and
                 $3.13 to a 50g packet of tobacco. 

                 The Government rushed the increase through
                 Parliament under extraordinary urgency, with Finance
                 Minister Michael Cullen extolling it as a "progressive
                 measure ... to improve the health status of this
                 country's citizens." 

                 The rise comes as Health Minister Annette King widens
                 the attack on smoking by proposing a ban not only in
                 restaurants and cafes but also in pubs and bars. 

                 By hitting smokers where it hurts most - in their wallets
                 - the Government expects to promote good health and
                 gain an extra $110 million for the next year alone. 

                 But physician Murray Laugesen, a tobacco policy
                 specialist with the private consultancy Health New
                 Zealand, says this figure is totally unrealistic. 

                 He believes the price rise will hit smokers so hard that
                 many will give up. Because of this, he predicts the $110
                 million revenue gain will be closer to $10 million. "The
                 figures don't stack up," he says. "Based on the
                 smokers' response to the 1998 tax increase, the
                 Government will get about $9 million. 

                 "Their estimate assumes there will be a very low
                 response in smokers quitting and cutting down." 

                 In 1998, a 13 per cent price increase brought a 10 per
                 cent reduction in consumption, he says. In 1991, a 17
                 per cent increase was matched by a 15 per cent drop in
                 consumption. 

                 The percentages were taken from national tobacco
                 consumption figures and supermarket sales data. 

                 "Having followed these weekly sales data for three
                 years, I know that they don't go up again," Dr Laugesen
                 said yesterday. "Once they are down, they are down." 

                 Although the revenue might fall short of predictions, the
                 price hike had created the perfect climate for the
                 Government's second aim - good health - to succeed. 

                 But for this to happen, more money would have to go to
                 cessation programmes, in particular the Quit Group, he
                 said. 

                 In partnership with the Cancer Society, Te Hotu
                 Manawa Maori and the Health Sponsorship Council, the
                 Quit Group gives assistance - including the 0800 778
                 778 Quitline - to smokers wanting to give up. 

                 "We're now at the stage where an increased Quit
                 campaign would mean there is no more money to be
                 got out of price increases," Dr Laugesen said. 

                 "Because if the Quit campaign was increased greatly
                 now, smokers would respond by quitting much more
                 than they have done in the past." 

                 Smokers who gave up were most vulnerable to
                 restarting within the first three weeks. Beefing up the
                 group's resources would help such people to "quit now
                 and stay quit." 

                 Quit Group spokeswoman Helen Glasgow said $17
                 million was spent each year on smoking cessation
                 programmes and support for people wanting to stub out
                 their habit. 

                 But around $50 million was needed for such campaigns
                 to have any effect. 

                 About $700 million a year is collected from excise tax.
                 The bulk of it goes into the Government's Consolidated
                 Fund for use across all areas of spending. 

                 "As well as increasing tobacco tax, we believe the
                 Government is duty bound to spend some of this new
                 tax money on helping smokers quit," Helen Glasgow
                 said. 

                 "Otherwise smokers, particularly those under financial
                 pressure, could be short-changed by the tax increase." 

                 Without a comprehensive approach to tobacco control,
                 the tobacco tax increase could fall short of its intended
                 effect, she said. 

                 Mrs King said yesterday that tobacco taxation was the
                 most effective way to encourage people to quit smoking
                 or cut down. "It is my belief the money should be spent
                 on health and on the Closing the Gaps initiative [to
                 narrow the social and health disparities between Maori
                 and Pakeha]," she said. 

                 "I strongly believe smokers need support to give up and
                 education on the reasons they should quit." 

                 Mrs King said she was unable to give specific details on
                 health spending before the Budget was announced. 

                 Other measures to reduce tobacco use included
                 anti-smoking programmes, restrictions on advertising
                 and bans on smoking in the workplace and public
                 places such as restaurants. 

                 The minister said those who gave up smoking because
                 of the price were mainly young people. Those most
                 likely to take up smoking were the young, Maori and
                 women. 

                 The Government's anti-smoking moves included
                 campaigns directed at Maori women and pregnant
                 women. 

                 A series of pilot "quit" programmes for Maori women
                 had been run and the findings were "favourable," Mrs
                 King said. 

                 Ministry of Health statistics show one in two Maori are
                 cigarette smokers. For Pakeha, the figure is one in four,
                 for Pacific Islanders one in three. 

                 In 1996, Maori men's lung cancer death rates were three
                 times higher than those for non-Maori men. For Maori
                 women, the rates were four times higher than those for
                 non-Maori women. 

                 "There are almost 5000 smoking-related deaths in New
                 Zealand each year, and that doesn't count all those who
                 live impaired lives after strokes or heart attacks or other
                 illnesses, including various cancers," Mrs King said. 

                 Certainly the harmful effect of smoking on health is one
                 point not up for debate. 

                 In 1996, tobacco smoking accounted for 17 per cent of
                 all deaths. Among Maori, one third of all deaths
                 between 1989 and 1993 were attributable to smoking. 

                 A person who continues smoking through adulthood has
                 a 50/50 chance of dying early losing an average 14
                 years of life expectancy. 

                 But the impact on the "secondhand smoker" - the
                 person who does not smoke but inhales other people's
                 fumes - is no less frightening. 

                 About half all sudden infant death syndrome deaths can
                 be attributed to parental smoking. 

                 Environmental tobacco smoke increases the risk of
                 croup, pneumonia, bronchitis and bronchiolitis by 60 per
                 cent in the first 18 months of life. It increases the risk of
                 asthma by 50 per cent and is a cause of glue ear. 

                 Action on Smoking and Health director Trish Fraser said
                 the price increase would make some smokers cut
                 consumption and others quit. 

                 "That's a huge public health gain," she said. "When
                 people quit smoking, they very quickly lose their risk of
                 heart disease." 

                 Other diseases caused by smoking would also reduce
                 over the longer term. 

                 Concern at the price rise has come from an unexpected
                 quarter - the police. 

                 Wellington Detective Sergeant Tony Smith said price
                 rises on cigarettes and other tobacco products led to
                 more "smash-and-grab" crimes. 

                 When the tobacco tax went up in 1998, police noticed a
                 rise in robberies of dairies, supermarkets and service
                 stations. 

                 Four service stations in Wellington were raided for
                 cigarettes about three weeks after that tax rise. 

                 Mrs King also now plans to include bars and pubs in
                 smokefree legislation at present before Parliament. 

                 She had previously planned to target only restaurants
                 and cafes. 

                 She hopes to introduce an amendment to the
                 Smokefree Environments (Enhanced Protection)
                 Amendment Bill which would be open for debate before
                 a select committee. 

                 Details of how the ban would be enforced are still to be
                 settled. 

                 If passed the bill would further tighten the Smokefree
                 Environments Act, passed in 1990. 

                 This act and its subsequent amendments already ban: 

                 * Smoking in many workplaces and some public places.

                 * Almost all tobacco advertising. 

                 * Sales of cigarettes to people under the age of 18. 

                 * The sale of single cigarettes (a pack has to contain 20
                 cigarettes or 30g of loose tobacco). 

                 * The use of incentive schemes by tobacco companies
                 to encourage retailers to sell or display more tobacco
                 products. 

                 The Smokefree Environments (Enhanced Protection)
                 Amendment Bill aims to extend the ban on smoking in
                 workplaces. 

                 It would include all workplaces where two or more
                 people work in a common airspace, rather than just
                 some office areas as at present. It would also ban
                 smoking in educational institutions - except tertiary
                 ones - at all times. 

                 The bill also seeks to stop tobacco products being
                 displayed at supermarket checkouts or other points of
                 sale in shops. 

                 Judges sentencing a person for repeat offences of
                 selling tobacco products to people under 18 within a
                 two-year period would have the power to prohibit that
                 person from selling tobacco products.



                 11.05.2000 - By CATHERINE MASTERS 

                 A tax on money designated for prisons, hospitals and
                 other services has been mooted as a way of paying for
                 sweeping preventive child-health measures. 

                 Dr Nikki Turner, head of the Auckland-based
                 Immunisation Advisory Centre, said yesterday that such
                 a "child tax" would save vast amounts of money further
                 down the track. 

                 It was crucial if New Zealanders wanted to stop
                 increasing numbers of young people contracting
                 preventable illnesses and growing into sick and possibly
                 socially deviant adults. 

                 A child whose hearing defect was not picked up would
                 not do well at school and could end up in jail, she said. 

                 It made sense to take a portion of money designated to
                 pay and run prisons to ensure that that child's hearing
                 problem was properly handled. 

                 "With hospital treatment, every time you treat
                 cardiovascular disease or diabetes, take a chunk of that
                 and put it into the preventive health. 

                 "Or, every time you give a liver transplant for hepatitis B,
                 take a slice from there," she said. 

                 "It should be a slice of every curative programme, which
                 includes being in jails and the unemployment benefit. 

                 "It really is about taking a slice now for the future. If you
                 don't take a slice now, you'll have an expensive future." 

                 The Prime Minister, Helen Clark, said yesterday that
                 she had sympathy for the call by Dr Turner and other
                 health professionals this week for the public to rise up
                 against the country's dismal child-health record. 

                 But she stopped short of endorsing a child tax,
                 especially from publicly owned services. 

                 However, she said the Health Minister, Annette King,
                 was looking into a system where so many cents of the
                 tax dollar would go into health. 

                 "What I think is important is that the advocates for child
                 health fight for a decent share." 

                 Improving socio-economic conditions - such as the
                 December return to income-related rentals for state
                 housing - would go a long way to improving child health,
                 Helen Clark said. 

                 The upending of the public health system by the
                 previous Government had been devastating. That
                 Government had dumped 10 goals for child health which
                 the former Labour Government had published when
                 Helen Clark was Health Minister.



                 11.05.2000 - By PAUL YANDALL 

                 HAMILTON - A newly elected Tainui leader will be
                 asked to resign from the tribe's executive council if fraud
                 charges against him are proved. 

                 Tommy Kuru Moana, aged 54, an adviser of
                 Ngaruawahia, appeared in the Hamilton District Court
                 last Friday charged with 23 counts of using a document
                 with intent to defraud. 

                 He was remanded on bail until May 19 after entering no
                 plea. 

                 Moana was one of 11 candidates elected to the ruling
                 council, Tekaumarua, on April 30. 

                 The tribe's interim general manager, Raiha Mahuta, said
                 the board would meet by the end of the week to discuss
                 the charges against Moana. 

                 "If they are proven, I think we will have no other option
                 but to ask for his resignation." 

                 She said the board would have to verify the charges as
                 it had only been made aware of them through the
                 media. 

                 "The executive will go through the process of
                 determining what has happened and what to do next." 

                 Moana is alleged to have used Eftpos, credit card and
                 other receipts to falsely claim allowances and benefits
                 during his tenure as Maori Health Commission
                 executive director from December 1997 to last August. 

                 He is also alleged to have altered receipts, a hotel
                 accommodation invoice and a travel expenses claim
                 form. 

                 The 23 charges total about $5000 and police say more
                 charges may be laid. 

                 Moana was unavailable for comment last night.



                 11.05.2000 - By SCOTT MacLEOD 

                 The Order of St John rejects claims that call centres
                 have endangered the sick and injured in distant areas
                 by sending medics by road rather than air. 

                 ACC has written to 14 communications centres spelling
                 out when to send helicopters, saying it has "anecdotal
                 evidence" that some staff are breaking protocol by
                 wrongly sending crews by road. 

                 Auckland is one of the worst problem spots, according
                 to ACC. 

                 But St John chief executive Jaimes Wood said
                 yesterday that he had never received a formal complaint
                 from ACC for sending a helicopter too late - only for
                 sending one unnecessarily or too early. 

                 He said call centres were following ACC rules. No
                 medical staff had complained of helicopters being sent
                 too late in the Auckland area for at least 18 months. 

                 ACC spokesman Richard Ninness said the debate had
                 blown out of proportion. The letter was sent to clarify
                 protocols. 

                 ACC earlier said that the call centres were obliged to
                 send helicopters to any emergency more than 30
                 minutes' drive away if risk was likely to life or limb. 

                 The Auckland communications centre for ambulances,
                 run by St John, said it routinely responded to distant
                 callouts by road. 

                 It often sent a helicopter only after the patient had been
                 checked by ground staff. 

                 Tony Smith, St John's northern region chief medical
                 adviser, said it was bunkum to claim helicopters were
                 being sent too late. Factors other than driving distance
                 sometimes came into play, such as whether the injured
                 person would be easier to find from ground or air. 

                 Malcolm Beattie, executive chairman of the
                 WestpacTrust rescue helicopter in Auckland, has told
                 the Herald his staff were often put on standby when he
                 felt they should be sent straight to an emergency.



                 11.05.2000 - 

                 CHRISTCHURCH - A mother wept in the Christchurch
                 District Court yesterday as she was sentenced for
                 causing the death of a teenage cyclist by opening a car
                 door. 

                 Hayley Roseanne Britt, aged 23, a beneficiary, had
                 admitted careless use of a vehicle causing death. 

                 Judge Edward Ryan sentenced her to 125 hours of
                 community service and disqualified her from driving for
                 six months. 

                 The court was told that when Britt opened the car door
                 last November 27, she knocked a 14-year-old boy off his
                 bicycle and into the line of traffic. 

                 He suffered severe head injuries and died on December
                 1. 

                 Judge Ryan described the offence as "less of a form of
                 careless operation than we sometimes find." 

                 But he added: "From time to time we are sadly
                 reminded what can happen when a door is opened and
                 a cyclist struck." 

                 Defence counsel David Ruth said Britt had done
                 everything she could to encourage the boy's family to
                 attend a restorative justice meeting but they had
                 declined. 

                 Mr Ruth said the accident was an example of what
                 could occur from momentary inattention.



                 11.05.2000 - 

                 ROTORUA - Christopher Stephen Schuler wanted to
                 pay a solo mother in need of extra money around
                 $10,000 to run over his business associate. 

                 Schuler, aged 47, of Tokoroa, is accused of the 1995
                 murder of Helensville peanut merchant Mile Vukotic, 55,
                 in whose business Schuler invested up to $341,000. 

                 Schuler took out a life insurance policy on Mr Vukotic in
                 1991 and claimed a $350,000 payout after Mr Vukotic
                 was found dead under his car near Cambridge on
                 November 14, 1995. 

                 Police initially believed Mr Vukotic was crushed under
                 his car while changing a tyre, but after a tipoff in April
                 last year they exhumed the body and launched a
                 murder inquiry. 

                 In the High Court at Rotorua yesterday, Tokoroa
                 locksmith Christopher Pentecost said that during a
                 conversation in 1995, Schuler had spoken of a man who
                 owed him a lot of money and "needed running over"
                 because he had stopped making repayments. 

                 "He asked if I knew of a solo mum who wanted to make
                 extra money. I said that wouldn't get his money back
                 and he got a smile on his face and said, 'You just get
                 them insured'," Mr Pentecost said. 

                 Another witness, a Tirau logger, said Schuler offered
                 him $10,000 and a free flat to run Mr Vukotic over in his
                 four-wheel-drive and tried to increase the bribe when the
                 man refused. 

                 "He said it couldn't be a hit-and-run - that I would have
                 to call the police because if they got suspicious, he
                 wouldn't get the insurance," the man said. 

                 The court also heard evidence from a friend of Schuler,
                 Hans Janetzke, that the accused tried to give the
                 impression that he was poor, despite having around
                 $900,000 in cash and shares. 

                 Mr Janetzke said Schuler once stopped to pick up old
                 clothing off the road and put it on and, while at Mr
                 Janetzke's house for a meal, collected brussell sprout
                 peelings from the rubbish and took them home, saying
                 it was a waste of food. 

                 Schuler's former partner of seven years, Beverley
                 Gascoyne, said she had warned him that there was no
                 such thing as a perfect murder after their "weird
                 conversations" about killing Mr Vukotic. 

                 "[One morning] he rang me and was very agitated and
                 said [Mr Vukotic] was dead and that he was going away
                 and to have a good life."



                 11.05.2000 - 

                 Gail Maney told police she did not even know Deane
                 Fuller-Sandys, let alone have him killed, a jury in the
                 High Court at Auckland heard yesterday. 

                 Maney, aged 32, represented by Peter Kaye, is
                 accused of procuring or inciting Stephen Stone to kill
                 the 21-year-old West Auckland man in August 1989
                 because she thought Mr Fuller-Sandys had stolen her
                 drugs. 

                 She is also accused with Mark William Henriksen, 33,
                 of helping to dispose of the body to avoid Stone being
                 arrested or convicted. 

                 Mr Fuller-Sandys' body has never been found, and for
                 years he was presumed to have drowned while fishing at
                 Whatipu. 

                 Witness Richard Holloway earlier told the court that Mr
                 Fuller-Sandys attended a number of parties at Maney's
                 West Auckland home. 

                 But in a statement to the police shortly before she was
                 charged with murder in July 1997, Maney denied
                 knowing the missing man. 

                 She denied that he supplied her with drugs. 

                 The interviewing officer, Detective Vikki McColl, told
                 Maney the police believed she suspected that Mr
                 Fuller-Sandys was responsible for a burglary at her
                 address when clothes, drugs and a stereo were taken. 

                 Maney denied confronting him at the Westward Ho
                 tavern. 

                 Detective McColl accused Maney of being so angry she
                 put out a "hit" on Mr Fuller-Sandys and got Stone to do
                 the job. 

                 But Maney told the officer she would never put out a hit
                 on someone to have that person killed. 

                 "It's not in my nature, and I would not be able to sleep
                 straight in my bed at night," she said. 

                 Earlier, Maney told the officer she met Stone while she
                 was working in a massage parlour where he was the
                 doorman. 

                 She and another woman, who has name suppression,
                 thought he was "cute and sexy" and took him home for
                 a threesome. 

                 Today, Justice Paterson and the jury will visit the house
                 where the killing is said to have occurred and also the
                 beach at Whatipu where Mr Fuller-Sandys' car was
                 found.



                 11.05.2000 - 

                 A Birkenhead man who lured young boys to hotel rooms
                 to dress them in lingerie and videotape himself sexually
                 assaulting them has pleaded guilty to 23 charges in the
                 Auckland District Court. 

                 The 50-year-old, who has been granted interim name
                 suppression, will be sentenced in the High Court on
                 charges of sexual violation, indecent assault and
                 committing indecent acts on four boys aged between 10
                 and 13. 

                 Documents presented to Judge Ray Kean yesterday
                 showed the man had approached boys over the past
                 four years and offered them money to model clothing for
                 a catalogue. 

                 Before picking boys up, he would book a hotel room,
                 set up a video camera, hang lingerie in the wardrobe,
                 replace the bedding with satin sheets and prepare to
                 show pornographic videos. 

                 He photographed and videotaped the boys in the
                 lingerie, before offering them more money to commit
                 sexual acts. 

                 The man would then maintain contact with his victims
                 by phoning them at home or intercepting them as they
                 walked home from school. 

                 Each boy was approached and taken to a hotel room
                 several times. 

                 Police arrested the man on April 5 after a boy
                 complained. A search of the man's car and hotel room
                 revealed videos containing footage of him sexually
                 assaulting the boys. 

                 Defence lawyer Christopher Harder made no
                 submissions to the court but applied to have name
                 suppression continued until the man is sentenced in
                 two weeks' time.



                 Students' bright ideas paint up winners

                 11.05.2000 - By BRONWYN SELL 

                 A top New Zealand girls' school and a small Otara
                 school entered a competition to brighten downtown
                 Auckland with vague game-plans. They came out
                 winners. 

                 "Basically the plan was to bring lots of stuff and we'd
                 chuck it on," said 17-year-old Chloe Lane of Epsom
                 Girls' Grammar, which won the secondary division of the
                 Herald-sponsored Young Art in the Square mural
                 competition. 

                 The primary winner, Clydemore School, had a similar
                 method. 

                 "We actually went down there with no plans, and just
                 started to play around with crayons," said teacher Nita
                 Afeaki. 

                 Nearly 60 schools entered 18-pupil teams, which set up
                 paints in Queen Elizabeth Square during summer
                 weekends. 

                 Alex Swney, chief executive of Heart of Auckland City,
                 a sponsor, said the murals injected life into a drab part
                 of the city when the America's Cup campaign was
                 attracting people there. 

                 The Epsom Girls' entry started with a map of Auckland
                 and turned into a collage of elements of the city, from
                 plastic elephants marking the zoo to toy cars on the
                 roads and coins and dice at Sky City. 

                 The judges, artists John Horner and Dick Frizzell, said
                 the Epsom Girls' mural was sophisticated, textured and
                 cohesive. 

                 They described the Clydemore entry as honest and
                 memorable. 

                 The students said passersby showed a lot of interest in
                 the murals. 

                 "Instead of [the square] being somewhere to walk
                 through, it was a place where people stopped and
                 looked around," said Chloe Lane. 

                 Free paint and materials for the competition were
                 supplied by Mainzeal Property and Construction,
                 Pyradeck Scaffolds, Resene Paints, Canvas City and
                 The Building Depot. 

                 Imax and Whitcoulls sponsored the prizes. 

                 The winning schools get a tour of Auckland - once the
                 special bus gets fixed. It was hit by a truck while on the
                 way to pick up the students for yesterday's awards
                 ceremony.


                 future

                 11.05.2000 - By JOSIE CLARKE 

                 ORLANDO - The trip of a lifetime for 10 New Zealand
                 children to the world's biggest theme park is almost
                 over, but their strongest memory will probably be the
                 words of disabled actor Christopher Reeve. 

                 The actor, best known for his role as Superman, spoke
                 for just a few minutes but his message touched the
                 2000 children from around the world gathered at Walt
                 Disney World in Florida for the Millennium Dreamers
                 conference. 

                 Still in a wheelchair but free of any breathing aid, Reeve
                 quietly but clearly told the children that his definition of
                 a hero had changed. 

                 "Like many of you, I was brought up to admire heroes,"
                 he said. 

                 "Most of them were larger than life and they sought
                 glory and they sought riches. 

                 "But I've learned that even though we have reason to
                 admire them, there is a new and greater hero -
                 represented by the 2000 kids behind me. 

                 "And now I think that a hero is an ordinary individual
                 who, by necessity or by inspiration, does extraordinary
                 things." 

                 Reeve told the children they were the key to sustaining
                 and managing the planet and ending world hunger and
                 disease. "I want to commend you for everything you've
                 done to lead the way into a new era of compassion, of
                 generosity, and the recognition that, even though we
                 may not know each other, none of us is a stranger. 

                 "Our task in this next century is to acknowledge the
                 equality of every human being on this planet," he said.
                 "And you will lead the way. You have much to teach us,
                 and for that we are truly grateful." 

                 Aucklander Redmond Nicholson, aged 14, who suffers
                 spastic quadriplegia, said Reeve's words brought tears
                 to his eyes. 

                 "It was something else. He made us realise there is so
                 much we could be doing and that we're here to
                 recognise other kids' achievements and honour them." 

                 Disney and McDonald's teamed up to produce the event
                 in association with Unesco (United Nations Educational,
                 Scientific and Cultural Organisation), to reward children
                 who have made a significant and positive contribution to
                 their community. 

                 The New Zealand party has been on the go for about 18
                 hours a day since arriving in Orlando on Sunday. 

                 The celebrations started on Monday morning with a
                 parade of nations involving all 2000 children. 

                 That night, the children were treated to a private party at
                 the park's Fantasyland and Tomorrowland complete with
                 a fireworks show. 

                 On Tuesday, the 2000 children donned coloured
                 T-shirts, caps and ponchos to create a map of the globe
                 before television cameras and reporters from around the
                 world. 

                 They spent the rest of the day at Epcot, another of
                 Disney World's parks, and returned later to a private
                 party when the area was closed to the public. 

                 Also on the agenda are educational symposiums on
                 subjects ranging from the environment to technology. 

                 Christchurch 15-year-old Anita Erikson, selected as a
                 Millennium Dreamer for her fundraising work for child
                 cancer, said she was exhausted but was having a great
                 time. 

                 "We have met other kids from all over the world. It's
                 better than any of us thought it would be." 

                 The New Zealand party returns on Saturday morning.



                 11.05.2000 - 

                 Taxpayers paid about $54,500 for the ministerial inquiry
                 into the Rodney District Council, which resulted in the
                 council being sacked on April 10 and replaced by a
                 commissioner. 

                 The cost, which includes the six-day hearing and
                 preparation of the report by the two-member authority,
                 was revealed by the Minister of Local Government,
                 Sandra Lee, in response to a Herald request under the
                 Official Information Act. 

                 The costs were met from the Department of Internal
                 Affairs budget. 

                 A district council spokesman said the bill for the
                 council's legal costs was expected to be about $30,000

                 11.05.2000 - 

                 CHRISTCHURCH - A Christian activist nabbed by police
                 after tunnelling under a Christchurch abortion clinic last
                 year had earlier attacked a statue of war hero Charles
                 Upham, a court was told yesterday. 

                 Community worker Graeme Richard White, 39, was
                 found guilty by a Christchurch District Court jury on four
                 charges of burglary by tunnelling under Lyndhurst
                 Hospital. 

                 A few months earlier, he had been convicted of
                 intentionally damaging a statue of Upham, the
                 double-Victoria Cross winner. 

                 White was remanded yesterday for sentencing.



                 Times on workface haven't really changed

                 11.05.2000 - By BRONWYN SELL 

                 Samuel Parnell, a 19th-century Wellington carpenter,
                 was the founder of the eight-hour working day in New
                 Zealand. 

                 Sam Parnell, a 21st-century West Auckland teacher,
                 hardly knows the meaning of the term, but today she is
                 going to find out. 

                 Miss Parnell and thousands of other secondary school
                 teachers will stop work after eight hours to draw
                 attention to the extra work they do every day. 

                 The "down-tools," organised by the Post Primary
                 Teachers Association, is called Sam Parnell Day, in
                 recognition of the labourer who insisted on working an
                 eight-hour day in 1840 and went on to become a hero of
                 the working man. 

                 Association president Graeme Macann said the day
                 would give teachers the chance to experience life
                 outside an 11 to 12-hour day and for school boards and
                 communities to appreciate their hard work. 

                 Second-year teacher Sam Parnell has become a
                 poster-girl for the event at her school, Waitakere
                 College, and her workmates, including two deputy
                 principals, are covering three of her classes so she can
                 get other work done. 

                 Miss Parnell suspects she is a descendant of her
                 namesake, but did not know much about him until
                 recently. 

                 She says she usually works from 7.15 am to 5 pm "on
                 a good day" (9 hours and 45 minutes), then will take
                 work home, usually marking, planning lessons or writing
                 reports. 

                 She also mentors two students at the school, manages
                 the school's 1st XI girls' soccer team, takes a
                 rock-climbing club and does her share of supervision in
                 lunchtimes and breaks when she is not at meetings. 

                 In her last school holidays she took students on a
                 rock-climbing expedition, while other teachers went on
                 professional development courses. 

                 "With teaching, you're always thinking about it, and
                 always trying to improve your lessons." 

                 Miss Parnell's namesake would probably not approve of
                 her plans for her evening off - she will attend the school
                 production. 

                 School Trustees Association president Owen Edgerton
                 said the day was not expected to cause much
                 disruption as schools involved had planned ahead. 

                 He said the Government's review of staffing, about to
                 start, would address the issue of teachers' hours. 

                 "Like any workplace, you've got some people who are
                 probably over-committed as far as work goes and you've
                 got others who work-to-rule most of the time."

                 Bardot mania takes over mall

                 11.05.2000 - By CATHY ARONSON 

                 The made-for-television Australian pop sensation Bardot
                 created pandemonium at the Manukau Shopping Centre
                 yesterday. 

                 The famous five performed for more than 4000
                 screaming fans who crowded the mall's centrecourt to
                 watch them and to queue for their autographed CD. 

                 The recording, released only on Friday, has already
                 gone platinum, selling more than 15,000 units. 

                 One of the many young obsessed fans who skipped
                 school early to see her "idols" was Destiny Otton, aged
                 10. 

                 Destiny said she had watched every episode of
                 Popstars, the vehicle that has propelled Bardot to chart
                 success and which will soon feature their New Zealand
                 visit. 

                 She also watched the music video to Bardot's hit-single
                 Poison every morning before school.

                 Mysteries hamper hunt for woman's killer

                 09.06.2000 - By SCOTT INGLIS 

                 Detectives are wrestling with a number of mysteries in
                 their hunt for the killer of young Auckland journalist
                 Kylie Jones, stabbed in a brutal attack near her Glen
                 Innes home. 

                 Her shoes and some of the clothing she was wearing
                 have not been found, despite a painstaking search of
                 the area where her body was discovered. 

                 Police also want to know which bus she caught home
                 on Tuesday, the night of her death. 

                 An autopsy has revealed that she suffered multiple stab
                 wounds to her upper body in a prolonged attack, but
                 police still do not know how many people took part or if
                 she was raped. 

                 More than 50 detectives and uniformed officers are
                 trying to answer these questions and are pleading for
                 public help. 

                 Kylie Sheree Jones, a 23-year-old from Glen Innes, was
                 murdered while walking home. Her body was left in a
                 lonely reserve 150m from her Line Rd home. 

                 Miss Jones was an intelligent, safety-conscious
                 woman. 

                 She was always aware of her surroundings and even
                 took different buses home from work as an extra
                 precaution. 

                 But on Tuesday, she did not come home and her
                 partner and family alerted police, who found her body
                 shortly after midnight. 

                 The officer leading the murder inquiry, Detective Senior
                 Sergeant Stu Allsopp-Smith, said last night that Miss
                 Jones could have caught any one of up to a dozen
                 buses. 

                 But police believe she caught one about 5.15 pm after
                 finishing her day at Eye magazine in Symonds St,
                 where she had worked for just over a year. 

                 They believe she got off her bus at the brightly lit and
                 busy Glen Innes shopping centre about 6 pm. 

                 She was killed shortly afterwards. 

                 Line Rd has street lights on the same side as the
                 reserve, but police do not know where Miss Jones was
                 first attacked. 

                 They have recovered some of her clothing and other
                 clothing and items, which are being tested. 

                 Her thick, platform-soled shoes were still missing last
                 night. 

                 Sexual attack and robbery are prime motives, but police
                 do not know if she was molested. They are awaiting
                 forensic test results. 

                 Detective Senior Sergeant Allsopp-Smith said Miss
                 Jones had not previously been stalked or harassed and
                 there had been no crimes in Glen Innes against women
                 recently or which appeared to be linked to the murder. 

                 Last night, about two dozen people were on the 625
                 Stagecoach bus, which Miss Jones often caught from
                 the city to home. 

                 It goes along Symonds St, through Newmarket,
                 Remuera and St Johns and turns into Line Rd. 

                 The bus trip Miss Jones would have taken starts in
                 daylight, but during the winter months darkness
                 descends rapidly. 

                 At the Glen Innes shopping centre last night, the
                 atmosphere felt safe. 

                 Several shops - including takeaways, a dairy and Pizza
                 Haven - were open and dozens of people mingled on the
                 sidewalk. Line Rd was also busy with a steady stream
                 of cars. 

                 But 80 paces from Miss Jones' home, outside the dark
                 reserve, the feeling is not so safe. 

                 Several people walked past last night. One, student Eng
                 Fui Siew, aged 21, said he often walked past the
                 reserve and had never seen any trouble. 

                 But Pizza Haven worker Holly Murray said she walked
                 past the reserve often to go to work and was frequently
                 harassed by youths loitering in the area.



                 09.06.2000 - By GEOFF SENESCALL 

                 HERALD EXCLUSIVE 

                 Police are investigating a Government Superannuation
                 Fund employee who pocketed about $1 million through
                 murky foreign exchange dealings. 

                 Financial sources claimed yesterday that the employee
                 had used inside information from the Government fund -
                 which invests the pension savings of MPs, judges,
                 police, the military and other civil servants - for personal
                 profit. 

                 The case comes to light in the same week the
                 Securities Commission found that former Fletcher
                 Challenge chairman Kerry Hoggard broke insider trading
                 rules by buying shares in that company before a big
                 announcement. 

                 The super fund employee apparently made gains by
                 buying the dollar low and cashing in on information that
                 the fund was about to buy bonds which would push the
                 currency higher. 

                 The profits were made at the expense of several banks,
                 which lost money. 

                 A banker said last night that there were no laws
                 governing such insider trading. It was up to the policies
                 of individual organisations. 

                 The office of Finance Minister Michael Cullen, which has
                 ultimate responsibility for the fund, knew nothing about
                 the case. 

                 However, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Economic
                 Development confirmed last night that an employee of
                 the fund had been dismissed. 

                 "Because it has involved a disciplinary process, I really
                 am quite limited [in what I can say]. 

                 "Also, I would have to say that the incident is actually
                 subject to a police investigation." 

                 The spokeswoman stressed that no public funds had
                 been lost, but would not give any further information. 

                 Given the sensitive nature of the incident, details about
                 how the employee profited are sketchy. 

                 However, the Herald understands that the incident
                 happened about three weeks ago and involved the
                 broking firm Ord Minnett and at least one bank,
                 WestpacTrust. 

                 The employee apparently took out an option contract
                 with Ord Minnett betting on an upward movement in the
                 New Zealand dollar. 

                 WestpacTrust, unaware of who the Ord Minnett client
                 was, took up a counter-position on the option. 

                 Within minutes, the dollar shot up, Westpac got caught
                 and the employee made a profit. 

                 Feeling something was fishy, the bank is understood to
                 have complained to Ord Minnett, which passed the
                 query on. 

                 The Government Superannuation Fund has $3.4 billion
                 of investments in low-risk New Zealand-based assets

                 Phone company comes last in ring-ring test

                 09.06.2000 - By JOSIE CLARKE consumer reporter 

                 Auckland companies are putting more effort into
                 answering their phones - but one that should know
                 better took the longest to pick up the receiver in a
                 survey this week. 

                 The Herald phoned seven companies at 10 am, 12.30
                 pm, 4 pm and 8 pm on Wednesday to find out how long
                 customers had to wait on hold if they needed an answer
                 to a question about their account, driving licence or
                 student loan. 

                 The survey was a repeat of one done in March, but this
                 time the results were very different. 

                 The slowest company to pick up the phone this week
                 was Telecom, which was one of the better performers in
                 the earlier survey. 

                 Its operators took almost 24 minutes to answer a call
                 made at 8 pm to its 123 residential bill inquiry line. In
                 March, they took 42 seconds at the same time. 

                 Telecom's operators took exactly the same time - 5
                 minutes and 23 seconds - to answer calls made at 10
                 am and 4 pm. 

                 Telecom's general manager of customer services, Kelly
                 Moore, said Wednesday was not the call centre's best
                 day. 

                 A link which usually transfers Auckland calls to
                 Hamilton and Wellington call centres failed at 10 am on
                 Wednesday, and was not restored until 9.30 am
                 yesterday. 

                 The Queen's Birthday public holiday on Monday also
                 meant customers crammed five days worth of calls into
                 four days. 

                 Telecom employed 600 people around the country to
                 take 123 calls, Ms Moore said, and was trying to
                 improve its service. 

                 "It's not really about hiring more staff. We need to
                 simplify our processes by providing more self-service for
                 simple queries and more help for complex ones." 

                 The biggest improver in the Herald survey was Mercury
                 Energy, which sliced its times from 42 minutes at 8 pm
                 in March to 46 seconds during the day on Wednesday
                 and 5 minutes at 8 pm. 

                 Mercury's retail general manager, John Foote, said the
                 centre was still trying to reach its target of answering 85
                 per cent of calls in less than 20 seconds. 

                 Answering calls was a priority for the company, he said.

                 "There is still a possibility you will have a longer wait if
                 you are part of that last 15 per cent." 

                 He said the March survey was done just after the
                 company had installed a new billing system. Staff who
                 were unfamiliar with the system had had trouble coping
                 with a large number of customer calls. Since then,
                 Mercury had increased its call-centre staff about 20 per
                 cent and fixed its billing bugs. 

                 Winner for the second time was the Auckland City
                 Council, which answered all but one of the calls made
                 to its call centre almost instantly. 

                 Sue Elliott, a consultant for Vanguard Communications,
                 which has American Express and the Bank of New
                 Zealand on its client list, said senior managers usually
                 misunderstood the importance of a company's call
                 centre. 

                 Many organisations viewed the call centre as a "cost
                 centre" rather than as a strategic part of their business. 

                 "Since the biggest expense is staffing, there is a
                 tremendous pressure to limit the number of people
                 answering the phones." 

                 Sue Elliott said cutting back on staff not only affected
                 customer service, but companies often spent the
                 savings on higher phone bills clocked up while they kept
                 customers waiting on hold. 

                 "We can actually prove that most call centres will save
                 money and improve customer service by increasing the
                 staff available to answer the phones."



                 09.06.2000 - By AUDREY YOUNG political reporter 

                 Banks could feel the heat of a parliamentary inquiry into
                 bank charges, as discontent simmers over costs to
                 consumers and business. 

                 Commerce Minister Paul Swain wants the commerce
                 select committee to conduct the inquiry. 

                 His first aim is not to lower fees, but to improve the
                 information disclosure by banks about their charging
                 structures. 

                 The Government moves come as a Weekend Herald
                 series, The Banks, highlighted charges hitting
                 customers over recent years while bank costs have
                 been cut. The series continues tomorrow. 

                 Mr Swain said he wanted the inquiry to take a
                 commercial focus. 

                 He said what he was interested in was whether
                 transaction fees were appropriate and whether
                 competition between banks in that area was as good as
                 it should be. 

                 He was "neutral" on whether the fees were too high. 

                 Despite banks cutting costs, customers are charged for
                 services including opening and operating accounts,
                 overdrafts, cheque fees, direct debits, Eftpos
                 transactions and telephone banking. 

                 In April, protest forced one bank to drop plans to charge
                 clients $2 for paying off their credit cards on time. 

                 New Zealand banks' costs have been cut from 70 per
                 cent of operating income in 1994 to 57 per cent. 

                 The big five banks operating in New Zealand boosted
                 their net after-tax profit by 37 per cent last year to $1.6
                 billion. In the past three years, they have averaged
                 returns on net New Zealand assets of 24.4 per cent,
                 compared with 16.1 per cent in Australia. 

                 Mr Swain will ask the select committee if it could
                 conduct an inquiry. He would then consider its advice. 

                 "We are not wanting to get back into the
                 heavy-regulated economy of the 70s and 80s. 

                 "We want as much private sector involvement and
                 internal regulation as possible." 

                 The New Zealand Bankers' Association declined to
                 comment. 

                 WestpacTrust's spokeswoman, Jane Anderson, said it
                 was too early to comment until the scope of any inquiry
                 was known. 

                 National Bank's spokeswoman, Cynthia Brophy, and
                 the ANZ's Samantha Shaw said their respective banks
                 would certainly cooperate if an inquiry were held. 

                 Commerce select committee chairman and Labour MP
                 David Cunliffe said the committee's workload meant it
                 would not be able to consider Mr Swain's request until
                 July. 

                 He could not pre-empt the committee's decision but
                 said the minister's views carried "considerable weight." 

                 The other inquiry topic he had been considering was
                 broader and was important in the context of the big
                 current account deficit. 

                 It would examine whether New Zealand ownership in the
                 corporate sector mattered in terms of capital flows,
                 business performance, foreign direct investment policy,
                 and the development of industry strategy. 

                 Mr Cunliffe said it was a very important strategic topic. 

                 The disadvantage was that it might be too big for a
                 select committee inquiry to deal with.



                 09.06.2000 - By REBECCA WALSH and NZPA 

                 Health Minister Annette King has announced an $11.8
                 million retraining package for foreign doctors designed
                 to get them back into the workforce. 

                 The money will be spent over the next three years on
                 bridging programmes for overseas-trained doctors who
                 arrived here between 1991 and 1995. 

                 Mrs King said doctors who arrived then were being
                 targeted because they had been granted residency
                 based on their professional qualifications but had been
                 inadequately informed of registration examinations they
                 would have to pass before they could work. The news
                 has delighted Bangladeshi GP Mohammed Islam, who
                 came here in 1995 but has worked since then as a
                 market researcher, nurse and taxi driver. 

                 "I'm very happy to hear about the package. At last the
                 Government is going to do something for us. It's really
                 frustrating. I'm not supposed to drive a taxi being a
                 doctor. But $2250 for exam fees forces me to drive a
                 taxi." 

                 Mrs King said the Ministry of Health had been working
                 with the Overseas Doctors Association, the Medical
                 Council, hospitals and medical schools to develop the
                 programme. It included a refresher course followed by a
                 trainee intern period and clinical examination. 

                 More than 300 doctors had expressed interest in the
                 programmes, which would start in medical schools in
                 February. 

                 National's health spokesman, Wyatt Creech, said the
                 programme did not deliver any more money than the
                 previous Shipley government had in place to retrain
                 overseas doctors.


                 thunderstorms

                 09.06.2000 - By GREGG WYCHERLEY 

                 The freak hail that hit parts of Auckland on Wednesday
                 night was caused by a "breeding ground" of
                 thunderstorms in the Pacific Ocean. 

                 Cars were damaged and houses flooded as about
                 150mm of hail fell in the Albany and Torbay area before
                 8.30 pm. 

                 Meteorologist Bob McDavitt said he sent out a warning
                 on Tuesday after seeing a "dangerous looking" storm
                 containing baseball-sized hail on radar. Nothing
                 happened that night but a day later the hailstorm hit. 

                 "We were invaded by a marauding horde of
                 thunderstorms." 

                 Mr McDavitt said the system had been building over the
                 Pacific for the past week. 

                 "These storms are all related to the polar blast that hit
                 Tasmania last week. 

                 "It was only a matter of time before someone got hit." 

                 The storm was one of a group of thunderstorms that
                 rolled over the upper North Island early in the week,
                 caused by warm sea air meeting freezing air from the
                 Antarctic. 

                 "The warm sea air rises very quickly but has to stop
                 when it reaches a ceiling of cold polar air - it then
                 freezes and sinks again," he said. 

                 "This creates a vigorous up-and-down motion leading to
                 up-draughts and down-draughts snaking around each
                 other - like a chimney or a tower." He said the storms
                 were associated with cumulo-nimbus cloud - large
                 "tower clouds" which are often icy at the top and
                 "rolling" at the bottom. 

                 Mr McDavitt said cumulo-nimbus cloud systems were
                 also responsible for thunder and lightning, tornadoes,
                 hailstorms and shower storms. 

                 Weatherwise Auckland coordinator Carla Salinger said
                 the storm was very localised and intense, with 28mm of
                 hail falling in a 20-minute period in Torbay about 8 pm. 

                 In some places, the hail was piled a metre deep. 

                 She said records compiled since 1930 showed that
                 Auckland could expect four or five hailstorms a year,
                 normally from May to December. 

                 One couple who felt the full brunt of the storm were
                 Murray and Lynley Faulkner, owners of Centrepoint
                 Nurseries in Albany. 

                 Lynley Faulkner said the storm extensively damaged
                 their stock of young plants and piles of hail were left on
                 the ground. She said it was too early to assess the cost
                 of the damage, but expected that up to 80 per cent of
                 some lines could be wiped out. 

                 Mr McDavitt said the "breeding ground" syndrome had
                 gone and the MetService was forecasting cold weather
                 for Monday and Tuesday next week - but no hail.



                 Work on AMP tower started

                 09.06.2000 - 

                 Like it or not, work on the AMP skyscraper on the
                 Auckland waterfront has started. 

                 The first piles for the building have been driven on the
                 site in lower Albert St. Demolition of the Downtown
                 Convention Centre should be finished in about 10 days. 

                 Once the site is clear, the builders, Fletcher
                 Construction, will begin excavating the site for
                 below-ground carparking. 

                 Underground work is expected to take several months
                 and it will not be until next year that work will start on
                 the four-level podium and 26-level tower. 

                 The other levels are below ground and plant rooms on
                 top of level 31. 

                 Barring a successful court challenge, the 34-storey
                 tower is due to be finished in two years. AMP has
                 resource consents from Auckland City Council,
                 including the right to add another 20m on to its glass
                 tower. 

                 Work on the building can proceed even though
                 Auckland property developer Andrew Krukziener has
                 won the first round in a legal fight to seek a judicial
                 review of the resource consents for the development.



                 09.06.2000 - 

                 Eighteen charges have been laid against two companies
                 and some of their staff over the sale, distribution and
                 advertising of the green-lipped mussel extract Lyprinol. 

                 News of its potential to cure cancer was released from
                 an Australian university days before the product was
                 launched on to the New Zealand market last July. 

                 Widespread condemnation followed of what was seen
                 by many as a cynical marketing attempt, and the
                 product was soon withdrawn by the Ministry of Health,
                 which said Lyprinol had been promoted as a medicine,
                 but had not been proven to be one. 

                 The withdrawal came after New Zealanders rushed
                 pharmacies and reportedly spent $2 million in one day
                 on the $49.95 packets of 50 capsules. 

                 Ministry spokesman Dr Stuart Jessamine yesterday
                 refused to name the companies, but said the charges
                 were laid under a section of the Medicines Act
                 regulating the sale or supply of new medicines. 

                 Most charges related to the selling, or attempted sale,
                 of the product before official approval had been given. 

                 Some defendants had also been charged with
                 advertising a medicine in breach of the act. 

                 A lawyer for the defendants, Frank Hogan, said the
                 charges would be vigorously defended but refused to
                 comment further.


                 Sergeant Bruce Lumsden, of Hamilton, with one of the newly
                 painted highway patrol cars. Herald Picture / Kirby Wright

                 'Elite' highway patrols on road by Christmas

                 09.06.2000 - By JASON COLLIE transport reporter 

                 A 225-strong state highway patrol force will be policing
                 our roads by Christmas under a $152 million road safety
                 programme. 

                 Plans for the patrol force - which will be in addition to
                 existing police numbers - were unveiled in Hamilton
                 yesterday, along with a boost for community road safety
                 and education projects. 

                 Hidden speed cameras will be scrapped, but there will
                 be a crackdown on speeding, with the threshold for a
                 ticket brought down to 10 km/h above the limit. 

                 Transport Minister Mark Gosche hopes the mix of
                 enforcement and education will cut the road toll by up to
                 85 by the middle of next year. 

                 The new highway patrol, which comes eight years after
                 the merger of the police and Ministry of Transport
                 forces, should be running in the Waikato - the worst
                 area for fatal accidents - and the Bay of Plenty by the
                 Christmas holidays, and in Northland shortly after. 

                 Auckland officers will take to the roads in specially
                 marked patrol cars early next year, with the rest of the
                 country covered by November 2001. 

                 Police Minister George Hawkins said: "We need some
                 specialisation. While most police are good generalists,
                 we have specialisation in the CIB and we need
                 specialists for road safety as well." 

                 National road safety manager Steve Fitzgerald said the
                 patrol would be the "elite," with the present strategic
                 traffic groups retained as the next rung and ordinary
                 police also enforcing traffic laws. 

                 However, National's police spokesman, Brian Neeson,
                 accused the Government of throwing away money on
                 cosmetic changes which would segregate police. 

                 "This move will create a culture where people working in
                 traffic will be treated as second-class citizens by their
                 colleagues." 

                 The $152 million touted by the Government in its
                 pre-Budget announcement is for the next four years. It
                 starts at $26.5 million for the next financial year,
                 eventually rising to $42 million. 

                 The new highway patrol will cost $10 million for the first
                 year, rising to $23.5 million by 2004-5. That will be
                 additional to the police budget, according to Mr
                 Hawkins. 

                 More than $3.5 million is also being added to increase
                 speeding and seatbelt enforcement and breath testing,
                 particularly in rural areas. 

                 An extra $3.837 million is being added to the $2.779
                 million spent on community road safety initiatives. Of
                 that, $1.125 million will go to projects aimed at Maori
                 and Polynesians. A further $1.688 million will be used
                 for advertising aimed at those groups. 

                 The windfall was welcomed last night by West Auckland
                 road safety coordinator Kitch Cuthbert, who raises
                 $150,000 a year to supplement the $36,000 she
                 receives from the Land Transport Safety Authority and
                 Waitakere City Council. 

                 "I will be delighted not to have any more cake stalls for
                 road safety," she said, describing herself as "blown
                 away." 

                 Mr Gosche said he had ordered an end to hidden speed
                 cameras because he did not believe the pilot in the
                 Waikato had cut speeding or road deaths.

                 critics'

                 09.06.2000 - 

                 Police wanted to muzzle Joe Karam to deter other
                 authors from criticising them, a jury was told in the High
                 Court yesterday. 

                 Karam's lawyer, Julian Miles, QC, told the jurors in his
                 closing submissions that the defamation trial they were
                 involved in raised important matters. 

                 The two detectives who had brought the action against
                 his client claimed to have been defamed in Karam's
                 book David and Goliath, about the David Bain murder
                 case. 

                 Mr Miles said the trial raised issues about the right of
                 freedom of opinion and whether writers and publishers
                 should expose injustices and coverups free from the
                 threat of huge claims for damages. 

                 Mr Miles said Karam believed that retired detective
                 Milton Weir, who was in charge of the Bain family's
                 Dunedin home after they were shot dead in 1994, had
                 perjured himself at the murder trial. The author also
                 believed that Detective Sergeant Kevin Anderson knew
                 he was giving false evidence at the trial. 

                 Mr Miles asked the jurors to put themselves in the place
                 of David Bain. Anyone faced with Bain's situation -
                 serving a life sentence for crimes he said he did not
                 commit - would hope there was a publisher who would
                 be free to publish his or her opinion on whether there
                 had been an injustice or coverup. 

                 Mr Miles said the fact that the two detectives had
                 dropped a claim for $80,000 in punitive damages and
                 were seeking $350,000 in compensatory damages
                 weakened their case. 

                 But the detectives' lawyer, Don Mathieson, QC, said
                 Karam's book was "a work of fiction" containing
                 "scurrilous accusations" against the men. 

                 The dropping of the punitive claim did not affect the rest
                 of their case. "Neither will make a fortune if you award
                 the maximum," he told the jury. Mr Weir's career had
                 been affected and he had not been kept on the
                 high-profile Sounds murder case even though he had
                 been cleared by the Police Complaints Authority, said
                 Mr Mathieson. 

                 "The book and its allegations damaged him both
                 professionally and personally. He left the police in 1999
                 suffering from stress." 

                 Neither of the policemen claimed that the Bain murder
                 inquiry was perfect. However, the detectives were not
                 suing Karam because he claimed they acted
                 incompetently, but because he accused them of
                 misconduct. They had a right to their good reputations. 

                 "The law draws a balance between the absolute right to
                 freedom of expression and freedom to reputation," Mr
                 Mathieson said. 

                 Justice Anderson will sum up today.



                 09.06.2000 - 

                 Labour MP Chris Carter believes euthanasia has broad
                 support in New Zealand, and sees no reason why it
                 cannot be legalised. He said it was being undermined
                 by "a vociferous moral minority." 

                 Mr Carter was speaking to about 100 people last night
                 at a Voluntary Euthanasia Society public meeting in
                 Auckland at which the main speaker was Australian
                 right-to-die advocate Dr Philp Nitschke. Dr Nitschke
                 blamed religious groups for forcing an end to a
                 right-to-die law in the Northern Territory in 1997. Under
                 it, he helped legally end the lives of four patients.

                 09.06.2000 - By QUENTIN CLARKSON 

                 HAMILTON - Rural hospitals are to be the big
                 beneficiaries of a $8.8 million funding increase awarded
                 to Health Waikato. 

                 The agency will receive $280 million from the Health
                 Funding Authority for the 12 months from July 1. 

                 Health Waikato spokesman John Lomas said the
                 region's four rural hospitals at Taumarunui, Te Kuiti,
                 Thames and Tokoroa would see significant increases in
                 emergency services, medical and surgical inpatients
                 and diagnostic services. 

                 In some cases, the extra funding would simply mean
                 that medical staff in those hospitals would be paid for
                 work they had already been doing, he said. 

                 "It's very satisfying that we have managed to get an
                 increase." 

                 However, no extra staff would be sent to the four
                 hospitals as a result of the increase. 

                 Mr Lomas said none of the extra funding would go to
                 restoring Thames Hospital's seven-day emergency
                 surgery because that was a "political discussion." 

                 The extra funding would allow for emergency visits by
                 patients at Taumarunui Hospital to increase by 26 per
                 cent a year to 800; by 24 per cent at Te Kuiti Hospital
                 to 1032; by 4.5 per cent at Tokoroa to 7814; and by 7.5
                 per cent at Thames to 8800. 

                 In total, outpatient visits would increase by 4923,
                 emergency services will increase by 3126 visits,
                 medical inpatient services will rise by 930 patients and
                 diagnostic services will increase by 1186 cases. 

                 And mental health services would receive $2.5 million,
                 or 6.9 per cent, more than last year. 

                 But the funding increase would not affect most of Health
                 Waikato's waiting lists, said spokeswoman Karen
                 Bennett. 

                 Health Waikato chief executive Dr Jan White said the
                 funding authority agreed on the contract after the
                 agency projected the changes to the region's population
                 over the next 12 years, and the resulting demand for
                 health services. 

                 The proposed district health boards would introduce
                 more community-based health programmes, she said. 

                 "To this end, it's pleasing to see extra funding being
                 made available for a broad range of needs including
                 those of rural people, those with mental illness and
                 children with disabilities." 

                 Allied services, including physiotherapy and
                 occupational therapy, would also receive increased
                 funding.


                 Hillary MacAskill makes adjustments to her design, modelled by
                 Bridgette Moore. Herald Picture / Nicola Topping

                 Catwalk students aim for big-time

                 09.06.2000 - By STACEY BODGER 

                 ROTORUA - Fashion design students at Rotorua's
                 Waiariki Institute of Technology are aiming high in a bid
                 for international fame and fortune. 

                 Students in Waiariki's School of Design diploma course
                 will learn next month whether their designs, sketches
                 and briefs have caught the eyes of the judges in the
                 Mittlemoda 2000 fashion awards in Gorizza, Italy. 

                 Successful designers will be flown to Italy for a chance
                 to show off their garments to an international audience. 

                 Programme leader Anne Hemingway said the students
                 had also submitted entries for the Opotiki Fibre and
                 Fleece Awards and the New Zealand Smirnoff Fashion
                 Awards, to be judged in the next two months. 

                 She has high hopes for her students' designs because
                 of New Zealand fashion's popularity. 

                 "We're basking in the light of the success of people like
                 Karen Walker, and I'm hoping some of the girls' entries
                 will be seen as having a similar Kiwi uniqueness." 

                 Students Ani Gaborit and Hillary MacAskill spent about
                 three weeks working on their avant-garde entries for the
                 Italian competition. 

                 Ani Gaborit felted New Zealand merino wool and goat
                 fibre, and Hillary MacAskill dipped wool in candle wax
                 then spent four days knitting the wool with spoons to
                 create the large holes in her creation. 

                 She said the experience of entering an international
                 competition and "getting my name out there" was well
                 worth the effort.


                 staff-cut plans

                 09.06.2000 - By STACEY BODGER 

                 ROTORUA - A decision on whether Rotorua will lose
                 frontline police will be made towards the end of the year,
                 but none of the city's six community stations will be
                 closed. 

                 This was confirmed yesterday by the Bay of Plenty
                 district manager, Superintendent Peter Smith, after a
                 meeting on Wednesday between Acting Commissioner
                 Rob Robinson and Rotorua staff. 

                 The rank-and-file police had feared the closure of at
                 least one station after Mr Smith released a plan last
                 week which could see the loss of up to 10 sworn
                 officers and four civilians. 

                 The meeting was ordered by Police Minister George
                 Hawkins, who believed the plan conflicted with earlier
                 assurances on staff numbers. 

                 Mr Robinson told the meeting that whether staff should
                 be cut was a matter for Mr Smith to work out with the
                 Rotorua area controller, Inspector Ray Sutton. 

                 If there was still tension after a restructuring plan had
                 been negotiated, he would consider intervening. 

                 Mr Smith said he and Mr Sutton would assess the
                 efficiency of the city's force over the next four months.


                 Retailers say cigarette prices are not deterring smokers.

                 Budget bonus to quit smoking

                 09.06.2000 - By JOSIE CLARKE and NZPA 

                 Smokers will be offered further financial incentives to
                 quit in next Thursday's Budget, says Otaki MP Judy
                 Keall. 

                 The health select committee chairwoman said the
                 Budget would provide higher subsidies on nicotine
                 substitutes, making them considerably cheaper than
                 cigarettes. 

                 Increased funding for health would be particularly
                 targeted at low-income people having difficulty giving up
                 cigarettes, Mrs Keall said. 

                 "It's no use just taking a punitive approach with smoking
                 bans. It's got to coincide with education." 

                 Like many New Zealanders, Mrs Keall took up smoking
                 as a student, but gave it up in her 20s, "when I got more
                 sense." 

                 But smokers are still lighting up despite recent tax
                 increases, say retailers. 

                 Last month, Parliament raised the excise tax on
                 tobacco by 14 per cent - about $1.30 a packet of 20 -
                 almost double the previous tax increase in 1998. A pack
                 now costs $6.75 to $9.50. 

                 The Government said it hoped the extra tax would raise
                 $110 million and cut consumption by about 7 per cent,
                 but a Herald survey of retailers found that few had
                 noticed much change. 

                 Pak 'n Save Henderson tobacco products buyer Paul
                 Tucker said the increase had not affected sales.
                 "Unfortunately, that's not the way to stop people
                 smoking." 

                 New World Victoria Park cigarette buyer Raymond
                 Webb also said sales were steady. 

                 "Customers gasp at how much they've gone up, but
                 they're still buying. I did hear one little old lady say
                 she'd quit smoking with the next price rise." 

                 The owner of Rotorua's Western Heights Four Square
                 and Lotto, Vinesh Kumar, said very few of his
                 customers had quit. The majority had told him that they
                 would smoke regardless of how much it cost. 

                 World Health Organisation statistics show that 26 per
                 cent of New Zealand men and 24 per cent of women
                 smoke. 

                 Health New Zealand's Dr Murray Laugesen said
                 smokers were sensitive to price increases and a sales
                 decline was inevitable. He expected a drop of 15 per
                 cent for the year beginning this month, based on the 10
                 per cent fall recorded after the 1998 price rise. 

                 Action on Smoking and Health director Trish Fraser said
                 the news from retailers was disappointing, but it was
                 probably too early to predict trends. The Government
                 needed to subsidise nicotine replacement therapy,
                 especially for lower socio-economic groups. 

                 The Libertarianz Party plans to give away cigarettes in
                 Rotorua's City Focus shopping centre from 10 am
                 tomorrow. 

                 It says the Government has given smokers a raw deal
                 and it wants to highlight the injustice of the tax rise and
                 emphasise freedom of choice.



                 09.06.2000 - 

                 WAITANGI - The Waitangi Marae has been accused of
                 not paying some contractors involved in its recent
                 $500,000 refit and not fulfilling its funding obligations. 

                 The refit, which included a new whare kai (dining room)
                 and laundry, upgraded toilets and ablution block, was
                 funded mainly through the Lottery Grants Board, which
                 gave more than $300,000 to the project, and Te Puni
                 Kokiri (the Ministry of Maori Development), which gave
                 $15,000. 

                 Maori Affairs Minister and Te Tai Tokerau MP Dover
                 Samuels said yesterday that he was seeking a full audit
                 of the project after receiving a "worrying" report from Te
                 Puni Kokiri. 

                 He said he had received complaints from contractors
                 about non-payments, "and there have been problems in
                 tracing if in fact the work has been completed." 

                 He had also raised the matter with Internal Affairs,
                 which oversees the grants board. 

                 However, Waitangi marae chairman Kingi Taurua said
                 delays in paying some contractors were largely
                 because of last year's change of Government. 

                 "It was a big job and the previous Government was
                 pushing to get it done before Waitangi Day," he said.
                 "Jenny Shipley [Prime Minister at the time of the refit]
                 said we should just get it done and submit the
                 accounts. We have done that and are waiting for them
                 to pay." 

                 Mr Samuels said it was "fantasy" that Mrs Shipley
                 would operate like that and the change of Government
                 had "nothing to do with it." 

                 It was quite clear that few accountability mechanisms
                 had been put in place. "What has transpired is that all
                 the work should have been completed with the funds
                 provided and now they are coming back for a second
                 bite. But I'm not prepared to recommend any further
                 funding until this mess is cleaned up."



                 09.06.2000 - By VANESSA BIDOIS Maori issues
                 reporter 

                 Opponents of the Government's spectrum deal for Maori
                 will take legal action to stop next month's auction of
                 frequencies in the 2 Gigahertz range. 

                 They will also formally complain to the United Nations
                 and the Commonwealth Secretariat about the Crown's
                 confiscation of Maori property rights, says Professor
                 Whatarangi Winiata, spokesman for a group that
                 successfully took a spectrum claim to the Waitangi
                 Tribunal. 

                 Acting Communications Minister Trevor Mallard
                 announced last month that a pan-Maori trust would have
                 the exclusive right to buy one of four blocks of spectrum
                 to be auctioned from July 10. The frequencies will be
                 used for third generation mobile phones and wireless
                 Internet access. 

                 Several Maori groups, including the spectrum claimants
                 and iwi, have vowed to fight the proposal at every legal
                 level. 

                 Professor Winiata said it was disappointing but
                 necessary to resort to court action. 

                 "Attempts by the Crown to confiscate 100 per cent of
                 the nation's fisheries, all of the land on which the Crown
                 had planted forests and all of the broadcasting assets
                 are recent events when Maori have gone to court - even
                 to the Privy Council." 

                 The executive chairman of the Maori Council, Maanu
                 Paul, said the council would decide this month whether
                 to return to the Privy Council or join the legal action to
                 be mounted by the spectrum claimants. 

                 The council took a broadcasting assets claim to the
                 Privy Council in 1993. 

                 "It would be wise if we both joined forces but I can't
                 pre-empt the council's decision," Mr Paul said. 

                 "I suppose you could say it is on the cards." 

                 Mr Mallard said the Government had repeatedly rejected
                 the Maori ownership claim to the spectrum and he was
                 confident the auction would go ahead. 

                 "It is my view that we're on strong legal ground and I
                 regret that Professor Winiata is wasting time and
                 money in this court action ... The idea that there's a
                 treaty right to something so recently discovered is
                 something which any reasonable person considers
                 silly." 

                 Alliance MP Willie Jackson said he was disappointed
                 with Professor Winiata. "I'm wondering whether [he] has
                 got a real problem with the pan-tribal trust. I suspect
                 that...it doesn't follow his traditional iwi way of thinking."


                 Tom Ritchie (left) and Denys Basset back in a Chevrolet truck, similar
                 to their war transport. Herald picture / Martin Sykes

                 Base salutes 'the bravest'

                 09.06.2000 - By GREGG WYCHERLEY 

                 They were once described by a newspaper as the
                 "bravest, toughest and the brainiest unit of Britain's
                 great desert Army." 

                 Yesterday, the surviving members of the Second World
                 War Long Range Desert Group, forerunners of the SAS,
                 met at Hobsonville Air Force Base in West Auckland to
                 honour their fallen comrades and attend the opening of a
                 lecture room commemorating the group. 

                 With war and advancing age having taken its toll, only
                 about 30 of the original force of 180 attended the
                 reunion. 

                 The elite desert fighting force was formed in 1940 to
                 provide information from behind enemy lines, as the
                 Allied forces struggled to contain Erwin Rommel's Afrika
                 Corps in the Libyan desert. 

                 The New Zealanders were renowned for their maturity
                 and independence and the speed with which they
                 adapted to desert work and life. 

                 Denys Bassett, a lieutenant, and Tom Ritchie, a driver,
                 were two of the founding members of the group who
                 survived the war in Libya. 

                 Mr Bassett said he was chosen as a navigator because
                 of his sailing experience before the war. 

                 "Like the sea, there are no landmarks in the desert, so
                 they needed me to be able to take bearings from the
                 stars."



                 09.06.2000 - By FIONA BARBER 

                 New Zealand eye specialists are moving to quell
                 patients' fears after an overseas expert warned that a
                 "miracle" vision-correcting laser technique could cause
                 eyeball disintegration. 

                 A British eye surgeon this week said there was growing
                 evidence of long-term damage from the Lasik technique
                 that could lead to the cornea becoming so eroded it
                 could bulge or even dislodge, requiring a transplant. 

                 The claims from John Marshall, a professor of
                 ophthalmology at St Thomas's Hospital in London, have
                 resulted in worried New Zealand patients contacting eye
                 clinics. 

                 It is estimated that more than 5000 patients have
                 undergone the surgery in this country. 

                 Lasik, which costs about $1900 for each eye, uses a
                 laser to change the curvature of the cornea. 

                 It involves scraping a third or more off the thickness of
                 the cornea. 

                 According to reports, Professor Marshall voiced no such
                 fears about another popular laser technique used in New
                 Zealand, PRK, which was developed earlier. 

                 PRK is more painful than Lasik and takes longer to
                 heal. 

                 But the man who chaired the group which penned the
                 British guidelines for the Lasik technique - and who has
                 written a text book on the subject - described the
                 claims as "quite sensationalist." 

                 Charles McGhee, now professor of ophthalmology at the
                 Auckland Medical School, said he believed the method
                 was reasonably safe and was used conservatively in
                 New Zealand. 

                 He had also been involved in a three-year study in
                 Scotland, which found no such cornea-bowing problems
                 in 109 patients. 

                 And even though more than a million patients had been
                 treated with Lasik internationally, there were only seven
                 documented cases of corneas bowing. 

                 "That's not to say there are not issues - people have to
                 follow guidelines," Professor McGhee said. 

                 Problems could arise if surgeons ignored guidelines and
                 cut too deeply. 

                 He also wondered whether some of the problem cases
                 had involved patients with a pre-existing, cornea-bowing
                 condition. 

                 There was a small chance - about 1 per cent - of a
                 patient's eyesight becoming worse after Lasik. 

                 The chances of bowing the cornea were in the region of
                 one in 100,000. 

                 "There are risks and benefits," Professor McGhee said. 

                 An Auckland eye specialist, and spokesman for the
                 Royal Australia and New Zealand College of
                 Ophthalmologists, Bruce Hadden, said all surgery had
                 problems, but he had not seen a case where the cornea
                 had bulged. 

                 "Everyone doing them in New Zealand has the high-tech
                 equipment to measure the thickness of the cornea
                 before the procedure," said Dr Hadden, whose clinic
                 performs Lasik. 

                 "I suspect problems have arisen [overseas] because
                 people have not adhered to clinical standards." 

                 Dr David Pendergrast, an eye specialist and director of
                 clinical operations at the New Zealand eye bank, said
                 each patient had to be assessed carefully. 

                 It had to be decided whether the PRK technique or
                 Lasik was best. 

                 "Because we're operating on human tissue, everyone's
                 eyes respond differently. It [laser surgery] is not as
                 accurate as popularly perceived," said Dr Pendergrast. 

                 "It's not realistic for them to expect they can throw away
                 their glasses."

Liz Gunn and Lucy Lawless are forming an action group to fight child abuse. Herald Picture / Sav Schulman 
 
ACC gets on trail of child abusers 
 
04.09.2000 - By MONIQUE DEVEREUX 
Parents whose children have more than 10 accidents before they turn 5 will be investigated for child abuse the next time they seek 
medical treatment for the child. 
The decision follows ACC's discovery of 236 children who have each been the subject of claims for treatment for more than 10 
accidental injuries in the past five years. 
In the most disturbing case, there were 52 claims for one child. 
Such cases will now be referred to the Children, Young Persons and their Families Service for investigation. 
The move to exchange information between Government agencies is part of a surge of initiatives to fight child abuse after several 
highly publicised deaths. 
The report into the death of 4-year-old James Whakaruru by the Commissioner for Children prompted ACC to search its records last 
month for multiple claims. 
In future ACC will notify CYFS if more than 10 claims are made before a child is 5. 
Another horrific case of child abuse was marked in Carterton yesterday when several hundred people marched through the Wairarapa 
town in memory of Hinewaoriki Karaitiana-Matiaha, or Lillybing, who died in July. 
A homicide inquiry was launched after an autopsy revealed that she had been bashed, scalded and sexually violated. No one has been 
arrested for her murder. 
In Auckland, Xena, Warrior Princess star Lucy Lawless and TVNZ newsreader Liz Gunn have joined other mothers to form an action 
group to fight child abuse. 
The yet-to-be-named group will endorse the Starship hospital's Safe and Sound appeal. 
The appeal will raise money to set up New Zealand's first multi-agency "Cares" - Child and Adolescent Recovery, Empowerment and 
Safety - centre near the Starship. 
CYFS general manager service delivery Ken Rand said the service would this week start looking into the 236 cases identified by 
ACC, although 20 per cent of them involved children already known to it. 
One case was already the subject of a full investigation. 
Mr Rand said that while the initial inquiries into each case would stretch the service, a real staff problem would begin only if a high 
proportion of the ACC cases involved genuine child abuse. 
"Not all of these cases will be child abuse. Some of them are quite historic. Also, you know kids will be kids, and kids have accidental 
injuries all the time." 
The service is also negotiating with the Royal College of General Practitioners to set up a similar link that may help identify child 
abuse cases. Other organisations with access to children, such as the Education Review Office, are also being targeted as potential 
sources of information to identify abuse. 
Children's Commissioner Roger McClay said the new protocol linking ACC and CYFS was an excellent step, and he felt "quite 
chuffed" that the move had stemmed from his James Whakaruru report. 
"Someone has sprung into action - little James Whakaruru's life has amounted to something after all." 
But Mr McClay criticised doctors who have treated children suffering signs of abuse and failed to notify anyone of their concerns. 
James Whakaruru had seen doctors 40 times before he was finally killed by his stepfather. 
"How can you repeatedly treat the wounds of a child that are suspiciously non-accidental, then remember to claim ACC for your work, 
but forget to tell anyone that there is possibly a child in trouble?" Mr McClay asked. 
"If you claimed insurance for your car 40 times in five years, the insurance company would be asking you a few questions. Why 
shouldn't doctors?" 
Minister of Social Services Steve Maharey said that while it was difficult for doctors always to recognise the signs of child abuse, 
there came a point after treating accident after accident where doctors should take some action. 
"That is what this system between ACC and CYFS is based on, a trigger point. Doctors are clearly in the frontline of dealing with 
children, and they need to find their own trigger point." 
However, the chairwoman of the Medical Association, Dr Pippa MacKay, said she doubted whether any doctor suspecting child abuse 
would fail to report it. 
* To donate to the Safe and Sound Appeal ring 0800 946 010. 


Helen Clark fears Eden Park Lodge will house unsupervised transients. Herald Picture / Richard Robinson 
 
They're driving me out complains furious PM 
 
04.09.2000 - By NAOMI LARKIN 
The Prime Minister says she may be forced to leave her home of 19 years after a photograph identifying the house, and a map 
pinpointing its location, were published yesterday. 
A furious Helen Clark told the Herald that the disclosure was an "absolute" invasion of her privacy and had created a "serious security 
concern." 
"What [the Sunday Star-Times] did was make it so easy: there's the map, here's what the house looks like - go to it. 
"I try to live a normal, modest life in my own home, in an ordinary suburb, and they are making it impossible for me." 
The Prime Minister's anger was triggered by a Star-Times item reporting her objections to the expansion of a boarding house around 
the corner from her home. 
The item said she feared the boarding house would attract undesirables who might "downgrade the neighbourhood" and "transients" 
who might not be properly supervised. 
When her submission was made last September, Helen Clark was in Opposition, campaigning for community-based mental health 
services. 
But yesterday she said the facts had been "seriously distorted." 
The proposed building was not a home for the needy. It was a commercial proposition, by absentee landlords, for the existing 27-room 
historic boarding house to be expanded to 88 rooms with a separate three-storey block. 
The development received the go-ahead at an Auckland City Council resource consent hearing last month. 
Helen Clark said that if she now decided to remain in her Mt Eden villa, it would need to be fortified and have expensive security 
installed. 
With her husband, Dr Peter Davis, based in Christchurch, she was often home alone and security was vital. 
When she was living at Premier House, her official residence in Wellington, she was under constant police protection, she said, but 
this was not the case at her home in Auckland. 
Detective Inspector Tom Stenhouse, head of the diplomatic protection squad, which is responsible for the Prime Minister's safety, said 
yesterday that he would not discuss her security arrangements. 
The written submission from Helen Clark at the centre of the furore was one of 91 opposing the Eden Park Lodge development. 
The one resident who supported it unchanged was Mary Prebble, mother of Act leader Richard Prebble. Mrs Prebble, whose house is 
just a few doors from the boarding house, said yesterday that she and her husband, Kenneth, had lived in their Onslow Rd bungalow 
for 20 years and had never had any problems with the boarding house. 
But Megan Layne, whose home is opposite the building, said privacy was an issue. She had already been followed home from the bus 
stop by male residents living in the house and was afraid that such behaviour would increase. 


Prizewinning player Neal Thompson says the computer games industry is worth more than Hollywood. Herald Picture / Martin Sykes 
 
Game whiz drops MA studies for action role 
 
04.09.2000 - By TAMA MOISER 
When Neal Thompson dropped out of doing an MA degree in psychology to play computer games, he knew people would be 
sceptical. 
"New Zealanders just can't see gaming for what it is overseas," he says. "They don't understand that gaming is now a professional 
occupation in Korea or the United States." 
Now that he has won the $10,000 first prize at the Impact Extreme Chinese national Quake 3 tournament in Beijing, the 21-year-old 
helpdesk administrator from Waterview in Auckland hopes people will realise just how big Quake is. 
"The gaming industry is worth more than Hollywood now. A computer game makes more than a film like Gladiator. Gamers can be 
compared to actors - they become the face of the game." 
Quake 3 is a futuristic 3D action game requiring tactical thinking and quick reflexes, played over the internet or a local network. 
Players can collect bonuses giving them extra strength or power, and win by killing their opponents more times than they are killed. 
Following his victory in Beijing, Mr Thompson plans to compete in the World Cyber Games - "the Olympics of computer games" - in 
Seoul, Korea, next month. It carries $US300,000 in prizemoney. 
As well as looking for sponsorship, he is negotiating a deal to train Hong Kong players for the Korean competition. 
He is among the top 20 players in the world after starting Quake three years ago, but wants to "push it into the top three in the next six 
months." 
Mr Thompson says he plays for two or three hours most days, and anywhere between eight and 16 hours a day before a tournament. 
After obtaining a BA degree in psychology and philosophy from the University of Auckland last year and enrolling for an MA, "I 
dropped out of university to play Quake. 
"I saw the amount of interest and prizemoney Quake has generated, and decided to try to become the world's best player." 
He now works 20 hours a week for an internet service provider and spends about 40 hours on Quake. 
While he had expected his father, a former diplomat, to disapprove of his dropout status, "he has really started to back me." 
Quake's "bad reputation" as a violent game is undeserved, Mr Thompson says. "You can't infer from the fact that someone kills a 
person and plays Quake that Quake players kill people." 
Aucklander Jiang Pengan placed second at the Impact Extreme tournament, winning $5000. 

Mother of autistic teenager heading for breakdown 
 
04.09.2000 - By CATHERINE MASTERS 
Bea Rowe fears she is heading for her second breakdown in two years. 
The Waiheke Islander has a 17-year-old autistic and suicidal son who refuses to get out of bed or leave his room and is 
losing weight because of anorexia . 
After struggling to care for him for years - three times she has walked into his room just in time to stop him from killing 
himself - Mrs Rowe has finally been allocated 12 days of respite care, so she can have a break. 
Despite the good news, she has hit a major obstacle. No facilities are available for her son, and she can find nowhere to 
place him. So she is struggling on, but fears she will break down as she did 18 months ago. 
"I get the impression everyone thinks I'm just a neurotic mother and 'it's all right, she'll keep coping you know, it's not like 
he's going to fall off the face of the earth,' which they're quite right, he's not. 
"But that's not the point. My resources in my own body have reached zero. And I have major surgery myself coming up in 
seven weeks. I'm getting desperate about what I can do, who's going to listen, where are we going to go now. We've tried 
everywhere. 
"You know that ad on the TV with the battery. That's what we are, we're those people and we just have to keep going and 
going and going and then they wonder why mothers turn around and kill their kids." 
She does not believe she would ever go as far as Janine Albury-Thomson, the Palmerston North woman convicted of 
manslaughter for strangling her teenage autistic daughter, Casey. 
But Maree Whitworth, executive officer of the Autistic Association, said it was only a matter of time before another parent 
killed. 
Mrs Rowe was one of 30 desperate families she knew of in the same boat around the country, she said. 
The Government had said it would as a priority look at respite care issues, but that did not help families who were not 
coping right now, she said. 
A Health Funding Authority spokesman acknowledged last week that services were needed in the respite care area. 
The authority also acknowledged that respite care was one of the best ways to provide support to families so they could 
continue being carers and was targeting resources at the area. 

John Cable, of Northcote, is given a hand by 2 1/2-year-old daughter Jessica. Herald Picture / Richard Robinson 
 
Message on good keen fathers 
 
04.09.2000 - By CATHERINE MASTERS 
Martin Crump's father, the late author and "good keen man" personality Barry Crump, shot through before he was born. 
In fact, Barry was probably not the best example to use to promote a Father's Day rally in Aotea Square yesterday, his son, a late-night 
radio talkback host, told the small gathering. 
"But there are reasons for that. It's all the more reason, possibly, why I'm here today." 
Only a handful of men and their children turned out for the annual Father's Day march and gathering - among them Labour MP Dover 
Samuels, who walked silently carrying a placard reading "Children Are Our Future." 
Act MP Muriel Newman used the occasion to launch a citizens-initiated referendum petition on shared parenting. The petition asks for 
parents who are separated or divorced to have equal rights to the custody of their children. 
She said that since the Government rejected her Shared Parenting Bill in its first reading, there had been a huge groundswell of 
support. Dr Newman was confident the 250,000 signatures needed to force a nationwide referendum would be found. 
Martin Crump supports the bill whole-heartedly. 
He told the Herald his father had been a violent man and, while he bore him no ill-will, it was time to make a stand against family 
violence and to encourage fathers that the rewards of rearing their children were great. 
"[Barry] was a victim of terrible violence and couldn't be a dad himself ... Somewhere down the line we must stop the rot and make 
our stand. 
"There was violence. I saw my brother struck, which wasn't very nice, but Barry did the best that he could and I don't hold any 
grudges at all. When you understand his circumstances it certainly makes you understand a little more and be a little more forgiving. 
"At the time it's hard to understand why your dad doesn't want to see you, but why let yourself become scarred from that and not get 
on with the job yourself?" 
As a talkback host in the wee small hours he heard from many dads. "Calls from grown men - like big men - crying, openly weeping 
on nationwide talkback because their hearts were absolutely shattered, because of birthdays and access not being given ... " 
Mr Samuels said he had come down from the Far North especially for the march. 
"There are a lot of Maori families broken apart and solo parents," he said. "I think that what the people and what the fathers are asking 
for today is a recognition of their rights as fathers." 

Christine (left) and Amber Lundy 
 
Murdered mother and daughter died of 'violent and severe head injuries' 
 
04.09.2000 - 
Palmerston North woman Christine Lundy and her daughter, Amber, died of "extremely violent and severe" head injuries, police said 
yesterday. 
The bodies of Mrs Lundy, aged 38, and 7-year-old Amber, found in the bedroom area of their Karamea Crescent home on Wednesday 
morning, were formally identified yesterday. They were identified by forensic, rather than visual means, Palmerston North police said. 
The inquiry is one of three major homicide investigations under way, with murder hunts in Paeroa and Taumarunui. 
A post-mortem examination on Mrs Lundy was carried out on Saturday night after her body was removed through a front window of 
her home on Friday afternoon. 
An examination of her daughter's body was made on Thursday. 
Police investigating their deaths do not yet know what weapon was used to inflict the injuries, but want to hear from anyone who came 
across an object which could have been used, Detective Sergeant Peter Rollinson said. 
Blood had been found at the Kelvin Grove house and an examination of the scene was continuing last night. 
Wellington specialists, who examined the immediate area around the Lundys' home, had finished and returned to Wellington without 
finding any objects of interest, Detective Sergeant Rollinson said. 
It was clear the attacker had to enter and leave Karamea Cres and police urged anyone with information about people or vehicles in 
the area between late Tuesday and 9.30 am the next day to contact them. 
Mrs Lundy's husband, Mark, was away on business when his wife and daughter were killed. 
Police did not yet know whether the deaths were random killings or if the house had been targeted. 
It looked as though there had been no forced entry into the home, Detective Sergeant Rollinson said. 
Police also said that a Paeroa man whose body was found at his home on Thursday morning died violently. 
Brian Olsen, 25, was found dead in his Thames Rd home by his mother and a friend who forced their way in through a window. 
An autopsy revealed a number of serious injuries, indicating Mr Olsen was the victim of "considerable violence," said Detective 
Senior Sergeant Mike Whitehead, of Waikato CIB. 
Detective Senior Sergeant Whitehead said some of the injuries were consistent with a sharp instrument having been used, but he 
would not elaborate. He said no weapon had been recovered. 
Police had descriptions of a number of people who visited Mr Olsen at his rented home, and had spoken to some of them. 
Detective Senior Sergeant Whitehead urged those not yet spoken to by police to contact them. 
He said Mr Olsen had not reported any complaints to police before his death. 
In Taumarunui, police were last night remaining silent over progress in the hunt for the person or persons who killed Te Miringa 
Shayle Tipene, known as Millie Dunn. Her body was found in her New Rd home on Tuesday with extensive injuries to her upper 
torso, neck and head. 
And the man accused of murdering South Auckland liquor store owner Shiu Prasad will reappear in the Otahuhu District Court today. 

Loss isn't $57m, says Viaduct Basin chief 
 
04.09.2000 - By BERNARD ORSMAN 
The company managing the America's Cup yachting and marina facilities denies the $85.7 million development has lost 
$57 million in value. 
The figure is based on a valuation of the facilities two months ago when the company, wholly-owned by Infrastructure 
Auckland, was negotiating renewed leases for the syndicate bases. 
Infrastructure Auckland and the managing company, America's Cup Village Ltd, agreed then that the facilities were worth 
$29 million. 
However, the board of Infrastructure Auckland has since accepted a $40 million valuation. 
Papers released under the Official Information Act show that Infrastructure Auckland valued the assets in June at $29 
million, insisting that $40 million did "not reflect good value." 
But yesterday Infrastructure Auckland chairman John Robertson said the board was now using the $40 million valuation 
provided by ACVL, which is based on the asset's value at the end of the next America's Cup in 2003. 
Asked about the change, Mr Robertson said he could not recall the June debate but the board was now comfortable with 
the independently commissioned $40 million valuation and he had every confidence the ACVL board and management 
could maintain that value. 
Audit New Zealand has approved the method of valuation used by ACVL but said there was a "fundamental uncertainty" 
that could result in a significant writedown in the value of the assets. 
Any loss in value of the assets will add to loss from the public's $85.7 million investment in the cup village by ACVL. A $29 
million valuation would add $11 million to the loss. 
ACVL chairman Peter Kiely has stated that building the yachting facilities and managing the cup village cost the Auckland 
region $23.5 million, of which $9.5 million came from losses running the event and a "community benefit" of $14 million 
creating the infrastructure. 
He said the claim by the Herald of a $57 million loss was "false and totally inaccurate." 
Former ACVL chief executive Rob Sutherland, who left the company in May last year after a sponsorship ruckus, said in 
July that the event would cost the public $40 million, based on a much lower asset valuation he claimed to have seen. 
The Herald reported last week that the real loss from the public's $85.7 million investment could be nearer $57 million, 
based on the yachting and marina assets being worth $29 million at the end of the America's Cup. A $40 million valuation 
would reduce that loss to $46 million. 
ACVL has chosen not to include a taxpayer contribution of $10 million in its losses and has repeatedly refused to provide 
a detailed analysis of income and expenditure. 
It continues to hide details about how much public money bailed out commercial blunders like the exclusive American 
Express Yacht Club for wealthy cardholders and a disastrous 1980s-style nightclub called the Music Factory. 
Mr Kiely told the Herald that no public money went into setting up the nightclub, though a cashflow report by ACVL to 
Infrastructure Auckland on January 16 referred to a "$29,250 expense for starting up the Music Factory." 

Sound bite as frogs go a-wooing 
 
04.09.2000 - By ANNE BESTON 
The distinct "bonking" sound made by male banjo frogs during the mating season is being used to track the illegally 
introduced pest. 
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry staff, along with Auckland Regional Council scientists, have set up recording 
equipment at Huia in the Waitakere Ranges which imitates the frog's distinctive mating call. The calls sound like a banjo 
string being plucked. 
The equipment will then record for nine seconds to see if any answering calls are made by banjo frogs in the vicinity. 
Despite months of searching, the scientists have had no luck tracking the frogs since tadpoles and froglets were found at 
Huia last year. 
Banjo frogs are native to Australia and were probably illegally introduced here. They are aggressive predators that pose a 
threat to native species, including the endangered native Hochstetter frog. 
They are toad-like with a rough and warty body and range in colour from pale grey to dark brown or black. The frog's 
glands secrete poison which deters other predators. 
They are nocturnal and burrow under the ground during the day. They are often dug up by gardeners in their homeland. 
"We are hoping not to hear any," said regional council resource scientist Brenda Greene. 
She said native frogs did not make any sounds, so any sounds captured on the tape would come from introduced species. 

Road toll heading for lowest count 
 
04.09.2000 - By SCOTT MacLEOD 
Last month's road toll of 31 deaths was the lowest for any August since records began in 1965 - and may help to pull this 
year's tally under 500 for the first time. 
The August total was exactly half that for the same month last year and just three more than the best-ever month - last 
January. 
But September was just a few hours old when Tehira Harlem Monteque, aged 22, was killed in a crash near Cambridge. 
Land Transport Safety Authority director Reg Barrett welcomed the lower toll, but said there was "no such thing as an 
acceptable level of carnage on our roads." 
In the first two-thirds of this year, 303 people died on the roads compared with 351 at the same time last year. The toll in 
the year to August 31 was 461. 
Authority spokesman Craig Dowling said the toll could be under 500 for the first time in a calendar year. The previous best 
was 501, in 1998. 
The road toll has been dropping since the mid-1980s, after peaking at 843 in 1973. The improvement has been credited to 
stronger enforcement, better roads and changing attitudes to alcohol. 
Meanwhile, a 44-year-old man was killed late yesterday morning near Matamata when his car failed to take an easy bend 
on State Highway 29 and hit a tree. 
The name of the man, who was the car's only occupant, was not available last night. 
Police have also yet to publicly identify a person killed when a car hit a power pole near Christchurch Airport and burst 
into flames late on Friday. 
A Northland woman and her teenage daughter who died when their car and a four-wheel-drive vehicle collided on State 
Highway 12 near Maungaturoto on Friday were Erica Doris Hodges, aged 43, who was driving, and Jannene Carla 
Hodges, 16, both from Pahi near Paparoa. 
The driver of the other vehicle, a 59-year-old Dargaville man, suffered minor injuries. 
A Morrinsville woman who died near the Karangahake Gorge last Thursday had been married for just a few days. 
Diana Margaret Tanner, 52, was travelling with husband Len when their car and another vehicle collided on State 
Highway 2 outside Paeroa. 
Two people in the other car were also killed. Ming Yeung To, a 20-year-old Auckland man, and Lai Shan Chan, a 27-year-
old woman originally from Hong Kong, were Auckland University students. 
Mr Tanner lost his first wife to illness just over a year ago, said friend Dan Paxton. 
Mrs Tanner's first husband also died last year and she lost her son to cancer, after nursing them both.

Jackson the dog a saint after all 
 
04.09.2000 - 
It was steak for dinner for Windcliff Saint He Ain't after he was judged the country's top dog at the weekend. 
The 2-year-old from Pukekohe, the first bearded collie to take the best in show award at the annual Pedigree National 
Dog Show, was also judged best working dog at the event's 46th outing, held in Porirua. 
In all, 1500 dogs, representing 130 breeds, were entered in the competition. 
Owner Jenny Watts said Windcliff, nicknamed Jackson, had been competing since he was four months old and was 
getting better all the time. 
"He's a very get-up-and-go dog. He would do anything I asked him. He's got the most brilliant nature." 
Windcliff's prize is a trip with his owners to the Pedigree Australian Dog Competition in Adelaide next year. 
Another Auckland dog, Toledo Sam of Tentyne, a Sealyham terrier owned by Lorraine Tennet of Kaukapakapa, was 
named best terrier. 
A team of dogs from the North Shore won the obedience section and the Wairarapa Wonder Dogs won the agility section. 

Sacked press woman fights on 
 
04.09.2000 - 
A former press secretary for Associate Arts Minister Judith Tizard, Margot Staunton, has been offered three months' pay 
to settle a dispute over her sacking, but says she will not accept it. 
Ms Staunton said last night that she would continue with action on a personal grievance claim against the minister. 
Her contract was terminated in June and she received one month's salary in lieu of notice and a further two months 
salary. 
Ms Staunton said she would not accept this as a final settlement of the dispute. 
Ministerial Services manager Trevor Pope would not comment on the size of the payment, except to say that it was 
standard for a person whose contract was terminated because of an irreconcilable difference. 
He said the matter was now out of his hands and anything further would be dealt with by the Department of Internal 
Affairs. 
Ms Staunton is the second person from the minister's office to receive such a payment. 
Former senior policy adviser Marilyn Stephens was paid between $15,000 and $20,000 this year. 

'Transients' bad neighbours complains PM 
 
04.09.2000 - 
This is the text of the Prime Minister's submission opposing construction of a boarding house 100m from her Kingsland 
home: 
Submission of Rt Hon Helen Clark on the application of F. Khoy and R. La Pread to construct a lodge/boarding house at 
169 Dominion Rd/1 Onslow Rd, Mt Eden. 
My reasons for opposing this application are as follows: 
1. The size, scale, and appearance of the proposed building is completely out of keeping with the surrounding residential 
area. 
(a) At three storeys in height, this building is of an entirely inappropriate scale for this neighbourhood, which consists 
largely of villas from the early 20th century and some few bungalows of a later period. 
(b) Residential housing in the vicinity consists overwhelmingly of homes designed for single families, each on their own 
section. The construction of another 61 bedrooms to add to the 27 already on the site is totally disproportionate in scale to 
the nature of neighbouring housing. 
(c) The proposed building appears to be neither attractive in concept nor compatible with the style of the surrounding 
housing. In addition it stands to block out views of the existing building on the site, which is itself a grand building and a 
visual amenity in the area. 
Overall the proposed building is simply not in keeping with the homes in the local area. 
2. There are a range of concerns locally about the nature of the accommodation and the tenants it would attract. 
(a) Considerable confusion has been created by the applicants about the type of tenant they propose to attract. 
(i) The application to council states that "the purpose of the development is to provide quality short-to-medium-term 
accommodation for people, many of whom are elderly, and are awaiting more appropriate long-term accommodation." 
In my judgment as a longtime observer of social trends in Auckland, it is unlikely that there is a floating pool of transient 
elderly persons likely to fill a facility of this size. 
This proclaimed intention to accommodate transient elderly persons conflicts radically with 
(ii) The current advertising for tenants for the existing boarding home on the site, Eden Park Lodge. 
I attach a copy of such advertising taken from the August-September issue of the Mt Eden Community Newsletter. 
In the first place this advertisement purports to offer long-term accommodation, not the short-to-medium-term 
accommodation referred to in the application to council. In the second place, the accommodation is offered for 
professionals, tradespeople and students. Yet neighbouring residents report that the existing clientele at the boarding 
house in general do not resemble that description. If the advertisement is any guide, transient elderly are not currently 
targeted as tenants by the lodge. 
What seems inevitable is that the new 61 bedrooms will indeed be occupied largely by people who are transient dwellers. 
They may be transient for a range of reasons. This neighbourhood is home to a number of group facilities for people with 
special needs for support and has no complaints where such group accommodation is properly supervised. 
This proposed lodge/boarding house, however, is not a supervised group facility for people with special needs. The 
likelihood is that a significant number of people with genuine needs for support will live there without adequate support 
and in that state be difficult neighbours. Again the question of scale is relevant here: these 61 bedrooms add to the 27 
already on site to make a grand total of 88 bedrooms. That makes for a huge boarding house and a huge number of 
potentially needy people clustered together without adequate support. This makes the proposed accommodation an 
unwarranted intrusion on this residential neighbourhood. 
[The submission then deals with potential traffic congestion, loss of visual amenity, noise, and the height of the proposal.] 
7. Eden Park Lodge is already regarded as a poor neighbour and is unlikely to be a better neighbour in its greatly 
expanded form. 
The application to council states under the heading "Consultation" that "local residents have been made aware of the 
proposal." Few appear to have been made aware by the applicant. Most residents are now aware of and hostile to the 
proposal. At community meetings neighbours have spoken of their concern about the existing boarding house. The 
unauthorised removal of the bamboo caused aggravation. There is also concern about the untidy rubbish often seen on 
the kerb by the lodge. Interpersonal relations between the applicants and some neighbours have not been good. No local 
resident I have met wants the addition of 61 bedrooms on this site. 
In summary, I strongly oppose the proposed addition of 61 bedrooms on this site. 
This neighbourhood is one in which there is very considerable pride taken by homeowners in their properties. They have 
no desire to see their neighbourhood downgraded by the unwelcome and unwarranted intrusion of a very large number of 
unsupervised, yet needy, transient tenants. The proposed project would most certainly have an undesirable effect on the 
quality of life of local residents and would raise concerns about their own safety and the security of their property. The 
added traffic hazard would impact on the safety of all local residents. 
As it stands, this neighbourhood has architectural integrity and is considered a safe and desirable area for families and for 
people living alone in their homes. These features would be put at risk by the proposed project. 
In the medium term there are hopes that council may see fit, on application from local residents, to grant a special 
character designation for the area. Residents are keen to protect its character as an early 20th century suburb and to 
resist any further intrusion on it by development which is out of character, as this proposed project most certainly is. 

Payout limits on dud convictions 
 
04.09.2000 - By EUGENE BINGHAM 
A man compensated for wrongful imprisonment on child abuse charges would have received $200,000 less under new 
Government guidelines. 
The Minister of Justice, Phil Goff, confirmed yesterday that the cabinet had granted the Auckland man $570,000, as well 
as announcing that a new policy would limit future awards for non-pecuniary losses in similar cases. 
Future payments to people wrongly convicted will now be set in three stages. As well as $100,000 for each year in jail, the 
person concerned will receive an average of $100,000 as recognition of suffering. Loss of income will be considered on 
top of that. 
In the case of the Auckland man, he received $400,000 compensation and about $170,000 in costs. 
Mr Goff said the assessment of non-pecuniary losses needed to be more consistent. 
"Quantifying non-pecuniary losses such as pain and suffering is difficult in the absence of clear guidance as to an 
appropriate figure from which the calculation should commence," he said. 
"Uncertainty in that calculation risks inconsistent results. 
"While compensation needs to fairly reflect the losses and trauma of being wrongly imprisoned, it must also reflect the fact 
that many people receive no compensation for losses which are through no fault of their own. 
"The new criteria if applied in the current case would have lowered the compensation payment by around $200,000." 
The man's lawyer, Rob Harrison, said he could understand the Government's decision to impose stricter guidelines on 
compensation payouts. 
"You are always going to be plucking a figure out of the air in terms of how much you decide someone's liberty is 
worth,"said Mr Harrison. 
While $100,000 for non-pecuniary losses was an arbitrary figure, he could understand there had to be some starting point. 
"It's always going to be an arbitrary figure - as long as there is some flexibility in there to take account of particular 
circumstances." 
He said his client's case had involved unique circumstances. 
The man, whose name was suppressed, was convicted in 1995 of sexually assaulting a son. He had served 14 months in 
prison before the Court of Appeal quashed the convictions when the son's allegations were retracted. 
A Government-appointed independent examiner, David Williams, QC, found that the child's allegations had been retracted 
- and then reasserted - even before the trial, though this was never passed on to the man's defence lawyer. 
Mr Williams concluded that the police officer in charge of the case had committed a serious error, but there was no 
suggestion of malice. 
Assistant Commissioner Paul Fitzharris said the police had unreservedly apologised to the man, and recognised that an 
error of judgment was made. 
Mr Harrison said the apology meant as much to his client as the money. 
Meanwhile, the case of David Dougherty, who spent 3 1/2 years in jail for a rape charge he was later acquitted of, will be 
considered under the old guidelines because it was lodged before the changes were made. 
His case is being assessed by Stuart Grieve, QC. 

Delay and review urged of school exam system 
 
04.09.2000 - By REBECCA WALSH education reporter 
The new national secondary school qualification system to be introduced in 2002 should be put on hold until an 
independent review is carried out, the Education Forum says. 
The forum today released three highly critical reports on the National Certificate of Educational Achievement, which will 
replace School Certificate and Bursary exams. 
Two of the reports were completed by overseas consultants and the third by the forum, a group of educationists who have 
been critical of the new qualification. 
They claim the NCEA - which will be based on a mixture of internal assessment and external exams - is educationally 
unsound, will create more work for teachers, reduce teaching and learning time and produce a huge amount of unreliable 
information. 
But Minister of Education Trevor Mallard disputes those claims and believes the New Zealand system will go on to 
become a world leader. 
He says putting the system, which he described as having widespread acceptance, on hold is not an option. 
A report prepared for the Education Forum by Australian consultant Dr Kevin Donnelly said there was no clear 
international precedent for the NCEA and that it differed significantly from the systems used in "educationally successful" 
countries. 
Dr Donnelly highlighted the Victorian Certificate of Education used in Australia, which was similar to the NCEA. 
It had sparked "serious disquiet" about comparability of marking, unfair practices and workload, which had led to 
significant changes. 
Dr Donnelly said countries that had attempted to use "standards assessment" restricted it to the compulsory years rather 
than senior levels. 
Research compiled by Professor Alan Smithers of Liverpool University in Britain found countries that did well in 
international surveys tended to use externally set and marked examinations rather than internal assessment. 
Dr Donnelly said it was not too late for authorities to reconsider their proposals. "A new qualifications system is not 
something to introduce first and then tune into a practical system later." 
But Mr Mallard said he had already deferred introduction of the new qualification 12 months and a review was not an 
option.Mr Mallard said the NCEA had been designed in New Zealand using international research. 
nte 
Acting chairman of the Education Forum and headmaster of Auckland Grammar School, John Morris, said that if the 
Ministry of Education would not agree to a review, the forum wanted the NCEA to record "different qualifications that have 
their own individual status and purposes." 
Auckland Grammar School planned to offer students the option of sitting an A level exam set by Cambridge University in 
Britain. 
The forum recommended School Certificate and Bursary exams be retained and a similar qualification introduced at sixth-
form level. It also wanted achievement standards to be redesigned so that they provided an overall subject score. 
Mr Mallard said there was "no possibility at all" of running a dual examination system and he questioned the forum's 
understanding of the NCEA. The forum would send a summary of the reports to all secondary schools. 

Ill woman left numb by treatment 
 
04.09.2000 - 
A Waikato mother is numb from the pelvis down after treatment for a disease she probably did not have. 
Suffering from severe headaches, Mary van Huysen was taken to Waikato Hospital's emergency department on July 21 
with suspected amoebic meningitis. 
The Matamata mother had swum at Opal Hot Springs and a spa pool at Matamata Sports Centre only a few days before. 
Waikato Hospital clinical microbiologist Dr Ron Leng said emergency doctors saw what seemed to be classic signs of 
amoebae in a sample of spinal fluid. 
"Most patients slip within a matter of days to a week into a coma and then they just die," Dr Leng said. "Early treatment is 
critical." 
Doctors immediately injected an antibiotic, amphotericin B, into Ms van Huysen's spine. 
But Dr Leng could not find naegleria fowleri in a sample of spinal fluid he tested. The amoeba is associated with most 
cases of meningoencephalitis. The initial findings are unable to be confirmed, but Ms van Huysen now walks with crutches 
and was told the numbness was likely to be permanent. 
Dr Leng said he wished medical science could solve the mystery of Ms van Huysen's condition. 

Robbery cry as Rodney council keeps $400,000 levy 
 
04.09.2000 - By WAYNE THOMPSON 
Whangaparaoa residents call it the "great park and ride robbery." 
At the Rodney District Council headquarters in Orewa, it is referred to officially as the Whangaparaoa parking 
development - separate rate. 
Whatever term they use, residents and council officials agree that Whangaparaoa ratepayers gave $403,000 for a project 
that may never go ahead. 
And they will not get their money back. 
The scheme was a bright idea of the peninsula's structure plan in 1996 - to avoid traffic jams on the peninsula's only main 
road by providing a park and ride site at the Whangaparaoa town centre so residents could bus into Auckland. 
In 1998 the council levied a separate rate for developing the site at Link Cres. 
There were 7832 ratepayers within the defined area of benefit on the peninsula, and the rate was $45 for every $100,000 
of land value. 
The park and ride facility made it to last year's plan of works, but construction was delayed and last July council staff 
raised concerns about its need to the council commissioner, Grant Kirby. 
He put the project on hold after being told that discussions with bus operator Stagecoach revealed not enough 
passengers would support the facility. 
The facility was also outside the route eligible for public transport subsidy. 
Stagecoach was unwilling to take on the extra cost for extending the run. 
A refund was mooted, but council staff said this would be difficult because there would have been many changes of land 
ownership since the rate was levied. 
Mr Kirby sought a legal opinion on whether the council had to refund the money. 
On Thursday the council's lawyers reported that the Rating Powers Act did not oblige the council to carry out the works if 
circumstances changed, and the act did not provide for refunds. 
Their advice was that if there was a chance the project might go ahead some day, the money should be held in a special 
tagged account until it was needed. 
If it was decided to scrap the project, the funds should be used on projects of benefit to the properties which paid the rate. 
The council should use the special order process in deciding on any alternative use of the funds. This would allow 
affected ratepayers to influence its decision. 
Mr Kirby adopted the guidelines "so there is a level of protection on those funds for the community." 
The president of the Whangaparaoa Residents and Ratepayers' Association, Wayne Walker, said the community would 
be suspicious of any further projects that the council wanted paid by special rates. 
Resident Millicent James said she and 80 other residents had said at a public meeting before the rate was raised that they 
would refuse to pay because they would not use the park and ride facility. 
"I never paid, but whether the others did the same I would not know." 

The car's three occupants were unhurt, but it was not insured. Herald Picture / Sav Schulman 
 
Crash puts paid to fire-engine callout 
 
04.09.2000 - By SCOTT MACLEOD 
A fire engine on its way to a blaze was stopped short by a collision in West Auckland yesterday. 
The crash with a car happened at 1.30 pm at the corner of Lincoln Rd and Central Park Drive, as the Waitemata-based appliance was 
nearing the shed fire on Kingdale Rd. 
None of the three people in the car was hurt despite the front being crushed. 
The shaken young driver said his $3000 car was uninsured and he was still paying it off after buying it a month ago. 
A bystander, who refused to give his name, said he heard a loud bang and was amazed to see the back of the car fly into the air. 
The fire engine had only a damaged bumper and mudguard. Traffic was delayed for 30 minutes. 
Fire Service spokesman Scott Osmond said the blaze destroyed the shed, and it probably could not have been saved if the fire engine 
had managed to get there. 
He said the service was investigating the crash. 

Morton Coutts checks his barley wine. Herald Picture / Sav Schulman 
 
Still brewing up a storm at 96 
 
04.09.2000 - By CHRIS DANIELS 
Every day of the week, 96-year-old Morton Coutts arrives for work neatly dressed, including jacket and tie. 
His office and laboratory in the sprawling Montana factory at Glen Innes is simple, with a small bar heater the only luxury 
for this legend of New Zealand brewing. 
Despite first transmitting television pictures in 1940 and shortwave radio signals in 1926, the contribution of Mr Coutts to 
New Zealand history is close to our heart - beer. 
A grandson of brewing pioneer Frederick Joseph Khutze (the surname was changed to Coutts during the First World 
War), Mr Coutts invented and patented the process of "continuous fermentation," still used in breweries around the world. 
Now Mr Coutts has a new invention and a new tipple to tempt drinkers. 
His barley wine - like a high-strength beer without the hops, is now ready for production by any company that wants to 
pick it up. 
High-strength premium beer overseas is often called barley wine, but what Mr Coutts has developed is fermented barley - 
without the hops. 
To make this special brew, Mr Coutts has again used his inventor's touch with a method of preparing barley in low heat 
that does not destroy its nutrients. 
His latest patent is described as a "unique system for sterilising alcoholic beverages at low temperatures." 
A firm believer in the health-giving properties of barley, Mr Coutts says his barley wine will take the world by storm, filling 
the market gap between beer and wine and also providing an easy alcoholic blend for many other drinks. 
And he should know - he has been drinking barley extracts for more then 70 years. 
With barley available all year round, he says it takes only 16 days to produce the finished product. 
His business acumen is as well respected as his inventing genius, for Mr Coutts is no eccentric genius. 
With capital provided by his father, he founded Otahuhu's Waitemata Brewery in 1926 and sat on the board of directors of 
Dominion Breweries from 1946 to 1982 while technical director throughout. 
Montana is not planning to introduce or develop the barley wine, but in exchange for allowing Mr Coutts to use its facilities 
for the past two years, the winemaker gets first rights on any invention. 
When it does eventually reach the bottlestore shelves, the marketing gurus will not have to look far for its greatest walking 
advertisement - the inventor is living proof. 

The Peachgrove Dairy is open again following the robbery. Herald Picture / Derek Flynn 
 
Robbers use softball bat in Hamilton dairy holdup 
 
04.09.2000 - By PAUL YANDALL 
HAMILTON - A Claudelands dairy owner was attacked with a softball bat during the latest robbery on a retail store - days after a 
similar attack in Auckland left a man dead. 
Sram Mehedi said he was working with his brother in the family's Peachgrove Dairy when two men entered the shop around 6 pm on 
Saturday armed with the bat. 
"One went straight for the till while the other one stood near my brother. 
"He just ripped the whole thing off the bench and took off." 
Mr Mehedi said that when he went to stop the pair he was struck in the back with the bat, but fortunately suffered only minor injuries. 
"It was not too bad. I think I was pretty lucky actually," he said. 
The attack came four days after a brutal attack on a Fiji Indian shop owner in South Auckland. 
Shiu Prasad died last Tuesday after being stabbed in the head, neck and abdomen at his Mangere liquor store. 
He was buried on Saturday. 
Mr Mehedi said his family had owned their small corner dairy for almost a year and a half and had not been robbed before. 
The assault had left them shaken, but the shop was open for business again yesterday. 
Hamilton police were at the store yesterday morning taking fingerprints. Sergeant Jim Casson said the robbers, described as Pacific 
Islanders or Maori, in their early twenties, ran off into the neighbouring Hamilton Boys High School. 
Mr Mehedi's father said his family had emigrated from Pakistan to New Zealand because they believed "it would be a safe place to 
live." 
He said the family had lost "thousands" of dollars in the raid, but that they had built up considerable goodwill in the community and 
would continue to trade there. 

Spray-damage farmer resolves to battle on 
 
04.09.2000 - By TONY GEE 
WHANGAREI - A Northland farmer who says his health was damaged by spray from a helicopter in 1995 is refusing to 
give up his legal battle. 
Laurie Newman, who has a 160ha farm at Waiotira, southwest of Whangarei, has filed an appeal against an August High 
Court ruling by Justice Noel Anderson that struck out his action against a helicopter company, a pilot and a chemical 
company. 
His appeal, filed in the Whangarei District Court, seeks to have proceedings reinstated and transferred down to the district 
court. 
Mr Newman began his action after he claimed to have suffered physiological damage from the effects of 2,4-D butyl ester 
spraydrift in July 1995. 
But Justice Anderson finally struck out the High Court claim against first and second defendants Marine Helicopters and 
company pilot Ralph Schultz, and against Dow Chemicals NZ as a third party. 
The judge said Mr Newman and three other plaintiffs had continued to pursue "untenable aspects" of what was then their 
seventh statement of claim, and that the litigation had to stop. 
In reality, the claim boiled down to one for $1254 special damages, general damages with an exemplary component for 
alleged trespass, and exemplary damages for trespass to the person, Justice Anderson ruled. 
He said it was "a relatively modest" claim which should not have been brought in the High Court. 
Mr Newman sought further legal advice after the ruling, which he described last month as disgusting, although he said it 
had come as no surprise because he had been branded "an extremist and an alarmist." 
Mr Newman said he now sought the right to introduce evidence in support of his claim which had not previously been 
allowed. 
"I don't think we've had a fair go or a chance to present all our witnesses." 
Mr Newman and his partner, Joanne Searle, want their case reinstated and heard in the Whangarei District Court. 
No date has been set for any hearing. 
Mr Newman said he had had to apply for an extension to his legal aid grant. 
He also had to lodge $3000 with the district court within 14 days for security of costs, "otherwise, our appeal is struck out 
and there is no further redress." 

Extra patrols as turf war festers in Gisborne 
 
04.09.2000 - By DANIEL JACKSON 
Rising tensions between gangs have forced police to step up their patrols in the Gisborne suburb of Mangapapa. 
Late last Thursday the police armed offenders squad conducted a search of the area after a shotgun was fired through the 
kitchen window of an Atkinson St house, where it is believed Mongrel Mob affiliates are living. It was the second time in 
two weeks that the squad had gone to the house. 
Four people appeared in the Gisborne District Court on Saturday charged with burglary of the same address on Friday 
night. Police believe the burglary and the shooting may be linked. 
Senior Sergeant Tony Gibson said gang tensions had been growing in the area - which the Black Power considered part 
of its turf - since the Mongrel Mob affiliates moved in to it. 
"It's been going on for a bit, but it's only been in the last couple of weeks that it has started coming to a head." 
The kitchen window was smashed but no one was injured when the shot was heard about 11 pm on Thursday. A witness 
saw two men running from the scene but, despite an armed offenders squad search of six properties nearby, no one was 
arrested and no weapon found. 
About a fortnight earlier the armed offenders squad cordoned off the area after receiving a report of a firearm being 
presented at the house. No weapon was found and no arrests were made. 
Senior Sergeant Gibson said police had now stepped up patrols in the area. 
"It's been quiet since." 

A case of too many patients for Rotorua hospital 
 
04.09.2000 - 
ROTORUA - Patients are being sent home from Rotorua Hospital because of a shortage of beds. 
A nursing shortage at the hospital was adding pressure to already stretched resources, doctors said yesterday. 
The nursing shortage meant the hospital could service fewer beds. 
As a result, patients who might otherwise have been admitted for further investigation or observation were being sent 
home. 
The Nurses Organisation confirmed there was a shortage of nurses in Rotorua in spite of the hospital's efforts to recruit 
and retain staff. 
Lakeland Health was unable to confirm the number of nursing vacancies or whether patients had been sent home 
because of inadequate nursing levels. 
Medical registrar Dr John Bonning said Rotorua Hospital was tremendously short of nurses and, therefore, beds. 
One day last week he had to send home at least four people he would have admitted had there been beds available . 
Dr Bonning said he had to advise them to go back to their GPs instead. 
In mid-July Lakeland Health was trying to fill 22 nursing vacancies, including five in the adult surgical ward. 
The staff shortage was a factor in the cancellation of seven surgery lists involving 39 patients in the preceding month. 
A spokeswoman for the Nurses Organisation, Gwenda Brodie, said experienced nurses were leaving the profession 
because they had had enough of the pressures and the difficulties. 
While salaries and conditions were at issue, a lack of professional respect and the effects of restructuring also figured. 
The reintroduction of enrolled nurse training would go a long way towards addressing the country's chronic nursing 
shortage, Ms Brodie said. 
Health Minister Annette King had planned to re-establish the programme within the first 12 months of the Labour 
Government. 
Although that was unlikely, Ms Brodie said, there appeared to be a real commitment to reinstate the training. 
"Reinstating this programme will do a good deal to help alleviate nursing shortages ... but it's a down-the-track thing which 
will be of benefit once we have people graduating." 


Richard Cooper in front of his first public offering. Herald Picture / Peter Meecham 
 
Artist's concrete gift is a monster 
 
04.09.2000 - 
A millennium gift for Manukau City has been unveiled and it is a monster. 
On the corner of the busy intersection of Great South and Wiri Station Roads, there now stands the first public sculpture of local artist 
Richard Cooper. 
Named "He taonga huringa whakanui whanau" ("a gift to portray the importance of family"), it is made up of five massive slabs of 
concrete, the tallest 11 metres high and weighing 18 tonnes. 
Four of the five slabs are textured with grooves, symbols and paint. The other features handprints from successive generations of 
Cooper's own family. 
Cooper, aged 37, stared at his creation in awe after its unveiling, and said it had turned out much better than he planned. 
Colours had come out slightly differently than expected, and even the anti-graffiti coating gave it a pleasing, unintended surface. 
The Manukau City Council, with the Lottery Grants Board, helped construct and install the piece. New park benches, lights and a 
plaque will soon be built around it. 
Cooper is in the final year of his master of fine arts degree at Auckland University's Elam School of Fine Arts and plans to start his 
PhD next year. 
He is writing a book about his journey from forestry worker to accomplished artist. 
He will exhibit paintings, drawings and models, completed during construction of the sculpture, in Auckland this year. 

Army ring-ins create Hobbiton 
 
04.09.2000 - 
Army personnel helped lay 5000 cu m of soil, plough fields, tend a hobbit vegetable garden and build sets for The Lord of 
the Rings, a film insider has revealed. 
The Army and gardeners were hired to create a hobbit village, starting a year before filming so it would age naturally. 
Details of the Hobbiton set in the Waikato town of Matamata and sets in other locations were revealed by production 
designer Grant Major on a United States website. 
Designers had used many styles, including art nouveau for the elves' buildings. Drawings by Dutch artist Escher inspired 
the evil land of Mordor. 
About 1000 cu m of polystyrene, 30,000 nails, 13 sq m of timber, a tonne of plaster and 2040 litres of paint were used to 
create the fortresses and towers of Cirith Ungol, near Mordor, at a cost of $200,000. 
Mr Major said the Edoras set, in mid-Canterbury, involved building a road to the site. "The sets have been bolted into the 
rock so they won't blow away in the 140 km/h winds." 
He also revealed that New Zealand actor Joel Tobeck had been cast as Smeagol, Hollywood star Liv Tyler left Wellington 
for New York last month but was due to return in October, and Australian actor Miranda Otto, who plays Eowyn, was in 
Wellington. 
Meanwhile, special vests worn by the film crew are being auctioned off by the film company, with fans so far prepared to 
bid up to $270 for one. 
The sleeveless fleece vest has the words "Lord of the Rings" on the front and the words "Day 133: May 23, 2000" on the 
back - marking the halfway point in filming. 
The vests are being auctioned on a website for New Line Cinema, the production's backer. Details on the website said 
1000 vests were made, with most given to the crew. A further 97 remained and 10 at a time would be auctioned via the 
internet. 
The first auction, which closes next Friday, was being run as a "Dutch" auction. The top 10 bidders will pay the lowest 
winning bidder's price. 
The website is: www.newline.com 
Paul Carpinter has won the trust of politicians of all persuasions. Herald Picture / Mark Mitchell 
 
Quiet adviser whose views moulded NZ 
 
04.09.2000 - By VERNON SMALL deputy political editor 
You couldn't say he's had a high public profile. 
Ministry of Economic Development chief executive Paul Carpinter has been a key adviser to every Prime Minister since 
Bill Rowling, yet last week he granted his first - and possibly last - media interview in 28 years of public service. 
In that time he has built a reputation as a consummate operator, getting the job done with a minimum of fuss and 
controversy. In short, a bureaucrat's bureaucrat. 
But he is quitting two days before his 50th birthday in February, going back to Christchurch and ending a career at the hub 
of political power. 
Mr Carpinter has a reputation as one of the Treasury-trained economic dries who helped drive the post-1984 reforms. 
In 1996, Michael Cullen worried about "Treasury dominance" after he was appointed to head the Commerce Ministry. 
Before the 1999 election, Helen Clark had Mr Carpinter on a shortlist of "new-right acolytes" who might not fit in a new-
look public sector. 
But Mr Carpinter brushes aside the barbs. 
"I didn't take them all that seriously because I had been through a few elections before," he says. 
"I managed to work as one of Mr Bolger's closest advisers and Mr Lange's closest advisers. Now I am working with Mr 
Anderton. I think I earned the respect of all of them." 
Simon Murdoch, who worked closely with him before becoming New Zealand's High Commissioner to Australia, and Mark 
Prebble, who worked with him at Treasury and now heads the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, believe the 
acolyte label was unfair. 
"He was not into reform for reform's sake and never gave partisan advice," says Mr Murdoch. 
Mr Carpinter's influence has spanned a generation since he was seconded from Treasury to give independent advice to 
Bill Rowling. 
Their first exchange was direct: 
"Are you a Labour Party member?" 
"No." 
"Good." 
He helped draft wage price regulations for Rob Muldoon in 1982 in two days. He was there in the early stages of the CER 
agreement with Australia, advised David Lange on economics during the meltdown in 1987-90. 
He was an assistant commissioner at the State Services Commission, a key adviser to Jim Bolger and managed the 
politically-charged sale of Forestcorp in 1996. 
In 1996 he took the top job at the Commerce Ministry and, under its new name, has started on Alliance leader Jim 
Anderton's "jobs machine." 
Labour Department chief executive John Chetwin, a former colleague, said Mr Carpinter's contribution was greatest in 
micro-economic policy, particularly in protection and subsidies. 
His late-1970s paper about the impact of trade protection on growth raised Muldoon's eyebrows, but was a critical trigger 
for later work on opening the economy to competition. 
But Mr Carpinter's career highlight was working on British Chancellor Nigel Lawson's move to reduce sub-Saharan debt - 
a plan which was eventually picked up by other nations and went on to affect millions. 
His approach was a perfect blend of public service ingredients - practicality, altruism and political self-interest. 
"The point was that if a poor country was trying to service debt, it could not purchase other things that it might need more. 
They were hiding from reality because there was no way the whole of the debt was ever going to be serviced properly." 
On the domestic front, he rates his major achievements as restructuring the Companies Office - lowering costs and 
improving service in a win-win for the public and private sectors - and managing the sale of Forestcorp. 
Mr Prebble goes further, saying the care he showed ensured no commission of inquiry was held on the complex 
Forestcorp sale, despite the delicate political and Maori issues involved. 
At the time Mr Carpinter and Mr Anderton were on opposite sides, with the Alliance leader pledging to buy Forestcorp 
back. But since the election insiders say Mr Anderton has come to regard Mr Carpinter with something close to affection. 
Mr Carpinter's low-key public profile was a conscious choice made in his early days in politics. 
"I learned a lot working for Bill Rowling. Your private life's very important. He paid a big price. After working for him I never 
had any interest or desire in a political career on the other side of the fence." 
Those who have worked with him describe him as shy, even reclusive, and "a real worrier." 
Mr Prebble says he not only looked around corners, but around corners that weren't there. 
"But as far as I am concerned he is a hero of the public service." 
Simon Murdoch remembers him as "a bit like Alec Guinness' portrayal of George Smiley" in John Le Carre's novels - drab 
clothes, tousled hair, thick glasses and a quiet, self-deprecating intelligence. 
"An unlikely chief executive," he says. "Just an ordinary Kiwi." 
Mr Carpinter sums up his own approach as a close attention to detail. But he acknowledges he may have suffered a 
greater personal toll than other chief executives. 
"When you are the last person a senior minister or a prime minister talks to before they make a decision, that's a position 
you have to worry about. You know, that 3 o'clock in the morning feeling, did I get that right? Others seem to be able to do 
that kind of thing without showing the large frown ... " 
His greatest regret was failing to achieve the near-impossible - reconciliation between David Lange and Roger Douglas in 
the dark days of 1988. 
"As Mr Lange's economics adviser it was my job to find those kinds of ways forward. Clearly I failed because the 
Government fell over. At the end of the day they had a different view of the world. Mr Douglas felt that the market pricing 
mechanism could deliver in social policy areas and Mr Lange thought that it couldn't." 
As if to belie his ultra-cautious public work, Mr Carpinter is a dyed-in-the-wool petrolhead with a taste for speed. He has 
owned a string of powerful motorbikes and cars - including a Ferrari. Those close to him say he still watches every 
Formula One race on TV - even in the small hours - and is a dab-hand at video car racing. 
Other than that, Mr Carpinter admits to few outside interests. Work has left little time for anything else. 
But now the move to Christchurch and an end to the rat race will leave more time for his young family. 
And then? Teaching or contracting maybe, but he has no firm plans. 
He might like to ask John Chetwin for a steer: "If we are serious about developing regions and their capabilities and 
devolving power then the regions will need people like him. He is ready made for that." 







Our $118 million export mussel trade is vulnerable to a drifting killer. 
 
Mussel industry at risk from toxic algal bloom 
 
04.09.2000 - 
The future of Marlborough's multimillion-dollar mussel industry may depend on sea and weather conditions as a toxic algal bloom 
slowly drifts south. 
The organism, Gymnodium catenatum, which initially extended from Cape Reinga to Manawatu on the North Island's west coast, has 
spread as far south as Porirua. It has also been identified as far as 70km offshore 
Only the Cook Strait separates the toxic bloom from the lucrative shellfish-producing areas of the Marlborough Sounds, Golden Bay 
and Tasman Bay. 
Mussel Industry Council chief executive Paul Lupi said the toxin apparently did not like turbulent water, and it was hoped Cook Strait 
would act as a barrier. 
Oceanographer Basil Stanton said this week that, because of sea currents, the bloom was more likely to reach the Marlborough sounds 
before it got to Golden Bay, but the weather was also a factor. 
The toxic algae have not been reported in New Zealand before. 
Shellfish gathering in Northland has been banned for more than two months. 
Mr Lupi said more than 80 per cent of the industry's spat (shellfish spawn) came from Ninety Mile Beach in the Far North and the ban 
meant the industry could end up seriously short of mussels. 
So far every sample taken from Ninety Mile Beach showed cyst infection. 
The industry, which exports $118 million worth of mussels each year and employs 1000 workers in Marlborough and Nelson, was 
urgently looking for solutions, including research to "sanitise" spat, and looking for new spat-catching areas. 
The Mussel Industry Council had monitoring sites in the outer Marlborough Sounds. 
Marlborough health protection officer Al Campbell said monitoring programmes were extremely successful. 
He was confident that if the toxin was present in the water, these programmes would find it. 
Health officials said toxin levels along some parts of the North Island's west coast were now so high that even a small meal of 
poisoned shellfish could cause serious illness, or death. 
Nelson's Cawthron Institute has been enlisted by the Fisheries Ministry to comprehensively map the algal bloom's presence and 
progress along New Zealand's coast. 
Chief executive Graeme Robertson said staff were working extremely hard to keep up with testing of samples and researching the 
algae. 

 
                 No-vote Dempsey tells why

                 08.07.2000 - By TERRY MADDAFORD and WARREN
                 GAMBLE 

                 A defiant Charlie Dempsey - the New Zealander whose
                 non-vote cost South Africa soccer's World Cup and $5.2
                 billion - last night claimed that an unnamed country had
                 tried to bribe him. 

                 Dempsey's decision not to take part in the third and
                 final ballot by the world soccer body, Fifa, on the 2006
                 venue gave the tournament to Germany 12 votes to 11. 

                 Speaking to the Weekend Herald from Singapore where
                 he practised golf while the soccer world fumed, the
                 79-year-old alleged that he had been offered a bribe to
                 vote one way the night before yesterday's vote. 

                 "On the last evening [before the vote] my life became
                 unbearable," he said. "My night's sleep was interrupted
                 by five phone calls. 

                 "I got an envelope under my door which offered gifts if I
                 voted for a certain country which I won't name. They
                 also gave me a phone number to call. As far as I know I
                 was the only one to receive such an offer. 

                 "I did not make any calls as I feared my phone might
                 have been bugged and people could have made
                 assumptions. I was scared standing there at five o'clock
                 in the morning with this thing [the envelope] in my
                 hand." 

                 However, the New Zealander still faces a world of
                 questions after later reports dismissed the alleged bribe
                 as an obvious hoax. Similar bribe offers sent to other
                 Fifa delegates purported to come from the secretary of
                 the German bid. 

                 But one journalist who saw the offer said it was full of
                 typographical and grammatical errors, and would fool no
                 one. 

                 Late last night Fifa announced that it would conduct an
                 internal inquiry into the vote. 

                 Dempsey, president of the Oceania Football
                 Confederation, said he told Fifa about the envelope and
                 then told the other delegates he would vote for England
                 in the first two rounds - after which England was
                 eliminated - and then abstain. 

                 "I was under tremendous pressure," he said. "I never
                 thought the World Cup was so important to so many
                 people. The pressure I was under was unsustainable. It
                 was like a Hollywood production. I made a decision I
                 think was right." 

                 But the veteran administrator, with trademark
                 spectacles and broad Scottish accent, was vilified in
                 South Africa and condemned at home. 

                 Prime Minister Helen Clark, who had assured South
                 African President Thabo Mbeki of New Zealand's
                 support, said she was extremely disappointed with
                 Dempsey. 

                 Sports Minister Trevor Mallard said he was shocked and
                 embarrassed that Dempsey had disregarded the
                 instructions of the Oceania confederation to vote for
                 South Africa if the English bid was eliminated. 

                 "Through his abandonment of his delegation, Mr
                 Dempsey has damaged the international reputation of
                 the entire country as well as the sport of soccer in New
                 Zealand." 

                 A member of the South African bid team, Irvin Khoza,
                 said: "Dempsey has betrayed the South African people.
                 I do not see how a man can vote in the first two rounds
                 and then not vote in the third and final round. Fifa should
                 investigate this." 

                 In Pretoria, South African fans protested outside the
                 New Zealand mission. And in Wellington, the honorary
                 South African consul, Gregory Fortuin, said: "If there
                 was ever an example of underarm bowling, this is it." 

                 The bid, had it been successful, would have been worth
                 an estimated $5.2 billion to South Africa's hard-pressed
                 economy and created tens of thousands of jobs. 

                 South African newspapers painted Dempsey as an
                 arch-villain on their front pages yesterday. Several
                 featured photographs of people weeping in the streets. 

                 The Johannesburg Star labelled the New Zealander
                 "South Africa's betrayer." The Afrikaans daily Beelt
                 headed a front-page photo of Dempsey: "Damn it
                 Dempsey." 

                 Dempsey's fateful day began with 5 am calls from the
                 South African and German bid teams, as well as Fifa's
                 president, Sepp Blatter. 

                 Blatter favoured the South African bid, and if Dempsey
                 had voted for them, he would have used his casting vote
                 to give the tournament to Africa for the first time. 

                 Next Dempsey had a 6.30 am call from former South
                 African President Nelson Mandela, who pleaded with
                 him to switch to the rainbow nation once England was
                 eliminated. 

                 But before the voting began, Dempsey read out a letter,
                 drafted by an Auckland lawyer, saying he had been
                 falsely accused of taking bribes. As a result, he would
                 withdraw from the voting process once England were
                 out. 

                 After his historic abstention, he went straight to Zurich
                 airport and flew to Singapore as the results were
                 announced. 

                 New Zealand Soccer chief executive Bill MacGowan
                 acknowledged that the decision would put Oceania's bid
                 for a direct entry to future World Cups - at present they
                 must play off against other zones - under threat. 

                 It would also threaten Auckland's Football Kingz' bid to
                 extend their initial two-year licence in the Australian
                 national league, and jeopardise plans for a tri-nations
                 soccer tournament involving NZ, Australia and South
                 Africa after the Olympics.


                 Courier Gelan Wharepapa's thefts ruined several drug trials.

                 Drugs courier steals police evidence

                 08.07.2000 - By SCOTT McLEOD 

                 Two drug dealers walked free and another escaped
                 serious charges after a CourierPost driver stole crucial
                 evidence that had been mailed from regional police
                 stations. 

                 Details of the case were suppressed while police tried
                 to stop the Herald from publishing - a battle they lost in
                 the High Court yesterday. 

                 Now it can be revealed that the thefts forced Mangakino
                 police to drop charges against a drug manufacturer
                 facing up to 14 years' jail, and that other suspects in
                 Northland and the Bay of Plenty also escaped charges. 

                 The courier driver, Gelan Hone Wiremu Mokene
                 Wharepapa, was given three months' periodic detention
                 and nine months' supervision on May 5 after pleading
                 guilty in the Auckland District Court to four charges of
                 theft. 

                 The 18-year-old admitted that between September 29
                 and December 1 he smoked cannabis that police had
                 mailed to forensic experts at the Institute of
                 Environmental Science and Research in Auckland.
                 Each time, he threw away most of the drugs, including
                 cannabis, morphine sulphate and methamphetamine. 

                 Police told the Herald that a suspected dealer in Opotiki
                 facing up to a year in prison and a Mangakino drug
                 manufacturer both walked free, and that detectives were
                 forced to drop at least one class A or B drug charge
                 against a Whangarei man. 

                 A fourth suspect, in Kawakawa, is believed to have
                 pleaded guilty before he found out the evidence against
                 him had been stolen. 

                 Mangakino Constable Craig Cartwright said: "If we don't
                 have those exhibits, we can't prove it was cannabis oil.
                 The accused could stand up in court and say it was
                 Marmite." 

                 Superintendent Dave Walter said from Wellington that
                 police had sent evidence by registered post for 30 years
                 without problems. Exhibits were packaged in special
                 containers so police could tell if they had been
                 tampered with. There were no plans to change the
                 system. 

                 A spokesman for CourierPost, Simon Taylor, said an
                 immediate investigation was launched after police
                 complained about the thefts, and security had been
                 improved. 

                 "These instances are very rare and we are concerned
                 when our staff come under such scrutiny. We do
                 background checks on all our staff." 

                 Police asked on May 5 for details of the case to be kept
                 secret. They argued that revealing their method of
                 sending drugs could spark attacks on courier drivers. 

                 The Herald argued that police failed to say how many
                 people already knew about the courier method, how
                 much extra risk there would be if more people read
                 about it, and why that risk should outweigh free speech


                 owing

                 08.07.2000 - By VANESSA BIDOIS Maori issues
                 reporter 

                 The Bank of New Zealand will not lend cash-strapped
                 Tainui any more money because the Waikato iwi is
                 struggling to repay $15 million it already owes. 

                 Tribal staff face the prospect of going without pay within
                 a fortnight if the financial rescue package under way
                 since February cannot be put back on track. 

                 High-level tribal sources claim that Tainui kingpin Sir
                 Robert Mahuta is obstructing attempts to sort out the
                 tribe's cashflow crisis. 

                 Sir Robert has not responded to Weekend Herald
                 inquiries. 

                 The BNZ is Tainui's main creditor, but the tribe has
                 other liabilities potentially worth at least $25 million,
                 including several lawsuits by former staff. 

                 This is in addition to the $40 million writedown and $31
                 million debt announced early this year. 

                 The death knell has already sounded for the $32 million
                 subsidiary MDC Investment Holdings, with the ASB
                 Bank about to liquidate that arm of the tribe's crumbling
                 empire. 

                 Five years after the $170 million raupatu (land
                 confiscation) settlement with the Crown, Tainui was
                 forced to restructure after a series of investment
                 blunders. 

                 Job losses among the 100 staff are expected. About 75
                 remain at Tainui's Hopuhopu headquarters, near
                 Ngaruawahia. 

                 Insiders say the situation is so bad that the iwi will be
                 unable to pay staff from July 20. 

                 Sir Robert, adopted son of King Koroki and stepbrother
                 of the Maori Queen, Dame Te Atairangikaahu, is the
                 tribe's custodial trustee, principal negotiator and
                 chairman of the Waikato Raupatu Lands Trust, MDC
                 Investment Holdings and Tainui Group Holdings. 

                 The ailing 61-year-old, on dialysis for kidney problems,
                 also chairs a strategy committee working on the
                 financial rescue. 

                 Members include Michael Stiassny, of Auckland
                 insolvency specialists Ferrier Hodgson, lawyer Gerard
                 Brown, of Rudd Watts & Stone, businessman Hugh
                 Fletcher and Mahuta loyalists Shane Solomon and Niwa
                 Nuri. 

                 Elections for a 12-member iwi executive, Tekaumarua,
                 in April, were seen as a turning point in tribal
                 accountability and an erosion of Sir Robert's power
                 base, with new members replacing some of his allies.
                 Sir Robert, the only non-elected member, was
                 appointed by Dame Te Ata. 

                 Many of those working with him say he is ignoring the
                 processes and structures set up to tackle the crisis. 

                 He has attempted to replace the strategy committee
                 with his own supporters and strip Tekaumarua of power,
                 they say. 

                 Defeated on several key resolutions, he refuses to
                 attend the executive body's meetings. 

                 Tekaumarua members and non-Tainui members of the
                 strategic committee have struggled to unravel details of
                 the problems. 

                 They found that the iwi used MDC money not only to
                 prop up companies in other divisions of the tribe but
                 also to cover the annual marae and education grants for
                 which it was not responsible. 

                 This year's grants of $2.5 million had to be borrowed
                 from the BNZ. 

                 Sir Robert is also trying to have two property
                 developments, Huntington and Te Rapa, brought under
                 his control at the Waikato University College at
                 Hopuhopu. 

                 The $15 million college is due to open this month but
                 still does not have its planned agreement with Waikato
                 University. 

                 His aides have tried to borrow money against the
                 upmarket Hamilton subdivision of Huntington without
                 consent of the tribe or the BNZ. After the April poll, Sir
                 Robert also signed a deal to sell the 83ha without
                 Tekaumarua authority. 

                 The old Air Force base at Te Rapa was one of the first
                 blocks of land to be returned to the tribe and was vested
                 in a special title named after the first Maori king,
                 Potatau Te Wherowhero. 

                 This means it should belong to, and benefit, all Tainui
                 people and can never be sold nor used as security for a
                 loan. Sir Robert has power as a custodial trustee to pull
                 the estate under the college's control. 

                 BNZ corporate relations head Sarah Hensley said last
                 night that the bank would go on making every effort to
                 "get a good result" for Tainui.

                 Hing Hung Wong leaves the Auckland District Court yesterday. Herald
                 Picture / David White

                 Accused escapes US Govt clutches

                 08.07.2000 - By SCOTT MacLEOD 

                 The United States has failed to the secure the
                 extradition of an Aucklander it claims organised one of
                 the world's biggest heroin shipments - because it
                 botched its legal papers. 

                 In the Auckland District Court yesterday Judge Robert
                 Kerr found that there would have been enough evidence
                 to extradite Hing Hung Wong, aged 37, but the US had
                 not properly authenticated its papers. 

                 The judge ordered Wong to remain in his secret
                 Auckland apartment under 24-hour guard until October,
                 when Hong Kong police will launch their own extradition
                 bid stemming from a drug seizure in 1985. 

                 The US claims that Wong was the deputy chief of a
                 Hong Kong and Thai-based drug cartel in 1991, when he
                 masterminded a 486kg heroin shipment to California. 

                 The shipment was seized in what was the biggest
                 heroin haul in US history and the second-biggest
                 internationally. 

                 The US initially sought Wong's extradition on three
                 heroin charges but dropped one for lack of evidence.
                 Yesterday, Judge Kerr dismissed another for various
                 reasons and the last because only two of about 10
                 affidavits had been properly certified by a US official.
                 "There is sufficient evidence [for extradition], but
                 because of lack of authentication no extradition order is
                 made," the judge said. 

                 The news was greeted stoically by both Wong and the
                 man leading the attempt to extradite him, assistant US
                 attorney Stuart Altman. 

                 Mr Altman said from New York that he needed to make
                 some phone calls before deciding the next step. 

                 "We believe we have sufficient evidence to convict him
                 in an American court. Without knowing the specifics of
                 the judge's decision I can't say more." 

                 Wong walked calmly from the court amid a protective
                 huddle of lawyers and friends. 

                 One of Wong's lawyers, Paul Wicks, said his client was
                 "obviously very pleased with the outcome" and was
                 braced to fight the Hong Kong allegations. 

                 However, Wong was disappointed that Judge Kerr had
                 spurned his request for easier and cheaper bail
                 conditions. 

                 Wong must pay for his rent, two fulltime guards, a radio
                 anklet and a $200,000 bond while living in his
                 apartment. He is also denied cellphone and internet
                 access, and has agreed to let police tap his phone. 

                 Mr Wicks said in court that Wong wanted to live with
                 his sister near a police station, and that he had "abided
                 religiously" with the "oppressive" bail conditions. But a
                 lawyer for the US, Mike Ruffin, argued that Wong had
                 fled from Hong Kong authorities before, and could do so
                 again. 

                 Under NZ law the US can appeal against aspects of
                 Judge Kerr's decision.


                 In-house bargain for every worker

                 09.07.2000 - By KARYN SCHERER 

                 One of the country's largest employers has thumbed its
                 nose at the union movement, setting up its own private
                 union. 

                 The Warehouse Group, which employs more than 5000
                 people nationwide, is encouraging its employees to join
                 a new union called People First. 

                 The company is making no secret of the fact that the
                 organisation has been set up by both former and
                 existing staff. 

                 And while it denies the move is an attempt to dodge
                 contentious new labour laws likely to be introduced later
                 this year, it admits it is delighted People First will
                 represent only Warehouse staff "who are used to the
                 Warehouse way of doing things." 

                 Fees for the new union are $1 a week for full-timers, and
                 50c a week for part-timers - significantly below the fees
                 charged by the National Distribution Union, which
                 represents retail workers. 

                 The company says that around 80 per cent of staff have
                 indicated they want to join. 

                 Warehouse managing director Stephen Tindall
                 yesterday defended the move, describing it as a staff
                 initiative. 

                 Mr Tindall said staff had approached the company
                 wanting to know what was going to happen once the
                 Employment Relations Bill became law. 

                 The bill as drafted will make it illegal for companies to
                 deny unions access to their workplaces. 

                 Mr Tindall admitted "very, very few" staff were union
                 members, but claimed the staff wanted it that way. 

                 "We were approached by a couple of ex-Warehouse
                 people, and a bunch of existing ones, and it sounded
                 like a good idea to us ... 

                 "Fundamentally it's our people coming to us saying,
                 'We love the way you've treated us in the past and we
                 don't want to jeopardise that. We don't want someone
                 who represents a whole lot of other retail companies
                 and has political agendas getting in the way'." 

                 The National Distribution Union said yesterday that the
                 reason so few staff were members was because the
                 company had consistently denied the union access to
                 its stores. 

                 National secretary Carol Beaumont said the union was
                 angry it was unable to talk to Warehouse staff, while
                 People First was allowed to distribute written material
                 and give video presentations. 

                 "The public has been led to believe that The Warehouse
                 is a responsible employer with a social conscience.
                 Basically, we're saying they have to act accordingly." 

                 Ms Beaumont said Warehouse staff had told her People
                 First was misrepresenting the union, and failing to point
                 out that People First offered an inferior range of
                 services. 

                 "I would have thought the real test is to see what their
                 workers think. If they don't think what we have to say is
                 of value and they're not interested in us then well and
                 good, what more can we do? But those workers have
                 not been given the right to decide." 

                 Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson said he
                 believed People First could run foul of the Employment
                 Relations Bill. 

                 While it allowed new unions to be set up, it also
                 required them to be at arm's length from the employer.

                 An American reader laps up an early release of the latest Harry
                 Potter book. Picture / Reuters

                 Harry Potter magic for Laura but NZ waits
                 a spell

                 08.07.2000 - By JOSIE CLARKE consumer reporter 

                 Don't bother trying to call Laura Cantwell, the
                 eight-year-old American still has her head buried in the
                 first copy of Harry Potter's latest adventure to be sold
                 anywhere. 

                 It is not known if Harry's legendary wizardry was
                 involved, but young Laura somehow stumbled across a
                 solitary copy of the much-awaited 640-page tome which
                 was mistakenly displayed in a small Virginia bookshop. 

                 Between chapters, Laura has been knocking back a
                 flood of media offers. Her copy is not for sale because
                 she says Potter "is magical. He does things we can
                 never do. He is just amazing." 

                 The blame for her excitement can be laid at the pen of
                 author J.K. Rowling, who has captured millions of young
                 imaginations with tales of a geeky teenager's
                 adventures at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and
                 Wizardry. 

                 The first three Potter books sold 30 million copies and
                 have been translated into 31 languages. 

                 But as the fourth instalment of Harry Potter fever builds
                 in New Zealand, publishers have closed ranks on why
                 an Auckland bookstore opted out of selling the world's
                 first copies of the young wizard's latest adventure. 

                 Like Laura, Auckland children would be ploughing
                 through their own copies of Harry Potter and the Goblet
                 of Fire had Borders bookstore stuck with its plan to sell
                 400 copies of the novel at midnight last night. 

                 Strict embargoes controlling the book's release ran out
                 in the United States and Britain this morning, with
                 hordes of impatient children expected in stores to snap
                 up copies. 

                 Orders through online retailer Amazon have topped
                 310,000. 

                 New Zealand children have to wait until next Friday for
                 copies to arrive from Britain. That date has become
                 known among children as Harry Potter Day. 

                 Stores have heavily promoted the event with the promise
                 of magic shows, witch and wizard dress-up
                 competitions, and broomstick workshops. 

                 Borders spokeswoman Eileen Joy said customers had
                 responded positively to its decision to hold off selling its
                 copies already here from the United States through
                 parallel importing laws. 

                 The company refused to elaborate on its last-minute
                 decision to support the local publishing industry and
                 stick to the July 14 embargo. 

                 Bloomsbury, the book's British publisher, refused to
                 comment and referred inquiries to its Australasian agent
                 Allen and Unwin. 

                 Allen and Unwin's sales and marketing manager for
                 Australasia, Paul Donovan, said American publisher
                 Ashton Scholastic had obviously been unable to enforce
                 its own embargo. 

                 While British retailers were not allowed copies until the
                 day before the embargo expired, Ashton Scholastic
                 gained permission to ship stock to retailers provided
                 they promised they would not sell copies until July 8. 

                 "The Americans have obviously let a few things fall
                 through, and for whatever reason they are trying to fix
                 that." 

                 The leaks had concerned Bloomsbury, who wanted to
                 make sure that the book was published first in England.

                 "Bloomsbury discovered Harry Potter and they are very,
                 very protective of that fact that this is an English story
                 written by an English author."


                 Official shocked by lab's gear

                 08.07.2000 - By FRANCESCA MOLD 

                 The Gisborne laboratory embroiled in a cervical cancer
                 inquiry had cracked and broken benchtops, out-of-date
                 equipment and textbooks and was in a generally
                 rundown state, according to an accreditation officer who
                 visited it in 1993. 

                 Graham Walker, a former programme manager at
                 International Accreditation New Zealand (IANZ), told the
                 inquiry yesterday that the laboratory left such an
                 impression on him after his visit that he was unlikely to
                 forget it. 

                 He said that in technical categories he had not visited
                 another medical laboratory since that had such
                 deficiencies. 

                 Mr Walker also stunned the inquiry with revelations of
                 growing numbers of New Zealand laboratories becoming
                 increasingly cash-strapped and with a desperate
                 shortage of experienced staff. 

                 "In my view, the ramifications of this decreased funding
                 has far-reaching consequences, which are only now
                 beginning to show, and will, I believe, have a significant
                 impact on standards and therefore the validity of tests." 

                 He said laboratories did not have budgets that allowed
                 them to replace senior laboratory staff. 

                 Mr Walker said three laboratories that read smear
                 slides for the national programme had had their
                 accreditation for this service suspended because
                 qualified staff had left. 

                 He said New Zealand was fast approaching the situation
                 where a qualified smear screener could be replaced only
                 with someone who had no experience in that field. 

                 About half of all laboratories doing smear reading did not
                 have their full complement of staff, he said. 

                 Mr Walker said standards being proposed by the
                 national programme's managers were unlikely to be
                 achieved because of under-resourcing. 

                 Mr Walker told the inquiry he visited the Gisborne
                 laboratory, owned by Dr Michael Bottrill, in October
                 1993 to discuss the accreditation process and again in
                 1994 after an application for registration with IANZ (then
                 known as Telarc) was received. 

                 "It was my clear impression from my visit to Gisborne
                 Laboratories that accreditation was not being actively
                 pursued by the laboratory and that the process was
                 being pursued begrudgingly for other reasons." 

                 He said laboratory manager Graham Reeve and Dr
                 Bottrill had told him the laboratory needed to
                 demonstrate, for contractual purposes, that it was
                 working towards accreditation. 

                 In a report written in November 1994, Mr Walker found
                 that deficiencies at the Gisborne laboratory included a
                 lack of participation in external proficiency testing with
                 the Royal College of Pathologists and a lack of records
                 showing feedback had been sought on the reading of
                 slides. 

                 Mr Walker had also noted an apparent lack of on-going
                 training and a generally rundown condition of the
                 laboratory. 

                 Dr Bottrill's lawyer, Chris Hodson, QC, disputed parts of
                 Mr Walker's testimony, saying his client had access to
                 journals at the Gisborne Hospital library and had
                 attended conferences. 

                 He also said a state-of-the-art haematology analyser
                 was bought in 1994 - countering Mr Walker's evidence
                 that Dr Bottrill's equipment was in poor condition. 

                 Mr Hodson also said Dr Bottrill's microscope was in
                 good order.



                 08.07.2000 - 

                 The Auckland coroner, Mate Frankovich, ended his
                 inquest into the deaths of Lachlan Jones and Malcolm
                 Beggs yesterday, saying he hoped to produce "some
                 salutary solution" to prevent a repetition of the events
                 that led to the suicide-murder. 

                 He concluded the eight-day inquest after Eugenie
                 Laracy, acting for the Beggs family, made a brief
                 closing submission calling for a change in direction of
                 Waitemata Health's culture. 

                 "In some ways this was a disaster waiting to happen." 

                 She was commenting on the case which scrutinised
                 events of the 12 months leading to last August 30 when
                 the schizophrenic Jones, in community care, hacked to
                 death his flatmate, Malcolm Beggs, before gassing
                 himself. 

                 She said there had to be change in a system that left
                 people in the community living with or caring for the
                 mentally ill, vulnerable through the actions of
                 "professionals who have decided that is where [the
                 mentally ill] should be." 

                 For Waitemata Health, Adam Ross expressed
                 condolences to the Beggs and Jones families. 

                 "We can say till we are blue in the face that an inquest
                 is not about apportioning blame but the worthies of the
                 fourth estate and the public do not necessarily see it
                 that way." 

                 Mr Ross referred to argument during the inquest about
                 whether Mr Beggs should have been told he had a
                 mental health patient living in his home. But Waitemata
                 Health psychiatric staff had no perception that Jones
                 was a risk so they had nothing to pass on to Mr Beggs,
                 Mr Ross said. 

                 He said Waitemata Health's role with Jones was as
                 relevant in the tragedy as his family background, the
                 role of Auckland Healthcare, Jones' friends and the way
                 he chose to lead his life. 

                 The case involved an individual who was unpredictable
                 and an illness which was particularly difficult to treat. 

                 "One should be slow to conclude there have been any
                 causal effects from anything that was done or not done
                 in this case." 

                 Earlier, in cross-examination of Dr Ian Goodwin, an
                 Auckland Healthcare specialist in suicide and
                 self-mutilation cases, Eugenie Laracy said Mr Beggs
                 had been forced to retreat from his house as a result of
                 Jones' actions. 

                 Dr Goodwin said that if Mr Beggs had voiced his
                 concerns about Jones to the Community Assessment
                 and Treatment Team West (CATT) it might have given
                 the team a clue to what was going on. 

                 Before the deaths, he said, the team knew Jones had a
                 job, a home and a social life. 

                 "What they didn't know was that Lachlan was in his
                 room pumping weights. He was not communicative ... It
                 sounds like a scary individual. I don't think the CATT
                 team was aware of that."


                 08.07.2000 - 

                 A first-time offender wept after being jailed indefinitely for
                 refusing to try to give up his fetish for wearing nappies. 

                 In the High Court at Whangarei yesterday, Kevin Ronald
                 Simmons, aged 45, was sentenced to preventive
                 detention for sexually violating a 3-year-old boy at
                 Paparoa on April 9. 

                 The Matakohe farmhand snatched the boy from a
                 roadside and drove him to a secluded spot where he
                 sexually violated him with his finger. He also fondled the
                 boy's penis while masturbating. 

                 Justice Laurenson said preventive detention had to be
                 imposed as he did not think a finite sentence would
                 protect the public. 

                 There was a substantial risk Simmons would reoffend
                 because he was unable to "withstand the impulses
                 engendered by the fetish." Justice Laurenson was
                 concerned Simmons was unwilling to seek treatment for
                 his "sexual expression" and showed no inclination to
                 stop wearing nappies. 

                 "While this continues, the fantasising will continue,
                 which includes the involvement with young children." 

                 Simmons' fetish had over the past 35 years provided
                 him with sexual gratification, comfort and protection. 

                 He had admitted fantasising about wearing nappies
                 while lying next to young children in nappies. 

                 Simmons had also committed five burglaries in which he
                 stole nappies and baby toiletries from farmhouses. 

                 Crown prosecutor Peter Magee said Simmons denied
                 being a paedophile despite his "gross paedophilic act"
                 and had only reluctantly admitted his fantasies. 

                 Justice Laurenson said the opportunist offending was
                 traumatic for the child and family. 

                 He also sentenced Simmons to 8 years' jail for the
                 kidnapping, 4 years for committing an indecency, and 2
                 years for each of the burglaries. 

                 All sentences were to be served concurrently with the
                 preventive detention which - like a life sentence - carried
                 a minimum eligibility for parole of 10 years. 

                 He ordered Simmons be assessed for, and attend, any
                 treatment programmes directed by prison authorities. 

                 Simmons' lawyer, Dave Sayes, said he would seek an
                 appeal against the sentence on Monday. 

                 Through Mr Sayes, Simmons apologised to the boy's
                 family, who were in court.

Holmes hits out at 'rigged interview' slur

                 08.07.2000 - By JAMES GARDINER 

                 Broadcaster Paul Holmes is furious over a newspaper
                 column critical of his television interview with equestrian
                 Mark Todd over sex and drugs allegations. 

                 The column, "Media Watch" by Keith Davies in
                 yesterday's National Business Review, contained a
                 purported conversation between Todd and someone
                 from TV1's Holmes show setting the ground rules for
                 questions. 

                 Both Davies and Holmes say there was no such
                 conversation. 

                 But while Davies, a former television journalist, said
                 yesterday that it was obviously written as a
                 "mickey-taking piece" and not for real, Holmes took a
                 different view. 

                 He said it was nasty, defamatory and struck at his
                 integrity and that of the show. 

                 Davies wrote: " ... with the nation all agog as to whether
                 Mark Todd did or didn't, word has emerged of a
                 supposed conversation between someone from the
                 Holmes show and Mr Todd just before the equestrian
                 agreed to prostrate himself before Paul Holmes." 

                 The mock conversation that follows has an unnamed
                 person promising Todd he will not be asked to give a
                 yes or no answer to the allegations that he snorted
                 cocaine and had sex with a man. 

                 In fact, when Todd was asked by Holmes during the live
                 June 28 interview whether he denied the allegations, he
                 responded: "That's a curly one." 

                 Davies said yesterday: "It's pretty obvious that they
                 went soft on him [Todd] and I'm just taking the mickey."

                 Holmes said he did not accept the column was satire or
                 that it was clear to readers the quotes were not real. 

                 "Keith Davies has lost the plot completely. 

                 "The conversation he reports is a complete fiction, a
                 fantasy. 

                 "The implication is I arranged with Mark Todd before that
                 interview to do a soft interview. Nonsense. 

                 "I asked him if he denied it. Anyone watching could see
                 there was no denial. What more did I need to ask him? 

                 "I get the big interviews during the big moments
                 because I'm good at my job and I've got the best team. 

                 "I've examined that interview and I was pleased with it. It
                 told us everything we wanted to know at that point in
                 time." 

                 He said he expected a complete retraction, but NBR
                 editor-in-chief Nevil Gibson said there would not be one. 

                 "It was clearly to us a satirical portion in an otherwise
                 factual comment column. There's nothing defamatory
                 about it."


                 Brent Davidson, who coached the trio, says the tragedy has left his
                 Collegiate team devastated. Herald Picture / Mark Mitchell

                 Final farewell to three pals

                 08.07.2000 - By ALISON HORWOOD 

                 For most New Zealanders, Marc Hill, Richard Kelly and
                 Carl Wilson were the Southland teenagers who went out
                 for takeaways and never came home. 

                 But those who lay them to rest today will remember
                 them as three best mates - Monty, Sticks and
                 Grimmace. 

                 Just a week ago the 18-year-olds were settling in for a
                 night of car-chase videos and test-match rugby when
                 they decided to go for a drive in Richard's new Mazda
                 323. 

                 Taking a new CD to listen to as they left the Hill family
                 home at Otatara near Invercargill, Marc, an architecture
                 student, called, "See ya Dad, we are going into town.
                 We will be back soon." 

                 That throwaway comment at 7 pm last Saturday was
                 the last thing Allan Hill ever heard his son say. For the
                 following four days three families were left wondering
                 how the strapping young men could simply disappear. 

                 But a chance sighting of two wheels protruding above
                 the Oreti River, 30km from where they vanished,
                 confirmed everyone's worst fears. 

                 Inside the crumpled wreck the heavy-metal CD
                 Sepultura was still inside the stereo and the three
                 frozen teenagers - so inseparable in life - were huddled
                 together in the backseat. 

                 Police said they apparently drove down Wilson's
                 Crossing road and turned down a dirt access road to
                 McCallum Beach on the Oreti River. 

                 About 1km along, a section of the private access road
                 had been washed away over the previous fortnight. The
                 teenagers plunged 2m into the icy, fast-flowing river. 

                 Now, as police investigate the murky legislation
                 surrounding roads and rivers on private land, three
                 families are left wondering why their children travelled in
                 fog and darkness to get to the river. 

                 "I doubt whether anyone will ever know," says Mr Hill. 

                 He says Richard, a trainee horticulturist, and Carl, an
                 apprentice engineer, used to live in the area. 

                 "They may have been returning to their old stomping
                 ground for a wee look." 

                 He does not blame the landowner, Bruce Jordan, for not
                 closing the wiped-out road, but hopes landowners will
                 take action in future if there is a slip. 

                 "We cannot apportion blame; it is not going to bring our
                 boy back." 

                 Brent Davidson, who has coached the trio at the
                 Collegiate Rugby Football Club for two seasons, says
                 the close-knit team were devastated and baffled. 

                 "No one seems to know why they ventured to the river.
                 It was totally out of character. Maybe they just decided
                 to go for a drive." 

                 Police are waiting for toxicology results, but the boys
                 did not appear to have been drinking. 

                 Mr Davidson said the team would form a guard of honour
                 at today's funeral service in the hall at Southland Boys'
                 High School. 

                 "You could not get a nicer bunch of guys - I would have
                 been proud to have them in my family." 

                 Invercargill Detective Sergeant Tim Haughey told the
                 Weekend Herald that part of the police inquiry would
                 focus on legislation surrounding ownership of the road. It
                 was too early to tell if charges would be laid. 

                 Occupational Safety and Health said yesterday that it
                 would not investigate because farmers are not
                 responsible for the safety of those who go on to their
                 property without permission. 

                 Environment Southland general manager Lindsay
                 McKenzie said the river and road were privately owned
                 but the public had been granted limited access to the
                 road through Southland Fish and Game. 

                 Mr Jordon says he agreed to put a sign up on his land
                 saying anglers were welcome. 

                 In summer, up to 40 people gather on the river to fish or
                 picnic - and he is happy about it. 

                 But in winter, Mr Jordon says, people came for one of
                 three reasons: "To nick something, to dump something
                 or do something they shouldn't. 

                 "The deaths of these boys is a tragedy and I really feel
                 sorry for the families. 

                 "But they were trespassing. If they had come and asked
                 me if they could drive down to the river I would have told
                 them 'No'."


                 09.07.2000 - By SIMON COLLINS 

                 New Zealand's official standard on safe levels of
                 electromagnetic radiation has been described as weak
                 by a former member of the committee that adopted it. 

                 Auckland University honorary associate professor Dr
                 Ivan Beale has disclosed that he resigned from the
                 committee in protest when it adopted the standard last
                 year. 

                 Australian members of what had been a joint
                 Australasian committee also refused to endorse the
                 standard, which will allow radiation emissions by
                 "third-generation" cellphones in this country up to five
                 times above the previously allowed limit. 

                 New Zealand will become the fourth country in the world
                 to allocate part of the radio spectrum for the
                 new-generation cellphones in an auction that is due to
                 start on Monday, unless stopped by the Court of
                 Appeal. 

                 A similar auction in Britain raised more than sterling 22
                 billion ($72 billion). 

                 Dr Beale has given the Herald correspondence, dating
                 back to the formation of the joint Australian standards
                 committee in 1993, in which he consistently attacks the
                 committee's "narrow" New Zealand membership. 

                 "I thought the whole committee process was a farce,"
                 he said this week. 

                 While the Australians on the committee included three
                 unionists and two people from the Consumers'
                 Association, New Zealand members were predominantly
                 from the telecommunications industry. 

                 Dr Beale requested in 1993 that New Zealand should
                 appoint more scientific and medical experts and people
                 from community health, environmental and public
                 interest groups. But his suggestions were rejected. 

                 After six years of debate, the New Zealand members of
                 the committee agreed last year to adopt guidelines
                 based on those proposed by the Geneva-based
                 International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation
                 Protection. 

                 In the frequency band used by the present generation of
                 cellphones, this meant doubling the previous maximum
                 allowable radiation. 

                 At the higher frequencies that will be used by
                 third-generation cellphones, the new guideline maximum
                 is five times higher than the previous Australasian
                 maximum. 

                 The new standard also allows radiation exposure to be
                 averaged over a 30cm square area and over a period of
                 six minutes, whereas the old standard required that the
                 maximum not be exceeded at any point, and allowed
                 time averaging of only one minute. 

                 Dr Beale said the worst element of the new standard
                 was that it provided only a "weak precautionary
                 principle" that radiation levels should be kept as low as
                 possible within the allowable limit. 

                 The new New Zealand standard requires "minimising, as
                 appropriate, radio frequency exposure which is
                 unnecessary or incidental to achievement of service
                 objectives or process requirements, provided that this
                 can be readily achieved at modest expense." 

                 Dr Beale said this put economic considerations ahead
                 of public safety. 

                 Ian Hutchings, a Ministry of Economic Development
                 official who now chairs the New Zealand
                 electromagnetic radiation standard committee, said the
                 apparent relaxation of limits was because the previous
                 standard was out of line with scientific understanding. 

                 "The change we made last year was to bring it up to the
                 World Health Organisation curve."


                 Tupoutahi Winitana

                 Young actor says no to Skywalking

                 08.07.2000 - By LOUISA CLEAVE 

                 Not many actors would turn their backs on a part in a
                 major Hollywood movie, but that is exactly what
                 happened when Star Wars came knocking for Tupoutahi
                 Winitana. 

                 The 11-year-old Turangi performer came to the attention
                 of casting agents for the second instalment in the Star
                 Wars prequel trilogy through Kiwi actor Temuera
                 Morrison. 

                 According to Tupoutahi's father, Chris Winitana,
                 Morrison put the boy forward for a role as the
                 10-year-old version of his character in the movie, which
                 has started filming in Sydney. 

                 A casting agent for Lucas Films flew to New Zealand,
                 met Tupoutahi and filmed him in various menacing
                 poses, using a taiaha as a weapon, and took still
                 photographs. 

                 Mr Winitana said an offer came back for Tupoutahi to
                 take the part if he could meet the filming schedule. 

                 However, Tupoutahi has been playing the lead in
                 Ahorangi 2000, a touring stage show written, directed
                 and produced by Mr Winitana. 

                 "[The casting representative] got back in touch with us
                 in early June to say yes, the job was there. Tupou's part
                 would involve him being filmed on location over a week. 

                 "We explained [in Hamilton] that Tupou was the lead in
                 this musical and nothing would be a problem if
                 everything could be scheduled to fit around that." 

                 Mr Winitana said every date put forward for filming
                 clashed with Ahorangi's tour. 

                 "The bottom line was Tupou was in something I had
                 been working on for 18 months. There are 25 to 30
                 people involved ... and every single person in the cast
                 could be replaced by somebody else but Tupou
                 couldn't." 

                 Mr Winitana said he and his partner, Tina Kaipara,
                 explained the situation to Tupoutahi and said that once
                 he had started with a project like Ahorangi 2000 he
                 should see it through until the end. 

                 "If they chase him once, someone will chase him
                 again."


                 08.07.2000 - By ANGELA GREGORY 

                 The stressed mother of a teenage arsonist threatened
                 police officers with a tomahawk when she felt they were
                 not taking her seriously. 

                 The woman's lawyer, Roger Bowden, told the
                 Whangarei District Court this week that she had taken
                 the tomahawk to the city station early on June 20. 

                 The woman, whose name is suppressed, had later said
                 to a probation officer: "If you want someone to listen to
                 you, get something that will wake them up." 

                 When she arrived at the police station at 3.30 am she
                 raised the tomahawk at officers and asked: "Now will
                 you listen to me?" 

                 The woman cannot be named as that would identify her
                 13-year-old son, who is under the Family Court
                 jurisdiction after setting fire to Tikipunga High School's
                 administration block last month. 

                 The fire caused $1 million of damage and forced the
                 school to close for two days. The Ministry of Education
                 has yet to decide whether to repair or replace the
                 building. 

                 The boy cannot be charged with arson as he is aged
                 under 14 years. 

                 The mother was in court for sentencing after admitting
                 charges of threatening police with grievous bodily harm,
                 possession of an offensive weapon and shoplifting. 

                 Mr Bowden said that when the boy was taken into
                 custody his client was unlawfully prevented from
                 accompanying her son to the station. 

                 She was later allowed to see him briefly, and had to
                 shout through a thick plastic screen because the
                 telephone system was broken. 

                 The mother was upset when she noticed the boy was
                 barefoot and wearing shorts on a winter's night. 

                 "He was wrapped in a blanket and crying ... What she
                 saw was of great concern." 

                 Mr Bowden said she tried to give a police officer the
                 boy's warm clothes and shoes and socks but was told
                 that was not necessary. 

                 "She felt she was dealt with abruptly ... that no one was
                 going to listen to her concerns." 

                 Mr Bowden said the mother had taken her son to
                 specialists about his serious psychiatric condition. On
                 June 1 she took him to a doctor where he destroyed the
                 consulting room - pushing a computer to the floor,
                 tipping over a desk and smashing instruments. 

                 Later, in a supermarket, he hid a can of diet supplement
                 in his mother's bag. Mr Bowden said she feared he
                 would cause another commotion if she put it back on
                 the shelf, and was subsequently arrested for shoplifting.

                 Judge Arthur Tompkins said it was clear the woman
                 was faced with the cumulative effects of extraordinary
                 circumstances stretching back a number of years. 

                 He said a prison sentence was "entirely inappropriate"
                 as she had struggled against overwhelming odds. 

                 He noted her son was finally being helped, and had that
                 occurred sooner his mother's tragedy might never have
                 happened. 

                 Judge Tompkins sentenced her to 18 months
                 supervision, with the special condition that she attend
                 counselling as directed.


                 08.07.2000 - By ROSALEEN MACBRAYNE 

                 A coroner has been told of injuries to a two-month-old
                 baby including bite marks and broken ribs. 

                 Pathologist Timothy Sutton said in the Tauranga
                 Coroner's Court yesterday that he believed someone
                 had deliberately suffocated the child. 

                 Coroner Michael Cooney is holding an inquest into the
                 death of Marcus Te Hira Grey, who stopped breathing
                 early on November 10, 1997, and was rushed by his
                 parents to Tauranga Hospital. 

                 Police began a homicide inquiry after hospital staff
                 reported the boy was bruised, battered and bitten. 

                 Medical evidence outlined extensive injuries, some fresh
                 and others up to three weeks old, to the infant's face,
                 body and limbs. 

                 They included human bite marks, cuts inside the
                 mouth, broken ribs and internal haemorrhaging. 

                 Specialists said the non-accidental injuries suggested
                 physical abuse on numerous occasions. However, they
                 stopped short of saying any of the injuries caused death
                 and could not rule out accidental suffocation or cot
                 death. 

                 Last September, the baby's father, Marcus Te Ngare
                 Grey, aged 26, a former ballet student, was sentenced
                 in the High Court at Rotorua to 41/2 years in prison after
                 pleading guilty to a charge of wounding with intent to
                 injure. 

                 Yesterday, flanked by two prison guards, he sat quietly
                 alongside his lawyer, David Bates, at the inquest but
                 declined to give evidence. 

                 The mother of the baby, Vicki Martin, was unable to
                 attend because of a death in the family. 

                 After listening to police and medical witnesses, the
                 coroner adjourned the hearing sine die because, he
                 said, Miss Martin's evidence was critical. 

                 Detective Senior Sergeant Malcolm Johnston said Grey
                 and Miss Martin were aged 23 and 18 when their only
                 child was born on September 11, 1997. 

                 There was no reported history of neglect or sustained
                 injury before the multiple injuries suffered at the hands
                 of his father early on November 7. 

                 On November 10, Grey allegedly found his son limp,
                 white and not breathing and attempted to resuscitate
                 him. 

                 Both parents told doctors the baby was injured when he
                 fell out of his pram and down the back steps, although
                 Miss Martin later confirmed that Grey had caused the
                 injuries. 



                 08.07.2000 - 

                 Repeat sex offender David Robert Nicholson stared
                 blankly into space in the High Court at Auckland
                 yesterday as he was sentenced to eight years' jail. 

                 The Mt Wellington resident was convicted earlier this
                 year on three counts of sexually violating a 17-year-old
                 boy while working as a tutor at an Auckland training
                 institute. 

                 Justice Glazebrook said the 46-year-old, who has
                 several previous convictions for attacks on young boys,
                 had shown a lack of "true remorse" and refused to take
                 full responsibility for his actions. 

                 He had deliberately befriended the "shy, gentle-natured"
                 teenager, wooing him to his house with new clothes and
                 food, before sexually violating him. The victim, now aged
                 18, did not flee the house for fear that Nicholson would
                 jeopardise his chances of getting into the Army. 

                 Justice Glazebrook said the teenager had suffered
                 serious emotional damage from the incident, including
                 nightmares and flashbacks. 

                 Nicholson's lawyer, Marie Dyhrberg, continued to argue
                 yesterday that the sex was consensual because the
                 boy did not say "no" to Nicholson's advances. 

                 Nicholson has already served two jail terms for sex
                 offences involving boys. He was sentenced to 18
                 months for attacking a 15-year-old in 1995 and earlier
                 served a 10-month term for indecent acts on other boys


                 08.07.2000 - 

                 White-collar criminals, drug dealers and serial burglars
                 may miss out on imprisonment in a drive to reduce the
                 spiralling numbers of inmates. 

                 New Zealand has the third-highest rate of imprisonment
                 in the world and the Government is forming a taskforce
                 to reduce the number of inmates. 

                 Corrections Minister Matt Robson says it will identify
                 alternatives to imprisonment for non-violent offenders,
                 who comprise 44 per cent of the prison population. 

                 "First-time offenders inside for less serious offences are
                 often more effectively turned around from a life in crime
                 on sentences served outside of prisons," Mr Robson
                 said, citing home and periodic detention, habilitation
                 centres and half-way houses. 

                 But a criminologist at Canterbury University, Dr Greg
                 Newbold, said that to cut inmate numbers, the minister
                 needed to allow early parole for violent offenders, a
                 politically untenable solution. 

                 Mr Robson has rejected letting rapists and aggravated
                 robbers finish sentences on home detention. 

                 Dr Newbold said that if the Government wanted to
                 maintain a deterrence factor in sentencing, it would still
                 have to jail serious drug dealers. "The question is, what
                 constitutes a serious drug offender?" He said cannabis
                 dealers should not be imprisoned. 

                 However, Dr Newbold questioned providing sentencing
                 alternatives to serious white-collar criminals, saying
                 their crimes affected the community more than rape and
                 murder. 




                 08.07.2000 - 

                 A Ngapuhi elder has criticised his people for the stress
                 placed on hospitals by "turning up in busloads" to visit
                 the sick. 

                 The worsening behaviour of visitors at Whangarei Area
                 Hospital is concerning Northland Health, which is
                 threatening to cut back on visitor numbers and hours. 

                 The complaints include visitors crowding out rooms,
                 sleeping in hospital beds, making nurses babysit and
                 bringing in takeaways. 

                 Kaumatua Graham Rankin said he did not approve of
                 the large numbers of whanau who descended on the ill
                 in hospital. 

                 He said the problem had worsened over the years with
                 the rise of the politically correct. 

                 "This would never have happened in the days when
                 matrons ran the wards."


                 Defence lawyer Josiah Wong guides Hing Hung Wong out of court.
                 Herald Picture / David White

                 Chasing the dragon in drug underworld

                 08.07.2000 - By SCOTT MACLEOD 

                 It started with the biggest heroin bust in United States
                 history - and ended nine years later at the doorstep of a
                 short, balding Auckland businessman. 

                 The case against Hing Hung Wong has all the elements
                 of a classic crime novel, with huge drug shipments,
                 bugged phone calls, secret witnesses and millions of
                 dollars in laundered cash. 

                 But even a crime novelist would have been proud to
                 invent the name Mad Six, the nom-de-plume of the drug
                 lord said to have drawn Wong into his inner circle. 

                 Yesterday the US failed in its five-month bid to have
                 Wong extradited on charges of supplying and
                 possessing heroin, which the 37-year-old denied. Now
                 Hong Kong authorities want him extradited there. 

                 According to US legal and media files, Wong's story
                 started in earnest on May 20, 1991, at the port of
                 Oakland, California. 

                 Among freight being unloaded from the ship President
                 Truman that day were more than 2500 cartons of plastic
                 bags. Working on a hunch, customs officers found that
                 59 of the cartons held a total of 486kg of heroin - the
                 second-biggest shipment ever recorded. 

                 Officers seized some of the shipment and followed the
                 rest to a warehouse in Hayward, California. Seventy
                 officers packing guns and combat armour launched a
                 five-week stakeout. 

                 Eventually they videotaped two members of a wealthy
                 Taiwanese family looking for the missing drugs. "This is
                 devastating," the woman was taped saying. "It is
                 impossible," said the man. 

                 Police busted the family and broke the story to media
                 as law officials leapt in to claim credit. 

                 The head of the Drug Enforcement Administration in
                 San Francisco, Robert Bender, said: "Law enforcement
                 has ripped the heart out of a very significant
                 organisation. We've cut the head of the dragon off." 

                 But officers soon suspected that the dragon had merely
                 lost its tail. They found that the family had received 12
                 shipments of furniture, plastic bags and porcelain from
                 Asia since 1989 and uncovered evidence of up to
                 $500,000 at a time moving between bank accounts.
                 They decided they had busted only the shipping "cell" of
                 a drug cartel where most players knew little about the
                 rest of the operation. 

                 Wong's alleged role started to emerge in 1995, when
                 police uncovered New York heroin dealer Matthew Lo.
                 Lo said he was recruited into the drug trade by a
                 childhood friend of an important Thai dealer called Ah
                 Dee - whom authorities claim was actually Hing Hung
                 Wong. In a signed statement to US authorities, Lo
                 claimed Ah Dee smuggled "a very large shipment" to
                 California in 1991 or 1992, organised a 140kg load into
                 New York in 1994 and later ordered the sale of 700g
                 "units" of heroin for about $US60,000 each. In 1995 he
                 had tried to ship 70kg of heroin into the US. 

                 Detectives were yet to link the name Ah Dee to Wong.
                 But agents found a mystery witness in a foreign jail who
                 said a voice on tapped phone calls belonged to Ah Dee
                 - and that the voice matched a photograph of Wong. 

                 The witness, nicknamed John Doe, said: "From my
                 dealings with Wong I know he has used violence or
                 threats of violence." 

                 Doe signed a statement which gives the only known
                 insight into the inner workings of the alleged heroin
                 cartel. He said he met Wong in the early 1980s when
                 they both worked for a man called Dai Wah Szeto, or
                 Mad Six, whose gangsters shipped drugs "around the
                 world." Doe's role, he maintained, was to move tens of
                 millions of dollars from Europe and the US through
                 accounts in Hong Kong to Mad Six in Thailand. 

                 "During the time I worked for Mad Six, [Wong] became
                 more trusted, eventually becoming his
                 second-in-command," Doe said. "[Wong] was
                 particularly responsible for overseeing the organisation's
                 shipment of heroin to the US." 

                 Wong allegedly shipped three loads to the US that Doe
                 could remember, including an "enormous" amount to
                 San Francisco in 1991. Doe said Wong told him to
                 meet the shipment in California, but aborted the
                 operation when the heroin was seized. 

                 The photographs of Wong that US agents showed Doe
                 in prison were taken by Hong Kong police in 1985. They
                 alleged they busted Wong with two packets of white
                 powder found in his taxi and bedroom, and that he
                 escaped on a fake passport. 

                 Exactly how US authorities tracked Wong to New
                 Zealand is unclear, but by last December Auckland
                 police were watching a man involved with a Queen St
                 business who matched their description. 

                 Hing Hung Wong was arrested on January 28. 

                 An Auckland detective said he had lived in New Zealand
                 on a Thai passport since November 1998, and was
                 thought to have stayed in Atkin Ave, Mission Bay. He
                 used eight aliases while on the run. 

                 Wong was jailed - but not for long. Within days he
                 obtained cash from associates overseas and hired top
                 defence lawyer John Haigh, QC, who got Wong freed on
                 what may be the strictest bail conditions ever seen in
                 New Zealand. 

                 He had to live in a secret city apartment, pay $100,000
                 for a security anklet and two guards to watch him 24
                 hours a day, was denied access to a cellphone, and
                 had to meet a host of other conditions. 

                 Residents of the building were outraged, but Wong was
                 allowed to stay even after Hong Kong police ordered his
                 arrest for the 1985 charges. 

                 Wong wore a seemingly inexhaustible supply of
                 colourful suits to the court hearings, and rarely spoke to
                 anyone except a small knot of friends. One, who never
                 gave his name, told the Herald that he owed Wong his
                 freedom and felt strong loyalty. 

                 The man said he had been falsely accused of
                 kidnapping and thrown in a Thai jail for six months.
                 Wong, whom he barely knew at the time, used his links
                 in the police and military to have the man released. 

                 Judge Robert Kerr found that there would have been
                 enough evidence to extradite Wong had the US properly
                 authenticated its papers. The US had initially sought
                 extradition on three heroin charges, but dropped the
                 third for lack of evidence. 

                 Judge Kerr dismissed the first charge for various
                 reasons and the second because only two of about 10
                 affidavits had been properly certified by a US
                 government official. 

                 Wong's future in New Zealand is still uncertain. He
                 faces the Hong Kong extradition hearings in October,
                 and the US may yet appeal yesterday's decision.


                 Children play on Mairangi Bay beach despite signs warning of
                 pollution caused by sewage overflow. Herald File Picture

                 Recent rain highlights fragile wastewater
                 system

                 08.07.2000 - By WAYNE THOMPSON 

                 When the heavy rain woke them at midnight, North
                 Shore City officials thought they might be in for a busy
                 day. By 3 am they knew it. The country's fourth-largest
                 city was again at the mercy of rainstorms. 

                 The council's 24-hour call centre, Actionline, fielded
                 3400 calls on the morning of June 29 after 90mm of rain
                 fell - 50mm of it in just one hour. 

                 Residents complained about blocked drains, flooded
                 house basements and swollen streams disgorging raw
                 sewage on to beaches. 

                 East Coast Bays fire crews took 20 calls for help from
                 2.50 am and civil defence volunteers and engineers
                 turned out from 4 am to inspect 150 house floods. 

                 Welfare teams were on stand-by for distressed
                 residents. 

                 For up to 12 hours after the storm, raw sewage oozed
                 from popped manholes, and a third of the 86 coastal
                 and suburban pumping stations that feed the
                 wastewater treatment plant in Albany. 

                 The plant's oxidation ponds, known as Lake Rosedale,
                 were 200mm above normal. But the plant management
                 had heeded the weather forecast and lowered pond
                 levels to give more storage. 

                 The dam-like banks held firm and plant officials did not
                 use the emergency spillway into the Oteha Stream,
                 which enters the Upper Waitemata Harbour. 

                 But by Monday the spillway option, with its danger to
                 wildlife, was again at the back of staff minds. 

                 The plant was receiving four times its normal flow. 

                 There was 33mm of rain on Friday; 42mm on Saturday
                 and 32mm on Sunday. 

                 More than 20 pumping stations overflowed and 14
                 beaches were closed to bathers as a health precaution. 

                 Treatment plant manager Steve Singleton reported that
                 the ponds were within 180 mm of spilling. 

                 A spill last occurred in 1964. Triggering the spillway was
                 considered after the severe storms of July 1998, but the
                 council chose instead to switch off six coastal pumping
                 stations. 

                 This eased the pressure but caused illegal discharges
                 of raw sewage from the stations into the stormwater
                 flowing into the Rangitoto Channel. 

                 Last Monday's emergency dissolved when the rain
                 obligingly stopped, reducing flows into the plant and
                 giving it a chance to catch up. 

                 The experience showed the harm done by the city's
                 network of leaky sewer pipes, and illegal connections
                 by householders to get rid of their stormwater and
                 swimming pool surplus. 

                 The council's spokesman on water issues, councillor
                 Joel Cayford, said yesterday that although Monday was
                 fine, the plant's effluent inflow was three times greater
                 than the rate on a normal fine day. 

                 This was because the water table had risen and covered
                 the pipe network. 

                 Groundwater was getting into leaky pipes and heading
                 for the treatment plant. 

                 Dr Cayford said that in such conditions, as soon as it
                 started to rain, the sewage pumping stations overflowed
                 and 24 hours later the plant got higher volumes of
                 effluent. 

                 The option of fixing the problem of a 1200km network of
                 pipes was an expensive one in the council's Project
                 Care programme, Dr Cayford said. 

                 But the council's policy was to "get the best
                 environment for its bucks." 

                 The council plans to spend $9 million on the wastewater
                 network this year, including installing a holding tank
                 -about the size of seven Olympic swimming pools - at
                 Wairau. 

                 Project Care aims to improve beach quality over 10 to
                 20 years. It could cost between $80 million and $260
                 million, depending on which options the community
                 favours during the present consultation exercise. 

                 The council's director of water services, Geoff Mason,
                 said that, put simply, the community was being asked
                 to choose how much more they were willing to pay to
                 have more days when they could safely swim at the
                 beaches. 

                 While plans for Project Care and a $180 million upgrade
                 and expansion of the treatment plant are on the boil, Mr
                 Mason said the city's stormwater improvement
                 programme was not well-advanced. 

                 He said stormwater was a big contributor to beach
                 closures and not much was known about the effects on
                 public health of contaminants carried in the water. 

                 About $1.6 million is being spent this year on improving
                 the quality of stormwater discharged on to the beaches.
                 Methods include setting up "treatment trains" - a series
                 of ponds and wetlands to filter out pollutants. 

                 The council says about $2 million needs to be spent in
                 each of the next 20 years to address the problem.

                 08.07.2000 - 

                 The man accused of murdering Auckland journalist
                 Kylie Jones has been declared mentally fit to plead and
                 will face a pre-depositions hearing next month. 

                 Taffy Herbert Hotene, aged 30, appeared in the
                 Auckland District Court yesterday and was remanded in
                 custody. 

                 Hotene's lawyer, Roger Chambers, QC, said his client
                 had undergone a psychiatric assessment and the case
                 could proceed normally.

                 CROWE LATEST 

                 It seems "our" Russell Crowe may have been unfairly
                 branded a wife-stealer with the recent revelations about
                 his relationship with Meg Ryan. The New York Daily
                 News says Ryan took up with Crowe, with whom she
                 co-stars in the coming movie Proof of Life, only after she
                 and Dennis Quaid agreed to separate, following Quaid's
                 history of womanising. The paper also cites their
                 differing lifestyles — she, with strong interests in
                 literature and art; he, a golfer and football-watching
                 addict. Meanwhile, Crowe's next film role is in a real
                 circus, not a media one. In the Jodie Foster-directed
                 Flora Plum, he will play a circus freak during the
                 Depression who takes a starving young woman, played
                 by Clare Danes, under his wing. The film starts shooting
                 in Florida in September. 

                 ONE ON ONE 

                 She's got one name, she's number one and she's
                 heading here for one public appearance. Anastacia, the
                 permanently-sunglassed New York singer whose debut
                 single I'm Outta Love has been in the top spot of the
                 New Zealand charts heads here on July 18 — funnily
                 enough the same day Robbie Williams arrives in
                 Auckland — and will be performing at that salubrious
                 venue, Lynmall shopping centre at 4 pm. Meanwhile for
                 even more pop fever, the Vengaboys who play at the
                 North Shore Events Centre tomorrow and the following
                 night are doing the autograph signing at the Sounds
                 store, 192 Queen, from midday on Monday.


Trade in illegal migrants smashed

Debtors forced to crime

By Darrel Mager and John Andrews

An organised crime syndicate trading in human cargo corrupted " soft touch" New 
Zealand officials to help run their multimillion-dollar operation, investigators say.
The Auckland-based group busted open in a series of early morning raids 
yesterday - has spent five years smuggling
more than 1000 people into New Zealand, according to police.
The Middle Eastern ringleaders, described as "ghosts" with multiple 
identities, forced many refugees and immigrants into crime to pay debts for false travel 
documents. Some are believed to have been pressed to smuggle drugs.
Detectives became aware of the group - known as the Sawar Syndicate - three 
months ago.
Yesterday, 40 officers swooped on more than 20 homes and businesses across 
Auckland, arresting three key players.
Two men and a woman, from Iran and Afghanistan, are due to appear in the 
Waitakere District Court today on fraud charges.
Police are still hunting about 20 other syndicate members, some of whom are New 
Zealand citizens.
Police intelligence sources told the Herald yesterday that there were strong suggestions 
that the syndicate had targeted New Zealand officials, corrupting and enticing them to aid 
their criminal activity.
It was not clear which Government departments had been targeted.
The syndicate is also believed to be involved in large-scale international 
drug trafficking, counterfeit currency distribution and producing fake passports.
Police said immigrants from the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Pacific Rim 
countries paid up to $30,000 for altered,
fake or stolen travel documents, visas and passports which they then used 
to get into New Zealand and Australia.
More than 1000 people - possibly thousands - are believed to have been 
brought here by the group.
The officer in charge of the police operation, Detective Sergeant Craig 
Turley, from Henderson, said those who could not pay were forced into a life of crime, 
working for the syndicate until their debt was repaid.
"The syndicate is living off these people. It's a multi-million-dollar 
business ... We believe some [debtors] have been
forced to smuggle drugs between countries."
Those entering New Zealand had mostly flown in, but hundreds had apparently 
entered Australia - the more popular
destination - by boat.
He said Auckland police came across the group after investigating a report 
about a stolen passport.
Immigration Service spokesman Ian Smith said the service would review the 
file status of anyone suspected of using
false syndicate documents.
Police are still searching for the machinery believed to have been used in 
counterfeiting money and travel documents.

Probation officers accused in sex, cocaine scandals

Sex and drugs allegations have rocked the probation service, with two officers suspended 
and a third sacked.
Two female probation officers allegedly involved in a drugs-for-favours scandal
 have been suspended, and a male officer was sacked after separate sex
accusations. 
The women, who work for the Community Probation Service in Auckland, were
suspended late last week after allegations that they traded soft offender 
reports for drugs.
One also allegedly used cocaine in her office with a female offender.
In another incident a former male probation officer, also based in 
Auckland, was having sex with at least one - and possibly several - young male clients.
Gordon Attwood, the service's northern regional manager, confirmed last night that the 
service investigated the allegations against the man, but he left his job before the inquiry 
was completed.
"Last year, we did receive unsubstantiated allegations of that nature 
which would amount to a breach of our code of
conduct," he said.
"So we instigated an investigation,
which we were unable to complete because he left our employment. At this stage, the 
allegations are neither 
proven nor disproven.''
The man's employment was "terminated," Mr Attwood said. It is understood 
he was dismissed for absenteeism after
failing to turn up for work.
Mr Attwood said the two women - one from the Otahuhu branch office and 
the other from Panmure - were being investigated for "inappropriate dealings - with 
offenders."
The Herald understands that one agreed to write a favourable report for a 
woman facing a prison sentence after a drug
conviction.
The second officer assessed the woman's suitability for a non-custodial 
drug programme.
But the woman received a prison sentence, and later wrote to the Department of 
Corrections about the officers.
She allegedly included a description of the inside of the first officer's 
home, and described how the pair snorted cocaine in the woman's office.
One of the officers was also alleged to have been involved in cannabis dealing.
Mr Attwood refused to comment on the claims as they were being investigated.

Kiwi soldiers may get long stay in Timor

By John Armstrong
Political editor

General Cosgrove

New Zealand and Australian troops could be stationed in East Timor for at 
least two more years, according to the former commander of the Interfet peacekeeping 
force, Major-General Peter Cosgrove.
Now commander of Australia's land forces and based in Sydney, the general is on a short 
visit to New Zealand for consultations and to 
assess lessons from the Timor operation.
 He said he was making an
informed guess about the length of
the Australian and New Zealand
deployment, but it would take a long time for East Timor to build a satisfactory public 
administration, given that it had been completely "smashed."
But there was a tremendous urgency and impatience among the East Timorese 
leadership to achieve full
independence, he said.
"That dynamic is at play here. Two years? That's a guess. In that time it would be 
necessary for there to be some guarantee of security so there is an environment in which 
that public administration can grow. There is a problem of leaving a half-baked 
administration."
Interfet was deployed to East Timor under General Cosgrove's command last 
September following the militia-inspired
rampage of killing and destruction in the former Indonesia-controlled territory.
 Interfet has now been replaced by a United Nations-led peace-keeping operation. New 
Zealand is rotating troops to the blue beret force and has more than 600 defence 
personnel in Timor. Most of
them are in the region near the
West Timor border.
General Cosgrove noted recent border incursions were an attempt by militia to test the 
will of the new UN command. "I'd say  'don't be
silly' … it's a foolhardy and ultimately futile attempt to try out the new force."
 The general was full of praise for the New Zealand troops, saying they were a 
"Cornerstone" of the Interfet force.
He refused to be drawn on the scale of New Zealand's defence spending and 
the imminent cancellation on the lease of F- 16 jet fighters.
"How New Zealand plays its strategic cards in the future is always going to be a matter 
for New Zealand. As a humble soldier, I'll always be looking across the Tasman."
He said one of the lessons of the Timor deployment was that a "coalition of 
the willing" was going to be faster out of the blocks in dealing with an international crisis 
than a UN-arranged force.
"It seems to be a fact of life."

NZ flanker quizzed on Welsh eligibility

By Wynne Gray and Catherine Masters

Boyos: Both Shane Howarth (left) and Brett Sinkinson claim they qualify to play for 
Wales through grandparental links. Welsh rugby officials are making their own inquiries 
after a British newspaper cast doubts on the pair's eligibility.

International rugby authorities have started to sidestep as questions 
escalate about whether New Zealand flanker
Brett Sinkinson's ancestry allows him to play for his adopted country, 
Wales.
While Welsh rugby officials have launched their own inquiry after 
newspaper allegations about Sinkinson's
background, the International Rugby Board was much more reticent about 
their involvement
"The IRB requires a union to do the proper checks and make a diligent 
search," said Welshman Vernon Pugh, who
also chairs the IRB.
"What sanctions, if any in this case, can be taken, one would not wish to 
foreshadow."
After former Auckland coach Graham Henry took over as coach of Wales he drafted both 
Sinkinson and fellow New Zealander Shane Howarth into his squad. Henry
 was not taking calls on the ruckus yesterday.
Doubts about Sinkinson's qualifications to play for Wales were raised by 
the Sunday Telegraph newspaper, which
also reported some intrigue about the eligibility of Howarth. Sinkinson 
has played 14 times for Wales as a flanker but is injured and unavailable for this 
weekend's game against Scotland.
IRB rules state that a player, his parent, or a grandparent must have been born in the 
country he wished to represent.
Both Sinkinson and Howarth claimed they qualified for Wales through 
grandparents, but the Telegraph reported that Sinkinson's sole British grandparent was 
born in Lancashire.
Confronted by the allegation, Sinkinson referred the newspaper to his 
father, who was in Europe on holiday and to watch his son play in the Six Nations.
"My father's got all the details. I'm not quite sure," hee said. Asked 
what checks the WRU had made he replied: "They
did find out my grandfather was from Camarthen way. I hardly knew 
him. I'm not sure what the story is."
There was a similar lack of information from relations in Whakatane, who said 
Sinkinson's parents were on a Contiki trip in Europe and they knew no more than 
that.
While the Telegraph reported their doubts about Howarth, the former Auckland and All 
Black fullback was adamant he was clear to continue his Welsh career.
 "I have nothing to hide," said Howarth. "My grandfather was born in Cardiff and that is 
my Welsh qualification. I also qualify to play for England because my other grandfather 
is from Accrington."
"I could understand people asking me before but it is 19 tests down the 
line now," he said.
Howarth's father, Kevin, did not want to discuss the issue, though he confirmed his son's 
explanation.
 The Telegraph suggested the uncertainty about Howarth's background arose because the 
newspaper could not find any record of the birth of his Maori mother.
 The latest shock to hit Welsh  rugby has forced the union to examine the  credentials of 
all those who want to play for Wales, including former North Harbour wing Matt 
Cardey, who could make his debut this weekend.
Welsh team manager David Pickering said: "The WRU have always adhered to the 
International Rugby Board regulations regarding eligibility of players for international 
teams and have taken in good faith the evidence and word of wish to make themselves 
available to Wales via the parental or grandparental work."

Pop sensation has students singing in rain

Clean Fun: Christina Aguilera gets wet inside (top left) and out.

For most schools it would be a drag - a Monday lunchtime in the rain.
But students at Auckland's Rangitoto College sang in it.
Pop sensation Christina Aguilera was up on the verandah overlooking the school sports 
fields, and this was no time to worry about getting wet.
Flanked by three male dancers, the former Disney Mouseketeer sang Genie in 
a Bottle and What a Girl Wants, the number one singles that shot her to fame and saw her 
edge out fellow teen-idol Britney Spears for best new artist at the recent Grammy awards.
"Are you loving the rain?" she asked the students. "You are so great, 
standing in the rain. It's nice to get a little wet sometimes."
Aguilera, in New Zealand for a two-day promotional visit, said: "This is my 
first time here and it feels amazing."
The private concert was the prize in a More FM radio competition. The three 
girls who entered the North Shore school
by collecting 1957 signatures from their schoolmates say, they are 
"desperate" to become stars, too.
Jan Larsen, aged 16, Andree Goodyer, 15, and Astrid Veltman, 16, said 
yesterday was the best day of school they had ever had.
 "For her to come to our school when she has had so
much success is really  amazing,"  Jan said.
All three were impressed at how good Aguilera sounded live. "I have major respect for 
her  said Andree.
Security guards surrounded the school but, as with most concerts a few fans 
found a way, to watch through the fence.
Principal Allan Peachey said he enjoyed the concert, but "it's a different generation to 
me."
After the concert, Aguilera, whose debut album is nearing eight million sales, was 
whisked to a Queen St store to sign CDs.
-	Theresa Garner

Huge flour miller eyes NZ shutdown

Secret project leaks out

By James Gardiner

Inside Story

Goodman Fielder, Australasia's largest flour miller, is considering 
closing its four New Zealand mills and importing all
its flour from Australia.
Nearly 200 jobs in Auckland, Mt Maunganui, Palmerston North and 
Christchurch are at risk.
Such a move would mean downstream job losses in distribution and 
packaging, as well as servicing the mills.
Wheatgrowers in Canterbury, Manawatu and Wairarapa would also be hurt, 
and they say consumers concerned
about genetic engineering of food could have cause for concern.
Although the company has denied conducting a feasibility study, Herald 
inquiries have discovered a secret "Project
Jupiter" at the Goodman Fielder head office in New South Wales.
Project Jupiter involves a review of all milling, mixing and packing 
operations on both sides of the Tasman, with a view
to cutting costs and prices. It was announced internally to senior 
managers late last month and is due to end in May.
Industry sources say Goodman Fielder's New Zealand mills, which operate 
under the Champion brand-name would be
closed and dismantled rather than sold, to prevent a competitor reopening 
them.
Goodman Fielder New Zealand Milling and Baking head Colin Wise said it 
was not true such a study was being done - "Well, not that I'm aware of."
But documents obtained by the Herald list Mr Wise as part of Project 
Jupiter's steering committee.
Asked if such a study might be done in Australia without his knowledge, 
Mr Wise said: "Not that I'm aware of. Again, that's all that I can say.
"We've got studies going on … on all assets. Quite generally that's 
happening, yep, but it would be news to me that we're talking about not having any flour 
mills."
The director of milling (NZ), Alan Buckner, later responded to the Herald 
inquiry by denying a study was being
conducted. Mr Buckner is listed on the leaked documents as being on the 
project's consultative committee.
He said the four mills had a total
of about 160 staff, but the figures obtained suggest the direct employee 
numbers are closer to 200, with 69 in
Christchurch, 63 in Auckland, 35 in Palmerston North and 30 in Mt 
Maunganui.
Last Wednesday John St Julian, the New Zealand engineering manager, flew 
to Australia to spend a day with the project manager, John Gorringe, studying a trial 
unloading of flour out of bulk containers.
The Canterbury-based chairman of United Wheat Growers, Syd Worsfold, said 
about 200,000 tonnes of the 320,000 tonnes of wheat produced annually by New Zealand 
growers went into flour milling. About 95 per cent of that came
from Canterbury and the rest from Manawatu and Wairarapa.
New Zealand also imports about 150,000 tonnes of wheat a year, mainly 
from Australia and North America, about
70,000 tonnes of it for flour milling.
Mr Worsfold said the aim of a strategic partnership that growers had with 
flour millers was to produce 80 per cent of
the nation's milling requirements by 2002. Wheatgrowers could compete 
with and meet the specifications of imported
grain, but could do little about imported flour.
"Anything that cuts down opportunities for wheat growers would be seen as 
disappointing. Once a mill closes, it's
gone basically for ever."
He said growers had gone to some trouble to ensure, their harvests were 
fully traceable for quality assurance and food safety reasons.
A Christchurch Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry policy analyst, 
Murray Doak, said news of possible mill closures
would badly shock growers who had been told by the companies that their 
quality was among the best in the world.
"There's been an element of trust there ... which will be totally undermined."
The general secretary of the Service and Food Workers Union, Darien Fenton, said staff 
at the Auckland mill in Fort St were in the middle of pay talks and had been given no 
indication that their jobs were at risk.

Sky offers TV set e-mail service

By Karyn Scherer

'Internet without wires the shape of things to come.' – Business, C2

Pay-television operator Sky looks like beating TVNZ in the race to bring 
the Internet to home television sets. The
Rupert Murdoch-controlled company intends introducing an e-mail service 
within the next six months, but only for
satellite service customers.
Subscribers prepared to pay $40 or $50 for a wireless keyboard will be 
offered the service for just a few dollars a
month, or possibly even for free.
The system bypasses the need for a computer.
The only catch is that advertisers and broadcasters who use Sky's 
satellite service, including TV3, TV4, Prime and Trackside, are also likely to use it as a 
marketing tool.
Sky TVs chief executive, Nate Smith, said yesterday that customers would 
need a phone line near their TV to connect to the modem.
Around 80 per cent of digital customers had phone jacks installed nearby. 
The remainder either did not want the
connection or it wasn't physically possible. "We'll just solve those on a 
case-by-case basis."
Sky has yet to strike a deal with an Internet service provider, but Mr 
Smith said he hoped it could yet be free. "At the worst case, it's going, to be a nominal 
fee."
He played down the possibility that Sky would sell customer e-mail addresses to 
advertisers, saying only those who wanted to receive extra information would be targeted.
However, broadcasters might be keen to use the new service.
"If TV3 wanted to send a message saying watch this show tonight, as long as we're not 
breaking too many proprietary issues that might be a nice leg-up for them,"
The move is part of a push by Sky to persuade more customers to sign up 
to its digital service.
It is at this stage ruling out introducing full Internet access and is 
unwilling to introduce more lucrative interactive
services such as pay-per-view movies and sports betting until there are 
more customers over which to spread the cost.
Sky confirmed last month that more than 100,000 customers now
subscribe to the digital service.
Yesterday's announcement that it is creating a new division to oversee interactive 
services comes just six weeks after the Government put TVNZ's  plans for a similar 
service on hold.
TVNZ had planned to link with British-based cable giant NTL to offer a 
wide array of digital services, including Internet access.
While the Government has not ruled out allowing TVNZ to proceed with its digital plans, 
it has questioned their scale and cost.
TVNZ spokesman Liam Jeory said yesterday that the state-owned broadcaster 
was awaiting the outcome of the Government's review of the broadcasting sector before it 
knew what kind of service it was likely to be able to offer.

Teachers shun burden of ingraining values

By Theresa Garner and Bronwyn Sell

Education reporters

Building Kids with Character

Some teachers resent being appointed the "moral custodians of the nation" and say their 
ability to build character in children depends on what happens at home.
Those who have contacted the Herald to comment on its series about values 
in schools are unhappy at comment
from education experts that they must take a greater role in fostering 
character development.
Mark Wilkins, an English teacher at Takapuna Grammar School, said schools 
reflected the standards already set by
society. By the time pupils got to his classroom, their behaviour was 
well entrenched. "My ability to instil ethical values as an underpaid, overworked 
secondary school teacher in an underfunded state institution is less than minimal."
Mr Wilkins said society had embraced free-market economics, and young 
people "now view themselves as economic
units in a hostile marketplace."
Many of his students would
take the subjects that gave them the best chance of a good income and 
become "drones," whose worth in society
was measured by their earning potential.
"They are unlikely to take up a study of the arts, the avenue by which I 
learned many of the values I hold dear. And for
those that don't cut it, that tag your garden wall, or pinch your car? 
We'll just get on talkback and whinge about the
teachers who have let the country down."
Kristin Roscherr, a former primary and secondary school teacher, who 
resigned last year because of stress and lack
of support for teachers, said she was amazed that it was "always the 
teachers' responsibility when any aspect of a
child appears to be unacceptable."
She said she had always promoted values she believed would help society, but was 
appalled at the idea of having to squeeze values studies into the overcrowded curriculum.
The secondary teachers' union president, Graeme Macann, said the impact of schools on 
students' personal values was minor compared with the influence of families. "That is not 
a surprise, and I suppose most people would say that's how it ought to be. But I don't 
think that absolves the school community from investigating the issue of values,
because it is so important."
Darrell Ward, president of the primary teachers' union, said he was happy 
with the curriculum framework, which
made the point that the school's curriculum should reflect what is valued 
by the school community.
"If it was specific, and gave a long list of values in priority order, it 
would take away the right of a specific school community to interpret it to meet its own 
needs."

Herald e-mail contacts are: bronwyn-sell@herald.co.nz 
theresa-garner@herald.co.nz.

Lavish promises lured Thais to NZ sweatshop

Facing music: Wiliwan Sivoravong has had her home and assets seized by the 
Department of Labour, which is seeking $256,000 in backpay for her former employees.

Four women shipped from Thailand to an Auckland clothes factory claim they worked 70 
hours a week for less than the minimum wage, gave up their passports and were called 
"dog-breath" when they complained.
The women told an Employment Tribunal in Auckland yesterday that they sewed 
garments for 12 hours a day, six days a week in a Glen Eden factory belonging to 
Wiliwan Sivoravong - and netted $575 each a month.
The Department of Labour has seized Sivoravong's home and assets as it pushes for 
$256,600 in holiday and backpay for her staff, who worked for the companies KC 
Fashions and Sivoravong Fashions. Fines of $116,000 could also be imposed under the 
Holidays Act and Minimum Wage Act.
Sivoravong, against whom the department moved amid a Herald investigation into 
backyard factories, has declined to defend herself at the hearing and is yet to give her side 
of the story.
One witness, Panja Hirikokul, said she was drawn to the job in February 1997 when a 
man in her village yelled through a loudspeaker that a New Zealand firm was looking for 
workers.
She went to Bangkok and met Sivoravong's mother, Sumalee Wongchanon, who told her 
she would earn up to 35,000 baht -  about $2000 at the time – each month, including 
overtime, working from 8 am to 5 pm six days a week. 
Food, accommodation and even a toothbrush would be free.
Ms Hirikokul said staff at Thai visa and labour offices warned her three times that there 
had been complaints about her New Zealand employer and asked her to think again about 
coming here. 
She decided to come because two friends had already taken jobs with the firm.
Ms Hirikokul said Sivoravong met her in Auckland and took her to a Massey St house 
where she was one of 10 workers sharing three bedrooms, one toilet and one shower.
 She was driven to and from work from Monday to Saturday, and toiled from 8 am to 9 
pm. Initially there were two 30-minute breaks, and later an additional 10-minute stop was 
added. If staff worked on Sundays they got an overtime rate of $4 an hour. There was no 
holiday pay.
After a few days, Sivoravong asked for her passport.
"She told me she needed to keep it in case I ran away or stole anything," Ms Hirikokul 
said through an interpreter. "If we made a mistake on a garment then we had to take it 
home to fix in our own time, on a Sunday.
"[Sivoravong] said she had a good friend in Immigration who would tell her if there were 
any complaints."
Ms Hirikokul said she received no pay in the first six months because she owed 
Sivoravong money for the visa and airfare. Other workers fed her on Sundays, when no 
meals were provided. After eight months, she received two months' wages, which she 
sent home to her family and children.
In October 1997, Ms Hirikokul's leg became badly swollen for 10 days. Sivoravong 
refused to let her stay in bed. Workers carried her to a van, and she was taken to do light 
work at the factory.
Three other women, Lamaiporn Niyomsuk, Somporn Yotsamut and Phaithoon Jaisuk, 
also said yesterday that they were hired to their sewing jobs through Sivoravong's mother 
in Thailand. Ms Jaisuk was the only one who said she was told in advance that she would 
work long hours for $575 a month - the amount they were usually paid.
The women all gave up their passports and said they were asked to sign a blank piece of 
paper, which the department alleged was later used to fake a document.
They were also asked to sign a pay book each month which showed bigger cash 
amounts than what they were paid.
Ms Jaisuk said the workers talked about the book, but were too scared to confront 
Sivoravong.
Two witnesses said Sivoravong swore at one, woman who complained about a $5 
deduction from her pay.
Sivoravong then came downstairs to the bedrooms and said that whoever else was a 
"dog-breath" would receive no more pay.
The next day six workers wrote letters to Sivoravong complaining about their treatment. 
The department raided the factory in October last year and shut it.
The department has flown eight Thais back to NZ for the hearing

Ministerial aide's case suppressed 

A Government press secretary charged with speeding in a ministerial car was back in the 
Levin District Court yesterday, but details were suppressed.
Moana Lynette Sinclair, aged 44, of Wellington, had pleaded not guilty when she first 
appeared on February 16 charged with assaulting police, driving while forbidden, 
resisting arrest and driving dangerously fast.
Police yesterday, withdrew the assault charge and Judge Geoffrey Fraser suppressed all 
details of two driving incidents. He remanded Sinclair to April 10, but said she need not 
appear in person.
MP denied test
Transsexual Wairarapa MP Georgina Beyer offered to have her breasts screened while 
opening a mobile screening unit in Masterton yesterday, but was turned down because 
she is too young at 42.
The manager of radiology at Hutt Valley Hospital, Marion Thomas, said the unit was for 
women aged 50 to 64.
"If I was old enough, I would have had a test," Ms Beyer said, urging all eligible women 
to use the breast-screening unit.
Vets' strike off
Thousands of Muslims will be able to perform a religious sacrifice on Friday after 
Government veterinarians called off a proposed strike.
Eid ul-Adha is the most important religious festival of the Muslim year, when lambs are 
sacrificed and their meat distributed to the needy.
Agriculture and Forestry Ministry vets, who oversee the sacrifices to ensure they comply 
with hygiene standards, had threatened to strike over a 12 per cent wage claim on the day 
of the festival.
Review dumped
Police Minister George Hawkins said yesterday that the cabinet had decided to end the 
police review immediately because its impact on morale in the force was "a festering 
sore."
The review was launched by the National Government in an attempt to save millions 
through restructuring and staff reductions, but Mr Hawkins said it had cost $17 million of 
taxpayers' money to save $18 million.

Uproar over Queen's exile

'We are not amused,' callers tell mayor

By Martin Johnson and Paul Yandall

Banished: Mayor Christine Fletcher thinks the portraits of the Queen and the Duke of 
Edinburgh too old and too British.

Auckland City's midnight swoop on the Queen has divided the country.
Calls and letters flooded into the Herald after we revealed that Auckland 
Mayor Christine Fletcher and five councillors
had removed portraits of the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh from the council's 
debating chamber.
But amid the fierce exchanges between monarchists and republicans, Buckingham Palace 
maintained a stiff upper lip, a spokesman saying the royal family did not comment on 
politics.
Mrs Fletcher said yesterday that she was receiving strong public criticism for her part in 
the raid.
But opponents only slightly outnumbered supporters among Herald callers and 
correspondents.
 The mayor and the councillors took down the port portraits, thought to be more than 40 
years old, after last Thursday night's council meeting and sent them into safe storage.
Fletcher considers the pictures too old and out of touch, noting that they have British 
backdrops.
She wants them replaced - possibly with a combination of a new portrait of the Queen 
against an Auckland backdrop, a copy of the Treaty of Waitangi and artworks with a 
local or Pacific flavour.
Mrs Fletcher has sought councillors' views, and said the old portraits would be reinstated 
if that was what they wanted.
Council staff are researching how and when the council obtained the portraits, which 
heritage manager George Farrant said appeared to be oil on canvas.
"The frames appear to be much older, and Victorian," he said.
"We're debating whether some lesser nobility was booted out of the frames in order 
to put the Queen and Duke in."
A caller to the Herald said the removal was a disgraceful show of 
disrespect.
"She's still the Queen, the Duke is still her husband ... Who does she [Mrs 
Fletcher] think she is, pandering to Maoris and Polynesians?"
One of the correspondents who supported the removal of the portraits 
described them as "old trappings of colonial New Zealand."
Auckland Citizens and Ratepayers Association president John Collinge said the council 
should observe the protocols recognising the Queen as our head of state.
Auckland Regional Council chairman Philip Warren, whose council has a picture of the 
Queen and the Duke and a copy of the treaty in its chamber, said he was shocked 
Auckland City did not already display the treaty.
A Samoan community leader, the Rev Mua Strickson-Pua, welcomed the idea of 
displaying more New Zealand and Pacific images, but said the Queen and Duke should 
still be in them.
Hauraki MP John Tamihere praised the councillors for provoking debate and 
said: "We're seeing the evolution of a people who are now coming to terms with the fact 
that we are in the South Pacific."
The Waitakere City Council has a picture of the Queen and a copy of the
treaty in its chamber. North Shore has a picture of the Queen in the 
chamber and a copy of the treaty in the chamber entrance.
The Wellington and Christchurch City Councils do not have portraits of the 
Queen in their chambers.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman James Funnell said it was 
up to the senior official at each NZ
embassy to decide whether to display royal portraits, but each post was 
encouraged to hang NZ art in a policy of "low-level cultural diplomacy."
Michelle Janse, who looks after the parliamentary art collection, said 
several royal portraits were hanging in Parliament, the oldest dating to 1937.
Signed portraits of the Queen and the Duke hang in the cabinet room, but 
the latest royal portrait is a signed picture of the Queen commemorating her last visit here 
in 1990, which is in Speaker Jonathan Hunt's office.
Mr Hunt said the large portrait was hanging beside his desk, and he had no plan to 
remove it.
Let us know what you think should hang on the council's wall. Box 32, 
Auckland, letters@ herald.co.nz or on the Net
at www,nzherald.co.nz/forums

Travel bug, Cup boost to tourism
Spinoffs from the America's Cup and a post-millennium travel bug led to an 18 per cent 
increase in visitor numbers to the Tauranga region in January.
Figures released by Tourism Bay of Plenty show that 48,300 people came to the region 
during January, up 7400 on January 1999.
Nationally, there was a 6 per cent increase for the same period. However, stays were 
stagnant, remaining at an average of 3.7 nights.
Tourism Bay of Plenty chief executive Doug Burton said Tauranga's proximity to 
Auckland had led to an influx of overseas tourists during the America's Cup regatta. 
People had tended to travel the region more after the New Year period when fears about 
the Y2K bug problems proved unfounded.
Helicopter rescue
The Fletcher Challenge forests rescue helicopter was called to Lake Okataina after a 
scuba diver suffered the bends on Sunday.
A 30-year-old Rotorua man had been diving with friends at the lake, 33km northeast of 
Rotorua, when he surfaced too quickly.
Area manager Craig Hughes said the diver had run out of air when he was 30m down.
The man was taken to Rotorua Hospital for an assessment before being flown to the 
recompression chamber at the Devonport Naval Base in Auckland.

Police chase
A police chase in the early hours through Rotorua streets ended abruptly 
when a stolen car with four occupants
crashed through a fence and hit the corner of a house in Malfroy Rd.
When police tried to stop the car in Victoria St about 3.45 am the car 
drove off. They chased the car through suburban Glenholme and Springfield for about 
five minutes.
No one was injured in the accident, but police failed to find the occupants of the car, who 
ran off.
Scrub burns
Fire destroyed about 40ha of Department of Conservation scrubland on the Karikari 
Peninsula.
Firefighters were called to the blaze about 11 pm on Sunday but had to wait until it was 
safe to fight the fire, at daybreak yesterday.
About 30 firefighters, including volunteers from Kaitaia and Mangonui, 
and Department of Conservation and Far North District Council staff were involved. A 
helicopter was called at the height of the fire yesterday morning.
Toddler killed
A two-year-old girl was killed when she was hit by a farmbike on her family's farm in the 
South Waikato town of Arohena.
Police said a worker on the farm was riding the bike when it rolled on a slight incline, 
hitting the girl.
Police have finished inquiries. The girl has not yet been named.
Casino move
Hamilton West MP Martin Gallagher is seeking legislation forcing a referendum to 
decide whether the $50 million Riverside Casino should proceed.
Mr Gallagher said he was investigating whether a member's bill could be introduced 
urgently into Parliament for a binding referendum on the casino.
Work on the controversial casino began last week, despite a pending hearing of a High 
Court appeal by Hamilton Mayor Russ Rimmington and churches to stop the project.

New plant for Russell effluent

Plan will avert upgrade of troubled Tapeka Pt

By Tony Gee

RUSSELL - A treatment system is to be installed in Russell for the town's 
still-unfinished $9 million sewage scheme
to avoid effluent being illegally discharged into the sea from an inadequate treatment 
plant nearby.
A decision by the Far North District Council to go ahead now with the treatment system 
for its troubled scheme has been forced by major problems at the Tapeka Pt plant.
These have led to illegal sea discharges of effluent and to odour
problems, both of which have resulted in the Northland Regional Council 
serving formal abatement notices on the
district council for breach of the Tapeka plant's consent conditions.
The district council now hopes that work to install the treatment system 
for its Russell scheme will avoid the cost of
difficult and expensive upgrading at the Tapeka plant.
The seven-year-old and still-uncompleted Russell scheme, based on borehole 
disposal of effluent, is being tested by using treated effluent from the Tapeka plant, which 
is described as inadequate and overloaded in peak summer periods.
District council works manager Geoff Cobb said the Far North had been able 
to avoid renewing its expired resource
consent at Tapeka by diverting treated effluent into the trial boreholes in 
the Russell scheme.
Overloading, especially during summer, means the Tapeka effluent is 
unsuitable for disposal at Russell without
treatment so it is discharged into the sea - which was
allowed under the old, expired consent. "This is, in effect, illegal," Mr 
Cobb reported to a council meeting late last week.
"The regional council ... has now run out of patience and has advised that 
corrective measures must be taken to avoid illegal discharges and odour emissions."
Action had to be taken before the next summer peak.
Mr Cobb said upgrading work at the confined Tapeka Pt site presented 
problems and there was no obvious disposal alternative to sea discharge, which was not 
allowed in the regional council's soil and water plan.
He successfully urged the council to ensure that its Russell scheme would 
be sufficiently operational to take
untreated sewage before next summer's peaks, in order to avoid work at Tapeka.
This will involve treatment work at Russell and extra borehole disposal.
It will also allow some central Russell households to connect to the scheme.
The council has allocated $1.2 million. A completion cost of $9 million is expected.
This is likely to cost ratepayers an estimated $1600 a year in sewage
charges for each property connected.
Abandoning the scheme was also considered but rejected. This would still 
have cost ratepayers between $940 and $1250 a year.
Reverting to the original disposal method of using trenches and marshlands 
would cost $8.3 million, with property owners paying up to $1460 a household each year.
An alternative disposal option, involving pumping effluent to Paihia, would 
have cost $10 million and left owners with an annual sewage charge of $1750.
The council is asking the Government to help pay some of the cost of the borehole 
disposal scheme.

Positive report for black-mark school

By ROSALEEN MACBRAYNE

TAURANGA - Tauranga South Primary School, the subject of four scathing 
Education Review Office reports in less
than three years, is leaving its difficult days behind.
A new board of trustees will be elected at the end of this week and the 
school's commissioner, Blenheim lawyer Jim
Crichton, will sign off soon after.
"I am very confident this school will just take off and go from strength to strength. It is in 
very good heart." he said.
ERO staff will be back at the beginning of next month and Mr Crichton is positive they 
will find Tauranga South has "made huge strides."
Earlier criticism was directed at its former management. The review 
office found no fault with the quality of education being provided.
Joyce Catchpole was appointed commissioner after the entire board of trustees resigned 
two years ago but stepped down after 17 months, saying she could do no more.
Soon after Mr Crichton replaced her, Les Cresswell, the principal for 12 
years, resigned.
The new head, Richard Inder, was making "a huge contribution," said Mr 
Crichton.
Mr Inder will have two associate principals - his present assistant, 
Marilyn Frederickson, and newly appointed Robert
Hyndman, from Paengaroa, who starts next term.
Tauranga South's roll, which fell during the crisis, has risen to nearly 
300. It has capacity for 450 pupils.
"The trend is very positive,'' said Mr Crichton. "It is a terrific environment with a state-
of-the-art computer suite other schools envy, great grounds, a strong multicultural 
element and magnificent teachers."
The commissioner will chair a meeting at the school tonight so parents can meet the six 
candidates standing for election as trustees.

Open every Sunday near you …

Mass Appeal: The Holy Trinity's choice of signs is "a fun thing," says Tauranga vicar 
Brian Hamilton. "Often church signs are rather strait-laced. We just think a bit of humour 
is more effective."

TAURANGA - Forget a sermon from the Mount.
A Tauranga church is using modern marketing techniques to put across its 
message.
In a clever take-off of a major retailer, notice boards outside the Holy 
Trinity Anglican Church state: "The Prayerhouse.
Where everyone gets a pardon."
Before that, the red, blue and white signs declaring "Just Jesus" owed 
something to a clothing firm.
"It's a fun thing to do. Often church signs are rather strait-laced. We 
just think a bit of humour is more effective," said
the vicar, the Rev Brian Hamilton.
The parish has been using the unconventional advertising for the past few 
years.
"We have binges," he said.
"Sometimes we run out of brainwaves and nothing happens for a while, then 
we get a whole lot of ideas."
One of the most popular was: "Talk to God
for a whole lot less than 99 cents a minute."
At one stage, a district promotional notice, "Tempt Me Tauranga," was 
erected on Devonport Rd near the church.
The Holy Trinity response was "Lead us not into temptation."
It could have been a fervent prayer.
So appealing are the novel signs that they have become a popular target 
for thieves.
- Rosaleen Macbrayne

Council drops promises of nil rate increase

WHANGAREI - Rates in one area of the Kaipara district are set to rise by 
more than 40 per cent after the council
abandoned promises of a nil rate increase.
Among the reasons for the rise are the removal of differentials between 
Mangawhai and Dargaville and the revaluation
of properties.
Although rural rates are likely to fall by as much as 8 per cent, 
Dargaville is set for a 4 per cent rise and rates in
Mangawhai will go up by 41 per cent.
At a special meeting last week, the council decided it could no longer 
justify the differentials that rated Dargaville
residents on 150 per cent of their land value and Mangawhai residents on 60 
per cent.
The differentials had been in place since amalgamation in 1989.
Mayor Graeme Ramsey said yesterday that the council was proposing to raise 
the total amount of rates it collected
from the district by 1.7 per cent.
"We strove for a zero per cent increase as we had indicated to the district," he said.
"However, the consumers price index has risen higher than expected and the 
costs of continuing to keep our roading
network improving are also going up.
"After considerable debate, we decided to propose a small increase as the community has 
made it very clear that they want council to continue to make improvements to the 
district." - NZPA
Graeme Ramsey

Forget the council - the book's a winner

By WAYNE THOMPSON

The Rodney District Council's millennium project is proving a lot more 
popular than the council itself, which is being
threatened by the Government with mass dismissal.
The project - a book of 160 glossy pages about the district's history, 
lifestyles and attractions - has sold 1350 copies in its first week in bookshops.
That is about half the copies printed, says publisher David Bateman Ltd.
Between Coasts, from Kaipara to Kawau,
costs $39.95 and was written by Aucklander Vaughan Yarwood, with 
photographs by Peter Beattie of Matakana and
Ted Scott of Titirangi.
The council decided last year that the book was the best way to mark the 
millennium because the district's 75,000
residents were scattered from Albany to Wellsford.
It paid $60,000 to sponsor it, but its royalties are going, towards preserving important 
collections of historic photographs.
The council's move was made in happier times - before an acrimonious split among 
councillors resulted in calls by councillors and despairing ratepayers for an inquiry.
Last Tuesday, the day after the book was launched, the council learned that 
the review authority had recommended
that Local Government Minister Sandra Lee sack the mayor and all 12 
councillors and bring in a commissioner to run
the district.
The council will consider its official response to the minister at a 
special meeting on Thursday.

Dark strangers to astrology may apply

By Josie Clarke and Warren Gamble

Tricky business, predicting the future. Or is it?
Replying to an advertisement in the Herald for "fresh, lively" horoscope writers 
unearthed a surprisingly down-to-earth response: experience is preferred but not 
essential.
Publisher Denis McDonald, advertising for people to pen horoscopes for his 
0900 lines, told one that "an in-depth knowledge of astrology is not a full requirement."
He added later: "We would probably prefer someone with horoscope experience but 
there's lots of books."
Mr McDonald's prescription was for upbeat, life-affirming  horoscopes  covering money 
and love, including the "racier end of romance."
Heavens! You could see the possibilities: Leo - A tall, dark stranger will make you purr. 
Or, Gemini – You will fall in love with twins.
 When the Herald rang him back to ask him to elaborate, Mr McDonald said he was 
looking for someone to write in an appropriate style and
interpret the stars without going into detail.
 Asked if his horoscopes were accurate astrology, he said: "Are all
the horoscopes accurate
astrology? 
"What we've asked for is someone to write a horoscope in a certain style and part of 
that is ... the effects; interpretations rather than specifically about what star is doing what.
"I'm not an astrologer. I'm in media and we publish things. We
employ people to write things, just
like your organisation does."
The horoscope writer, Nicholas Campion, said the complex rules of astrological 
interpretation became second nature to astrologers.
They looked at the disposition of the, planets for the day, their zodiac 
positions and the distances between them as measured from Earth. The moon was the 
most important factor.
Mr Campion said space and style constraints of the publication shaped the 
predictions.
"The astrologer might write a forecast for the general nature of the day as 
applied to the typical person born during the
relevant month, or might take the forecast as read and offer advice instead ...
 Either way, a horoscope was not expected to apply to all members of one sign, 
"particularly as astrology assumes we are all unique."
 Instead, Mr Campion said brief horoscopes should be seen as a thought for the day that 
could encourage the reader to reflect, on his
or her own situation.
Astrology House partner Angela Thomas said horoscope scams, especially 
those that cost people money, blemished the profession.
"Some people will do whatever it takes to make a quick buck."

Rawene triple death accused identified

The man accused of three murders at Rawene last year made his first court 
appearance yesterday, and was declined further name suppression.
Brian Desmond Aporo also known as Smith, appeared in the Whangarei 
District Court on charges relating to a knife attack in the Hokianga town on December 
10.
The 31-year-old is charged with murdering his two children - Israel Te 
Apatu-Aporo, 3, and Keziah Te Huia , 11 months - and Trevor Francis Mokaraka, 47, and 
attempting to murder the children's mother, Te Huia Hape.
Judge Thomas Everitt remanded Aporo in custody back to Auckland's Mason 
Clinic until a predepositions hearing inWhangarei on April 10.
No to Titford
The Government has ruled out an inquiry into the acquisition of Allan Titford's Northland 
farm to settle a Maori land claim.
Mr Titford has long sought an inquiry into the National Government's 1995, $3.25 
million purchase of the 670ha Maunganui Bluff farm, 42km northwest of Dargaville.
Last year, Act MP Ken Shirley claimed Mr Titford had sold under duress.
Margaret Wilson said yesterday that the land had been sold on a 
willing seller basis after Mr Titford had taken legal advice.
Well copped
A recent Police College graduate got a surprise while searching a 
prisoner's property at the weekend - she found her jacket.
The jacket had been stolen a few days earlier from the woman's car the day before she 
started work at Wellington central police station.
The 20-year-old man was arrested after allegedly breaking into another police recruit's 
vehicle in a central city car parking building.
Claims caution
The prospect of a settlement in Northland's long-running Muriwhenua 
200,000ha land claim appears some years off after the Government signalled a non-
committal approach to negotiations.
Treaty Negotiations Minister Margaret Wilson said yesterday that while "all 
claims had priority," she was unwilling to rank Muriwhenua above or behind any others.

Police to search rubbish tip for clues on student

Gavin Dash

WELLINGTON - Police intend digging through tonnes of rubbish at 
Wellington's Happy Valley tip in a search for clues into the disappearance of student 
Gavin Dash.
In scenes reminiscent of the investigation into the murders of Wellington 
businessmen Eugene and Gene Thomas,
police will this time be hunting for a piece of carpet missing from the 
Wellington man's former Karori flat.
The large piece of woollen Feltex carpet was taken from the flat in 
September. It is not known if it was taken before or
after Mr Dash disappeared.
He was last seen at the Wellington Law Library on September 27, and failed 
to keep an appointment with his former
landlord in Karori that night. He had shifted to suburban Northland a few 
weeks earlier.
Police investigating his disappearance have conducted forensic tests at 
both properties and questioned neighbours at
his old flat to determine whether he returned .
Operation Dash head Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Arnerich said police 
knew the carpet had been deposited at the dump by a Wellington City Council rubbish 
truck and left on the tip face.
The proposed excavation could take more than a fortnight. Police had 
planned to start searching yesterday, but held off at the last minute to complete 
negotiations with Wellington Regional Council.
Detective Senior Sergeant Arnerich would not comment on the relevance of 
the carpet until it was found, but said
there was nothing to suggest Mr Dash's body had been wrapped in it.
He said police did not expect to find a body but would be looking for property
belonging to Mr Dash that was cleared from his bedroom on September 29 or 30.
 "It is possible that a person unrelated
 to the inquiry has removed the carpet
from the tip face for their own use," said Senior Sergeant Arnerich.
"We would like to speak to anybody who has taken a piece of carpet from the Happy 
Valley landfill between  August and December 1999."
He said carpet left at the tip was sometimes sold by The Recyclers in Landfill Rd.
The fawn-brown carpet was about six years old and in good condition. Police
 plan to search an area of the dump measuring about 100m by and 3m deep.
The Happy Valley tip was  searched by nearly 100 recruits from the Police College in 
1995.
They unearthed a gun thought to have been used to kill Eugene and Gene Thomas.

Antarctic quake rate surprise

WELLINGTON - A New Zealand seismologist has found that earthquakes are more 
frequent in Antarctica than believed.
Dr Stephen Bannister has recorded 50 earthquakes over three months of 
summer on a chain of solar-powered
seismographs along the Transantarctic mountain range.
The instruments, placed with the help of the Australian National 
University, picked up earthquakes ranging from magnitude 2 to 4 - none of which were 
recorded by seismographs outside Antarctica.
The data will take months to analyse, but Dr Bannister said most of the 
quakes were due to the movement of the Earth's tectonic plates.
The understanding of Antarctic earthquakes has been limited by a lack of seismographs 
on the ice and the fact that other seismographs are usually too distant to record Antarctic 
quakes.
 But the attention of scientists was caught in 1998,  when one of the year's biggest 
earthquakes -  8.1 on the Richter scale - was as recorded just off the Antarctic coast.
The quake, just off the Balleny Islands, which are in New Zealand's Antarctic territory,  
"set the whole Earth ringing like a bell," Dr  Bannister said..
It was larger than the 1931 Napier earthquake, which measured 7.9.

NZ peacekeeper gets coat of UN colour

An Air Force Iroquois helicopter displays its official United Nations colours in a flight 
over Auckland yesterday before being partly  dismantled and flown in a Hercules aircraft 
to rejoin New Zealand troops in East Timor.
Peacekeeping forces in the former province of Indonesia are now fully under the UN 
banner and military equipment must be painted with UN insignia. Four RNZAF 
helicopters in East Timor will get a similar facelift when they return for routine 
maintenance. They will be restored to RNZAF colours once the mission is over.

Dive victim's partner on same outing

Narelle Te Purei
Ricky MacDonald

NELSON - The tragic death of diver Narelle Te Purei has set back the efforts of her 
family to seek a better life in Nelson.
The 34-year-old mother of three and top Nelson sportswoman, also known as 
Narelle Smith, died in the diving accident at D'Urville Island on Friday with "best mate" 
Ricky MacDonald, her partner Hallet Smith said yesterday.
They were among seven divers on an advanced divers' course who were sucked down to 
90m.
The body of a third diver,  21-year-old David Welsh, of Nelson, may never be found.
Mr MacDonald, 41, is survived by his partner, Jan McNeilage, and four children.
Mr Smith said Ms Te Purei had begun diving recently.
She was also in the Custom House Rebels softball team and the Nelson representative 
women's rugby league team.
He said the family had moved to Nelson two years ago from Rotorua, wanting a change 
in life.
He was with the dive group when the tragedy happened, but was in another boat.
Ms  McNeilage said yesterday, that Mr MacDonald had been a staunch family man, who 
was always there for his children.
He had loved the sea and was doing his dive master's and instructor's course.
Police decided yesterday not to call in Navy divers to search for the body of Mr Welsh 
because they could not pinpoint where it was and a search could be dangerous.
The course was run by the Nelson Dive Centre in French Pass, the channel between 
D'Urville Island and the mainland in the MarIborough Sounds.
Mr Welsh had been seen on the bottom by the other divers and police believe his body 
could still be trapped there. Autopsies were carried out on the bodies of Mr MacDonald 
and Ms Te Purei on Sunday but results are not expected until the middle of next week.
The other four divers involved in the accident received recompression treatment at 
Christchurch Hospital.
A hospital spokeswoman said yesterday that Emma McLeod, Derek Tanarau and 
Andrew Stuart were still there in a comfortable condition.
The other diver, Brian Kirkwood, was discharged from hospital on Sunday, she said.
The Occupational Safety and Health Service (OSH) and the Professional Association of 
Diving Instruction will conduct separate inquiries.
Local tourism operator and former diving instructor Danny Boulton, who was the first on 
the scene, was on the beach at 2.30 pin on Friday with a party of schoolchildren. He and a 
parent, Dave Paynter, went to the divers' assistance in a dinghy.
With no radio, the pair set off a flare. Several small craft arrived, including one with a 
marine radio, and emergency services were alerted.
Mr Paynter, of Marlborough, said he would never dive in French Pass, despite being a 
commercial diver. He said it was "an extremely hostile patch of water" with a current that 
"took no hostages."

Empty terraces a treat for true fan

Just not cricket: The weather was not the only thing that annoyed spectators at Eden Park 
yesterday. Sean Callis' police helmet had an undercover aspect that threatened his exit 
from the ground and an uninterrupted view of the day's play with mates Liam Mulrony 
(left) and Paul Valsic. Others were happy to watch Shane Warne.

Chris Daniels swells the ranks at the transtasman test on a dismal Auckland day to meet 
some of the game's more dedicated followers.

Rick was amazed.
From his job at the freight depot of an Adelaide bus service, he lives and breathes cricket, 
saving all his pay for the next trip overseas to watch his cricketing heroes play, on a 
foreign field.
Before he left Australia,  he was concerned about the size of New Zealand test match 
crowds and whether he could get a good seat.
But at Eden Park yesterday, for day three of the first test between 
Australia and New Zealand, he had a prime spot,
because there were fewer people there than on Bondi Beach in mid-winter.
"I am stunned," he said, after stowing his score card, with each delivery of the past three 
days meticulously recorded in pencil. "There's hardly anyone here."
Wearing his anorak and shorts, Rick sits behind a "boxing kangaroo" banner, one corner 
weighted down by a plastic beer bottle.
"I was expecting a tough game," he said.
"That's why I like seeing Australia play overseas - it's a bit more of a contest."
Back in Australia, cricket fans queue up for tickets to test matches. Not 
at Auckland's Eden Park.
Rick was one of only 1250 people who went to see what is arguably the best Australian 
cricket team of a generation play.
Admittedly, the Australians were slicing through the New Zealand team's 
top order and the weather had disrupted
play, but the test match aficionados were still confident and interested.
"We have yet to have our luck," said one unemployed writer, as he drank 
his beer and discreetly smoked a cigarette
in the non-smoking area of the grandstand.
His misguided confidence was punctured immediately by the dismissal of 
New Zealand's two opening batsmen, but the writer was still happy to shout,  "You're 
too slow," each time Shane Warne lumbered towards the stand chasing a ball.
Despite the low numbers, the crowd - if that is what you could call it - 
contained all the range and diversity of the unwieldy horde at a one day international.
Two men in the members' stand had been coming to test matches at Eden 
Park since the late 1940s. Not wanting to be named or photographed, they were still 
happy to talk cricket.
They did not bemoan the state
of modern cricket, preferring the action-packed fielding of today to the sometimes sedate 
"don't get your pants dirty"   gentlemanly ways of the '40s and 50s.
Over in the cheap seats, a world and a generation apart from the members' 
stand five men were not surprised that
hardly anyone goes along to test matches.
"The bastard security guards," said one. "They are going totally over the 
top."
One told of being harassed by a security guard for sitting in the open 
space of one of the aisles of the eastern terraces.
Despite there being fewer than 50 people in a section of stand built for 
thousands, he was told not to sit there as it blocked access.
"It'sjust, crazy - there no one around for miles. We brought in a little blue rubber ball. It 
was getting thrown around the crowd, everyone having a good time - -- then Security 
seize it."
One of the terraces crowd was told he could not enter the ground until he disposed of a 
dildo placed on his bead - "obscene material" was not allowed.
It was cunningly hidden under his plastic police helmet which he knew 
guards would ask him to take off during their standard alcohol search.
A prudish attitude by security guards and cricket officials cannot bear all the blame for 
small crowds at Auckland test matches.
Sports broadcaster Murray Deaker puts it down to Auckland's being a city of "doers," not 
watchers.
He could be right, but to the people scattered across the stands of Eden Park yesterday it 
did not really matter. They were doing plenty, thank you very much.

Producer unmoved

The producer of the documentary television series Location, Location, Location has told 
real estate agents to take a look at themselves.
David Harry Baldock of Ninox Films was responding to criticism from the estate agents 
and their institute that the programme showed them in a bad light.
However Mr Baldock said the series did nothing more than reflect reality.
"The fact that they are perceived in a bad light is something they need to look at 
themselves, rather than us. We're just following the process of buying and selling real 
estate and I think the programme is very honest, showing what the process is."

Can this career be saved?

Real estate agents

The country's real estate agents have had a rough few weeks. The market's so flat it's 
positively concave, a bunch of lawyers are banding together to undercut them and they're 
hopping mad over a top-rating TV series on which some of their number have (heaven 
forbid!) appeared to do the dirty on a vendor
client to get a sale. It's hard to feel sorry for them; those of us who've never been told as 
buyers that "the vendor's desperate: the missus has left and the bank's getting jumpy" 
might comfortably fit into a telephone booth. But appearances are everything in the real 
estate business. The on-screen agents are giving the profession a bad name, say the off-
screen ones, but no one's suggesting that Location, Location, Location is not a true 
picture. Maybe they need to remember that you can't fool all of the people all of the time.

NEWS DIGEST
Jury unable to reach verdict in murder trial
A Rotorua High Court jury failed to reach a verdict yesterday on a 
murder 
charge, after deliberating for more than 14
hours.
James Henry Wilson, a Papamoa tattooist and president of the Tauranga 
Filthy Few motorcycle gang, was accused
of murdering his former girlfriend, Tauranga sex worker Jo-Anne Van 
Duyvenbooden, last August.
After a three-week trial, the jury found Wilson guilty of attempting to 
pervert the course of justice by offering a car,
cash and drugs to a fellow prisoner if he confessed to the murder. 
But after returning three times to ask questions and have evidence read 
back to them, they could not agree on a
murder charge. A retrial date will be set later this month.
Wilson will be sentenced on August 11 for attempting to pervert the 
course 
of justice.
Home sentence possible
An Auckland prison executive found guilty of 117 counts of fraud worth 
$250,000 maybe allowed to serve his 18-month sentence from home.
Auckland District Court Judge Tony Adeane yesterday granted Dennis 
Wayne Kake leave to apply for a home detention sentence from the 
Department of Corrections.
Delivering his sentence, Judge Adeane recognised Kake, 41, had not 
personally gained from the $248,402.12 he stole
while working as an administration manager at Mt Eden Prison in 1994 
until 
late last year.
The money had been used to support his extended family which spanned 
three 
generations.
Kake's lawyer, Zeljan Unkovich, said Kake was an ideal candidate for 
home detention as he had no previous convictions and was a family man.
Long wait for show
Three years after they bought tickets to the 1997 outdoor production of 
Aida, 20 opera fans finally have their chance to see the show.
The new production of Aida by the National
Business Review New Zealand Opera opens its Auckland season at the 
Aotea 
Centre this weekend. The company
has provided tickets to 20 opera fans who missed seeing the outdoor 
production at Ericsson Stadium because of poor
seating.
New Zealand Opera said the group had been randomly selected from those 
involved in the class action brought
against the commercial promoters of the 1997 production.
The general director of New Zealand Opera, Jonathan Alver, said the 
company 
could not help everyone who missed
Aida three years ago, but was delighted to give 20 people the chance to 
see 
the opera "back in the theatre, where it
belongs."
Spot fines for safety?
A review of health and safety legislation would consider if spot fines 
for 
unsafe workplaces should be introduced,
Labour Minister Margaret Wilson said yesterday.
The review would also consider whether other organisations, as well as 
the 
Occupational Safety and Health service,
should be able to prosecute employers for unsafe work practices and 
whether 
fines were high enough.
In the year ended June 31, the service investigated the deaths of 57 
people 
who died at work.
Ms Wilson said she was concerned many injuries occurred in workplaces 
where 
there was little or no union
involvement.
One dead, two critical
A man is dead and two people are in a critical condition at Waikato 
Hospital after a van and truck collided on State
Highway 1 in Hamilton yesterday.
The van driver died at the scene after he pulled out of an industrial 
driveway on Kahikatea Drive and collided with a
westbound truck. The truck then collided with an eastbound car.
The van driver's female passenger and the driver of the car are both in 
critical condition.


More cancer screening problems discovered
Well Mrs Smithers, I can either send your samples off to a pathology lab for analysis or 
you could chuck a dart – the latter, unfortunately, has the higher accuracy rate

In short

Abortions on rise again
There were 15,501 abortions last year, 3.1 per cent more than in 1998.
The rise comes after a 1.2 per cent drop during 1998, but follows a general trend in rising 
abortion numbers over the past 15 years.
Women aged 20 to 24 had the highest abortion rate at 34.8 per 1000.
Asian women had the highest abortion rate at 298 in 1000 known pregnancies, well 
above the national average of 212 in 1000.
Cheaper bras
The price of bras is likely to fall with the Government's decision to strip import tariffs.
There have been virtually no New Zealand-made bras on the local market since Bendon 
shifted its operations to Asia, citing costs as the reason.
The Government will remove 19 per cent of the Customs value for duty or 70c a bra – 
whichever is higher.
Dairy robbed
Two people robbed a Kamo dairy in Whangarei at gunpoint last night.
A shop worker was taken to hospital but police said his injuries were not life-threatening. 
It was not yet known if anything was taken.
The robbers fled in a white car.

In short

PM will open oyster plant
A new oyster-processing plant aimed ay export markets pens today in Kaeo in the Far 
North.
Sanford's $2 million plant beside State Highway 10 will mean 15 extra jobs, bringing the 
company's staff at Kaeo to 63.
A feature is a glass-walled viewing area where visitors can watch oyster processing 
without wearing special protective gear.
Prime Minister Helen  Clark will open the plant this morning.
Seatbelt boom
Seatbelts probably saved the crew of a fire truck that rolled into a ditch near Murupara, 
the Fire Service says.
Bay of Plenty-Waikato region manager Jim Stephens said it was a prime example of a 
serious accident where seatbelts meant only minor injuries.
All four volunteer firefighters in the Murupara fire truck were back at work today. The 
truck crashed in the way to a house fire in Waiohau.
Café hearing
Owners of the Sawmill Café at Leigh yesterday produced expert evidence that noise 
levels from musical performances would comply with planning rules. The popular café 
near the Goat Island Marine Reserve wants to extend opening hours to 3 am and have up 
to 300 people on the site.
But the owners, the Guinness family, have received strong objections from residents and 
bach owners in the quiet fishing village.
Rodney District Council planning commissioners reserved their decision yesterday after 
hearing from John Cawley, an acoustic consultant for the owners, that he was confident 
noise levels would comply with the district plan.
Legal history
The first Tauranga barrister to become a Queen's Counsel is Paul Mabey, aged 48, whose 
appointment was announced yesterday.
It follows the creation within the past two years of the post of Crown Solicitor for 
Tauranga, held by Gregory Hollister-Jones.

Casino foes seeks appeal cash

HAMILTON – Opponents of a casino in Hamilton have vowed to fight Riverside Casino 
in the Court of Appeal but will need another $100,000 to pay for legal fees – despite 
already owing close to that amount for their successful High Court action.
Riverside Casino filed its appeal in Wellington on Wednesday against Justice Fisher's 
decision in the High Court at Hamilton two weeks ago to revoke the casino licence.
That ruling was a victory for 14 mainly community and religious groups who fought the 
Casino Control Authority's decision to grant Riverside Casino the licence. They are now 
trying to raise money for the Appeal Court hearing.

Waxed Wool: Waiariki design student Hillary MacAskill's competition entry – modelled 
by Bridgette Moore – uses wool dipped in candle wax and knitted with spoons.

In short

Peters says profit $30m
Airways Corporation officers made $30 million out of a deal with United States company 
Lockheed Martin for a new air traffic control system, New Zealand First leader Winston 
Peters alleged in Parliament yesterday.
He also asked State Owned Enterprises Minister Mark Burton why the replacement 
contract for the national control system was awarded to Lockheed Martin without a 
tender process.
Poppies unloved
Most New Zealanders view society as a pyramid, with a few tall poppies reaping rich 
rewards at the top while they toil thanklessly at the bottom.
Respondents to the Massey University poll wanted the pyramid squashed, with more for 
the poor and less for the rich.
Cabinet ministers came in for particular flak, with respondents saying ministers earned 
$120,000 a year, when they should get only $80,000.
Bible bashing
A Mormon missionary will appear in the Levin district Court tomorrow charged with 
assault after a man claimed he had been beaten up on his back doorstep.
Peter Munro claims he was knocked down and kicked in the face by the man on 
Saturday.
He said the missionaries accused him of trying to knock them down in his car.
Shell in breach
Oil company Shell was fined $10,000 yesterday for breaching the Fair Trading Act – by 
having a sign at a Westland truckstop advertising prices much lower than actual pump 
costs.
Judge Carolyn Henwood imposed two fines of $5000 in the Wellington District Court 
after Shell pleased guilty to charges bought by the Commerce Commission.

In short

Death crash conviction
Andrew Ross Edwards, aged 25, a Hamilton accountant, has been found guilty in the 
Hamilton District Court on three counts of careless driving causing death after his car 
crashed into an oncoming vehicle on State Highway 3 near Piopio on March 6 last year.
The collision killed New Plymouth couple Peter and Shirley Kaye and their friend, 
Gwendalene Ries of Oakura.
Edwards was convicted and remanded for sentencing on May 29.
Name ban goes
A Hamilton man secretly filmed by TV3's Target programme rifling through a woman's 
drawers and committing indecencies with her underwear can be named after he did not 
appeal against the lifting of name suppression.
Target cameras filmed Ioelu Tyrell, aged 33, a cleaner, on February 4 when he was meant 
to be working at the Hamilton house.
Tyrell was convicted of wilful damage and fined $200.
Bomb suspect
A bomb disposal team from Auckland was called to Tauranga after a Pyes Pa resident 
discovered a suspicious object on a grassed roadside on Tuesday night.
Police said the device, six tubes bound together with yellow tape, appeared to have been 
there for some time.
It was detonated and the remains taken to Auckland for analysis.
Deal on tree
Two property owners who cut down a protected macrocarpa tree this year have settled 
out of court with the Tauranga District Council.
The council has accepted a $5000 offer from the Bellevue neighbours who removed a 
100-year-old tree on their boundary.
The money will be spent on tree planning and revegetation in a reserve near the two 
properties.

College wants salary repaid
Bream Bay College in Northland wants to get back $25,000 paid to a man 
who this week admitted -faking his
qualifications to secure a teaching job.
Magnesh Reddy, aged 41, now unemployed, admitted in the Otahuhu District 
Court charges of
uttering a forged document and using a document capable of being used for 
obtaining a benefit.
Reddy taught at Bream Bay from 1995 to 1999. He claimed he had a master 
of science degree in zoology from the
University of Auckland, and had attended the Auckland College of 
Education for one year. Neither claim was correct.
He will be sentenced on June 1.
The college chairman, Neil McLeod, says the incident has made the college more wary of 
teacher applicants from 
overseas whose qualifications could be difficult to confirm.
Tougher stance hailed
A Northland power firm has welcomed tougher sentences being handed out to 
electricity thieves.
In the Whangarei District Court this week two Whangarei men, Franklin 
Kohu, 47, and Jason Karl Pomare, 23,
admitted tampering with meters to obtain free electricity from Northpower.
Kohu was sentenced to four months' PD and Pomare to six months'. Both 
must pay reparations.
Northpower network manager Calvin Whaley says the offences are "really 
stealing from all of the honest electricity
users because somebody has to pay for the electricity." He says people 
tampering with meters risked electrocution.
Realtors duped
A sickness beneficiary went on a buying spree in Motueka, fooling real 
estate agents and signing up to buy seven properties worth nearly $2 million.
Timothy Joseph Foley, 40, was found guilty in the Nelson District Court 
on Tuesday of seven charges of intent to
defraud by using a document.
Foley, of Wakefield, told real estate agents that money was no object as 
his parents had recently died in a crash and he was their sole beneficiary.
Prosecutor David Boldt said Foley was exposed when he failed to front up 
with the deposits.
Foley will be sentenced on June 23.
Drug dealer jailed 
A Moerewa man who admitted selling LSD, cannabis and methamphetamine to 
an undercover policeman has been
sentenced to 2 ½  years' jail.
Appearing in the High Court at Whangarei, Tama Te Kuru, 39, admitted 
selling the drugs between August and
November 1999.
Crown Solicitor Phil Smith described Te Kuru as an active commercial trader.
Justice Laurenson told Te Kuru, who has 20 previous convictions, that selling class-A 
drugs carried a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and he was "getting into very 
deep water."

Driver awaits sentence

WANGANUI – The man who drove a large stolen car that smashed into a smaller car at a 
downtown Wanganui intersection in February, killing the woman at the wheel, pleaded 
guilty to manslaughter yesterday.
Rikki Maru, aged 24, of no fixed abode, admitted the crime before Judge Anthony Walsh 
in the Wanganui District Court and was remanded in custody for sentence in the High 
Court at Wanganui on May 5.
The police summary said that, despite seeing cars crossing the busy intersection in front 
of him, Maru made no attempt to brake or avoid the collision which killed mother-of-one 
Leisha Ann Bourne, aged 28.
Maru was trying to escape pursuing police when he hit Ms Bourne's car.

Student labelled Nazi apologist

By Jo-Marie Brown

David Irving

A Waikato university student is accused of being a neo-Nazi who denies the 
Holocaust ever happened.
But the PhD student,
German-born Hans Kupka, has hit back at the allegations, saying they are 
false and threaten the completion of his
doctorate.
The university magazine Nexus quotes Mr Kupka as saying that Nobel Peace 
Prize winner Eli Wiesel, whose family
was killed by Nazis, was a "malicious agitator, who wants to persecute the Germans and 
wants to hold them liable unto the 
10th generation."
 Mr Kupka also
said on a German Internet chat site
that "astronomical
 sums of money were paid [and] historical lies were invented only to 
please other countries."
The magazine said he speculated on whether concentration camps existed and, if so, how 
many Jews were really killed.
 Mr Kupka was the focus of a  feature published yesterday, outlining how 
the controversy has developed since 1998
when a group of university staff and students first raised concerns about 
him.
The article said the group became worried after reading statements he posted on German 
Internet sites about Jews and the Holocaust, since his PhD thesis on the use of German in 
New Zealand required him to interview the German Jewish community here.
The controversy  comes as a jury in a London libel case ruled against British historian 
David Irving, who was branded a Holocaust denier by an American professor for saying 
the Auschwitz death camp was a "Disneyland for tourists" and never had gas chambers.
The Waikato magazine detailed complaints the group made about Mr Kupka to university 
ethics committees as well as the Human Rights Commission and the Race Relations 
Office, during the past two years.
 Excerpts of' statements which Nexus alleges Mr Kupka has posted on the 
Internet were also published in the article, together with opinions on those statements 
from overseas "Holocaust  experts," which members of the group had sought.  Continued 
on A3.

Student rejects 'Nazi' tag
 Continued from A1.
Such experts include the director of the London University Institute for 
Holocaust Studies, Professor Peter Longerich,
who said Mr Kupka's postings followed "the typical patterns of 
Holocaust-denial."
Mr Kupka, who moved to New Zealand from Germany in 1992, could not be 
contacted yesterday.
But in an earlier e-mail rebutting the Nexus claims, he said the "proof" 
that he was a Holocaust denier and anti-Semite consisted largely of falsified statements 
taken out of context.
He said he was being unfairly pursued and his studies - suspended because of separate, 
academic concerns over his methodology - had been severely affected.
"The fact that the Race Relations Office did not uphold the allegations against me should 
in my view be an adequate reply for this group. Unfortunately it is not," said Mr Kupka.
"Once one avenue had been exhausted, a new allegation is fabricated or new obstacles to 
my study are raised. I feel seriously disadvantaged and unfairly treated."
Waikato University vice-chancellor Bryan Gould said he was satisfied the university had 
handled complaints about Mr Kupka fairly and that freedom of expression was as 
important as cultural safety.
"The opinion of the Human Rights Commission is that the publications from Mr Kupka 
of which complaint is made do not breach the Bill of Human Rights," said Professor 
Gould.
"The Race Relations Commission advises that any action taken against Mr Kupka by the 
university could be regarded as harassment."

Waka crew missing
Rescue services were concerned early today for nine men in the 20m waka 
Te Aurere, missing between the East
Cape and Great Barrier Island. The men were last heard from at 9 am 
yesterday when they said they were within
sight of White Island. The Maritime Safety Authority asked all shipping 
in the area to look out for them.
Home stabbing fatal
A 55-year-old woman was killed and her 53-year-old husband seriously 
injured when a man stabbed them in their
Rotorua home last night. A 32-year-old man found at the scene was in 
custody late last night helping police with their inquiries.
Bee killer found
A mite which kills honey bees has been found on a South Auckland 
property. Hives on three other properties have
also shown signs of being infected with the mite varroa jacobsoni. A 
full-scale survey to determine how far the mite
has spread will begin today.
Abortions reviewed
Ten women have reconsidered whether to have an abortion following the 
Catholic Bishop of Auckland's offer of cash and other support to help them "choose life" 
for their baby.
Cattle die on ship
Dead cattle have washed up on beaches in the Chatham Islands after 
disaster struck the maiden voyage of a shipping service. Twenty out of 80 cattle and a 
number of sheep are thought to have died when rough weather hit the cargo ship Jenka on 
its first trip back from the Chathams as part of a new shipping service.

Councils claim low beach pollution

Auckland beaches exceeded pollution guidelines 19 times during the peak 
summer swimming season, with three
instances where contamination was measured at 14 times the recommended 
limit.
But overall, both North Shore City Council and Auckland City Council say 
pollution levels were low this summer.
Of the 480 samples taken at North Shore's eight beaches, limits were 
breached nine times. At Auckland City
beaches, 10 out of 414 samples were above recommended guidelines.
But the overall picture was made worse by some poor results this month. On 
April 6, pollution limits were breached at
six different sites on the North Shore. On the same day, bacteria levels 
reached 14 times the recommended safety
guideline at St Heliers Beach.
North Shore City Council environmental protection manager John McEwing said 
he was at a loss to explain the
incident. "At this stage we're doing further study on the results. We're 
still unsure exactly what might have caused it."
Pollution levels were 14 times the limit at Palm Beach, Waiheke, on 
November 2.
North Shore City will spend $150 million over the next 10 years up-grading its drainage 
system to counter stormwater contamination of beaches.
Residents will pay an extra $52 in the coming year to begin paying for a 
$180 million upgrade to the city's Rosedale treatment plant.
Mr McEwing said that from July 1 this year, water sampling at beaches would 
be done all year round and sampling sites increased from 24 to 26.
Auckland City Council environmental health officer Jane Gower said most 
breaches of recommended pollution
guidelines coincided with rainfall. There was also a link between elevated 
enterococci levels and higher than average winds.
- Anne Beston

Judge awaits Withey report

WELLINGTON - The Police Complaints Authority is waiting for reports into 
the case of Dannevirke man Craig Withey
before deciding whether to investigate police actions.
The authority, Judge Neville Jaine, said he had been waiting for a 
malicious-prosecution case against police by Mr
Withey to end before investigating.
On Sunday, the Police Commissioner announced that a settlement had been 
reached with Mr Withey, who claimed
$850,000 in damages from police after being arrested on fabricated evidence.
"I've asked for reports and am considering what I will do about it," Judge Jaine said.
Further action would depend on reports into the case.
Any investigation was likely to focus on the actions of an undercover policeman, who 
had used the alias Malcolm McKenzie, and his supervisor, Napier detective Keith Price.
"But if there are issues of misconduct - using that word in its general term - that need to 
be looked at, so be it, but I can't add any more," he said.
Judge Jaine had asked the commissioner's office for details of the settlement.
The High Court at Palmerston North found in 1998 that two police officers 
altered evidence against Mr Withey and
then lied about it.
However, the jury did not award Mr Withey damages.
Mr Withey went to the Court of Appeal, claiming damages for malicious 
prosecution.
The Court of Appeal ruled the jury's verdict was inconsistent, and that a 
new High Court trial should be held.
But a statement the police released on Sunday said a settlement had been 
reached.
Its details were confidential.
Mr Withey was first charged with manufacturing cannabis oil in March 1994, 
after an undercover drugs operation netted 136 arrests and more than 400 convictions.
The charge was based on Mr McKenzie's identification of Mr Withey as the man he had 
met during a drug deal at a Dannevirke house in 1993.
The charge was dropped just before Mr Withey was due for trial in mid-1995.
Mr Withey said Mr McKenzie met another man, and the detective changed the 
description of that man's tattoos to match Mr Withey's own.

Rainclouds going, say forecasters

WELLINGTON - Rain which has lashed the North Island over the past couple of 
days does not signal a wet autumn, says the MetService.
It predicts rainfall in some areas will be lower than average.
MetService forecaster Mark Pascoe said the service was surprised at the 
rainfall, which was unusually heavy for the weather pattern.
But despite record falls in some areas over the past few days, below-average 
autumn rainfall is predicted for Wanganui and the Manawatu.
The MetService expects normal falls for Wellington and most of the South 
Island, and above normal rainfall for Gisborne and the Hawkes Bay.
The La Nina weather system would tend to keep autumn weather patterns a 
little south of their normal track, Mr Pascoe said.
The deluges over the past few days were caused by a broad rain band that 
swept down the North Island from the
Coromandel Peninsula southwards, bringing heavy rainfalls.
It was created by a low which moved down east of the North Island from the 
sub-tropics.
This brought very moist air with it and generated a strong easterly flow on 
to the North Island. - NZPA

Barry loving new spot

Screen Mother: Presenter Barry is juggling motherhood with her screen role.

You can take the girl out of news ... but not for long.
Former newsreader Hilary Barry is back on television, fronting the local 
edition of the international current affairs
programme Dateline (TV3, 9.30 pm).
Barry took time off from presenting TV3's weekend news bulletin to have her 
first child, a boy who is now three months
old. She did not expect to be back at work so soon but when she was offered 
Dateline decided she could juggle motherhood and a part-time career.
"When you make the decision to have a baby, that comes first.
"He's far more important than my career. Having said that, it has all 
worked out this way and I'm delighted.
"I thought I could probably manage [fronting Dateline], said yes, then 
ended up producing it as well."
The extra role involves wading through stories sent from NBC News in 
America. It is the most time-consuming part of
her job - and the most enjoyable for the news junkie.
"I look for things that New Zealanders would be interested in. 
International stories that have a worldwide emphasis," says Barry.
"There's some fascinating stories.
"Last week we had a really interesting story from Sarajevo about two chaps 
caught on either side of the conflict there
and how one ended up killing the other. That was a really powerful story."
Tonight the show features a story about a woman suffering from the 
psychological disorder Munchhausen's syndrome by proxy, where a parent will fake 
illnesses in their child to gain attention.
"I'm still keen to get back to news but a bit later in the year, probably.
"It's quite nice to leave the house and be needed by other people.
"I didn't expect to relish work as much as I have, to actually enjoy leaving him with Dad 
and popping out and doing my thing. But then I love getting home and finding out what 
has been happening."
- Louisa Cleave

Farm animal care poor SPCA claims

Ian Ewen-Street

WELLINGTON - New Zealand farmers have a mediocre record of animal welfare, 
the SPCA says.
SPCA Wellington spokesman Hans Kriek said recent protests against sow 
crates, and the use of mutant cows to
genetically engineer sheep, showed that farm animal welfare in New Zealand 
left much to be desired.
Mr Kriek was also concerned that live sheep shipped to the Middle East for 
slaughter were cooped up in holds for weeks.
"They measure welfare by how many drop dead on the way," he said.
 New Zealand farm animals enjoyed an outdoor life, but exposure to the 
elements carried risks. Lambs died when there was late-spring snow and animals suffered 
heat in summer because they lacked shade.
Last week New Zealand Pork defended the practice of isolating pregnant 
sows in metal stalls, following a petition to Parliament calling for it to be banned. Mr 
Kriek disagreed with 
New Zealand Pork's view that pregnant sows were happy in metal stalls.
"The pork industry would say that. The chief executive of New Zealand Pork 
would lose his job if he said dry sow stalls were bad for pigs."
A breed of cattle at the centre of a genetic engineering hearing in 
Wellington were in constant pain because their bones and sinews were too weak for their 
weight. The Belgian blue has a natural
mutation leading to "double muscling" and its gene code is sought after as 
a way of enhancing muscle growth in sheep.
Another breed in New Zealand, piedmontese and some breeds in Europe have a 
similar mutation, which makes them
popular as beef animals.
Green MP Ian Ewen-Street said the main animal welfare issues were cattle 
being crowded in high-intensity feed lots,
and factory farming of chicken.
Docking the tails of dairy cows was a common practice, he said. Farmers 
did it so they did not get an excrement-laden tail across their faces during milking.
Farming, pest eradication, and the killing of animals for food have all 
come under the new Animal Welfare Act, in force
since January 1 when it replaced the 1960 Animal Protection Act. Companies 
or groups can be prosecuted for
inhumane practices, and there are higher penalties.
The act also covers intensive farming, where animals are closely confined.
Federated Farmers has said it supported the new act. – NZPA 

Flak hampered bid to fill top IRD job

WELLINGTON - The acting Inland Revenue Commissioner, John Perham, is 
independent from the controversy that
has surrounded the department in the past two years, says State Services 
Minister Trevor Mallard.
Mr Perham's appointment has been questioned by Act MP Rodney Hide - previously 
blamed by Revenue Minister Michael Cullen for making it difficult to find a permanent 
appointment.
Mr Hide asked Mr Mallard in a written parliamentary question released 
yesterday why it was decided to hire someone
from outside the department to fill the vacancy left by Graham Holland.
Mr Mallard said the decision to appoint an acting chief executive was 
made by State Services Commissioner Michael
Wintringham, who had been influenced by two factors.
"He wanted to provide immediate stability at Inland Revenue after Mr 
Holland's departure and to allow the Government
time to carefully consider the job requirements for the permanent 
appointment," he said.
Mr Perham was chosen because of his experience in managing public-sector 
organisations and because he had been working in Australia for the past five years.
"This gives him an independence from the public controversy that has 
surrounded Inland Revenue during the past two years," said Mr Mallard.
Dr Cullen recently said Mr Hide's campaign against the department had hampered 
recruitment.
Potential candidates approached for the post had said the job was too 
risky because of unfair, politically motivated
attacks.
"The outgoing commissioner has been subject to a range of personal 
attacks, calls repeatedly for him to be sacked,
likened to the leaders of Nazi Germany by Mr Hide, accusations of being 
directly responsible for suicide, that his
work could not be relied upon, that he winked at breaking the law, being 
totally incompetent and afraid of providing the
sort of leadership required," Dr Cullen said last month.
Opposition MPs claimed that few efforts had been made to recruit a new 
commissioner.
Mr Perham was a senior official in Australia's Treasury, a former chief executive of the 
National Provident Fund and a former chairman of the Development Finance 
Corporation. - NZPA

Australians to salvage Chathams shipwreck

CHRISTCHURCH -An Australian marine salvage company is expected in New 
Zealand this month to remove the wreck of the trawler Seafresh 1 from the Chatham 
Islands.
United Salvage, of Sydney, has been awarded the contract and is awaiting 
approval from the Maritime Safety
Authority and the Ministry of Fisheries for its proposals to deal with 
the wreck.
 Last month, ministry officials served 30 days' notice on the trawler's owner, Seafresh 
New Zealand, requiring the wreck to be removed by April 23 because of a threat of 
spreading the invasive Asian seaweed undaria.
 The Seafresh 1 sank at its mooring in Hanson Bay, on the eastern side of Chatham 
Island, on March 17 after it was disabled by an engine-room fire and towed there. It. was 
carrying 102 tonnes of diesel and 10 tonnes of hydraulic and lubricating oils.
The ministry wants the wreck removed, either by refloating it for 
refitting or scuttling at a depth of at least 1500m in an
ocean area already infected with undaria. Authority officials are 
monitoring the wreck amid concerns over the oil still
on board.
Neil Wheeler, a partner in P&I Services, the New Zealand representative 
for Seafresh l's liability insurer, said United
Salvage planned to arrive in New Zealand about April 20 and would be on 
site in the Chatham Islands by April 23 or 24.
United Salvage had indicated it would remove the oil from the wreck, fit 
airbags and refloat the trawler.
Mr Wheeler said the wreck could be floated and resunk in an area where 
the undaria already present on its hull would cause no harm to the environment, or be 
towed to a port already, infested with the aggressive kelp - NZPA 

Girls lash out more

ROTORUA - The gender revolution has taken a new spin, with girls becoming 
as guilty as boys of bashing each other up.
Senior Sergeant Phil Spackman, of Rotorua, said that although the problem 
had not reached epidemic proportions in
the city, it was becoming time-consuming for community constables.
A number of beatings occurred as students travelled to and from school 
and were usually concerning relationships.
Girls were often aggressor and victim.
"We talk to these kids and they say he or she made a pass at my other 
half," said Senior Sergeant Spackman.
While he did not believe the problem was peculiar to Rotorua, he said 
police there were more involved as schools
were referring assaults to them rather than dealing with them in-house.
-	NZPA

Goat-hunters deny cruel killing
An Australian animal rights activist has laid animal cruelty charges 
against a leading New Zealand goat-hunting
company.
The charges, alleging cruelty by unreasonable wounding and killing, were 
brought by Mark Anthony Pearson against
Paeroa-based Prohunt Company and its managing director, Norm Macdonald.
Mr Macdonald will defend the allegations in the Newcastle Magistrates' 
Court in New South Wales next month.
He says the charges arose after the NSW National Parks and Wildlife 
Service and the Lord Howe Island Board
contracted his company to get rid of feral goats on Lord Howe Island, 
northeast of Sydney.
He and four other Prohunt hunters spent six weeks last September shooting
about 250 goats from dense bush and rugged mountain country on the 
island. Helicopters and specially trained dogs
were also used in the hunt.
Their actions were opposed by animal rights activists, but were closely 
monitored by police, Lord Howe Island Board
representatives and a senior member of the Australian Society for the 
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Animal rights activists have laid similar cruelty charges against the 
Lord Howe Island Board.
Prohunt is used widely in New Zealand by the Department of Conservation 
and other organisations to keep feral goats
out of national parks, state forest areas, city water catchment regions 
and land subject to erosion. It recently began goat-culling in the Hunua Ranges for 
the Auckland Regional Council.
"There was a lot of anti-shooting feeling on Lord Howe by a few people," 
said Mr Macdonald. "We killed every goat we
saw in the most professional and humane manner we could.
"The protesters lodged complaints about us with the local policeman 
almost every day. He kept a close eye on our
operation and ... never at any stage found we had done anything wrong."
Prohunt has recently been asked for help by authorities on Galapagos Islands, where up 
to half a million feral goats arecreating major problems for native plant, bird, and animal 
wildlife.
Kingsley Field

Review finds health care up to scratch

Annette King

WELLINGTON - A review of cardiac services at North Shore Hospital has 
found they are comparable with secondary
hospitals elsewhere, says Health Minister Annette King.
She had asked the Ministry of Health to investigate the services following 
a television current affairs programme on
the death of patient Alan McKenzie.
Mrs King said yesterday that the ministry had assured her the cardiac 
services were safe and appropriate, following
a review by Dunedin cardiologist Gerry Wilkins.
But while she was pleased with the assurances, the report did raise some 
broader national issues concerning
demand for cardiology services, changes in cardiology practices and the 
recruitment of specialists.
"I will follow through on these issues with the Ministry of Health."
Dr Wilkins pointed to growing national problems meeting the demand for 
cardiology services, and difficulties that
secondary hospitals had attracting cardiology staff.
Tertiary-level care such as invasive diagnostic studies had been 
centralised at Auckland's Green Lane Hospital, in
Hamilton, Wellington and two South Island sites.
"The view that cardiac catheterisation facilities should only be available 
in tertiary-level hospitals may require review
as such tests become increasingly commonplace," he said.
As a secondary hospital, North Shore had developed cardiology services on the usual 
model for that level, despite its large catchment.
It had a strong general medical base but with relatively few cardiologists. 
Dr Wilkins noted that a number of smaller
hospitals - Hastings, Tauranga and Nelson - had developed cardiac 
catheterisation facilities,
He said that while centralisation was likely to offer better efficiency and 
expertise "as procedural numbers increase some of these advantages may be less 
compelling."
Hospitals without the full range of cardiology practice were limited 
professionally and had difficulties attracting and retaining cardiology staff.
Ministry chief medical adviser Colin Feek said centralisation had been part 
of a tertiary services review five years ago.
It had been a "financial-clinical decision ... and we'll look into the issue."
Green Lane was coping and it was not far for people to travel from the 
North Shore, he said.
"North Shore actually are recruiting two other cardiologists, so we'll watch that. You 
don't necessarily need to build cardiac catheterisation labs everywhere."
- NZPA

Eat your heart out, George Lucas
In short

The Lord of the Rings has ready surpassed Star
Episode 1 The Phantom Menace at the online "box office."
More than 1.67 million fans around the world downloaded the online 
promotional trailer for The Lord of the Rings from
the Internet during its first 24 hours of availability.
 Star Wars promoters reported
only one million downloads in the
same period when trailers for the
George Lucas  film were released last year.
The two-minute trailer for the Tolkien film, now being shot in New 
Zealand by director Peter Jackson, can be seen at
www.lordoftherings.net
Fisheries truce
Factions in a long-running Kaipara fishing dispute are to come together to develop a 
management plan for the harbour.
Iwi representatives, commercial fishers and representatives from Kaipara, and Rodney 
districts, plus the Ministry of Fisheries, have agreed to establish a study group.
The factions had been at loggerheads for a number of years, leading to 
the imposition of a rahui (ban) on parts of the harbour in 1997.
That led to armed confrontation and allegations from fishers of theft and intimidation.
Ministry policy analyst, Bob Drey, who will be in the study group, said that while the 
harbour had been a "conflict situation" for a number of years, he believed the 
goodwill existed to make progress.
Caps in the ring
Eight people have applied to be Police Commissioner - seven from New 
Zealand and one from Australia.
Applications closed yesterday
A shortlist will be made up and those on it will be interviewed by a panel led by State 
Services Commissioner Dr Michael Wintringham
Former commissioner Peter Doone resigned in controversial circumstances on January 26 
when a car driven by his partner was stopped by a rookie constable.
School verdict
A Waitangi Tribunal report to be released on Monday is expected to uphold 
a central North Island community's claim against the closure of a tiny bilingual school.
The board of trustees at Mokai Bilingual School, 28km northwest of Taupo, 
alleged that the closure breached the Treaty of Waitangi.
The 93-year-old school shut last October after an order by the Education 
Minister at the time, Nick Smith.

Police sure saboteurs toppled tower

Police are convinced this 55m transmitter tower in Porirua was brought down 
deliberately, and they are investigating reports of suspicious activity in the area. 
Detective Constable Andrew Fabish said three of its legs were severed, and
the flat and even nature of the cuts at the base of the tower had convinced 
them sabotage was to blame rather than metal fatigue. The fourth leg gave way in 
Sunday's heavy winds. The tower, at the top of Colonial Knob, transmitted signals
for three radio stations, which were put off the air. Police communications and 
Vodafone cellphone services were also cut. Contractors have put up temporary antennas 
and all services have been restored.

Sentencing of killer put off
The man who admitted murdering Auckland journalist Kylie Jones has had his 
sentencing delayed a month because
a psychiatric report is not ready.
Taffy Herbert Hotene, who murdered Miss Jones on June 6 in Glen Innes, was 
to have been sentenced tomorrow in
the High Court at Auckland.
But the psychiatric report is not ready and the sentencing hearing will now 
take place on October 9.
Holmes 'silly'
Broadcaster Paul Holmes has been rapped over the knuckles but will not be 
prosecuted over a low-flying incident at
Ardmore Airport
The Civil Aviation Authority has written to Holmes "drawing attention to 
his display of poor airmanship," says
spokesman Martyn Gosling.
"He's basically a low-time, inexperienced pilot who did something silly."
Holmes is said to have flown low over the Warbirds' clubrooms on May 27.
Mr Gosling says the authority decided that a prosecution was not warranted; a letter of 
warning was more appropriate.
Death verdict
A 28-year-old man has been found guilty of the manslaughter of his ailing 
father.
The Crown alleged in the High Court at Auckland that Shannon Tai assaulted 
James Andrew Tai after a heavy
drinking session.
Crown prosecutor Anne Kiernan said the assault increased the father's 
adrenalin flow and his bad heart could not
cope.
But the defence, represented by James Cagney and Brenda Donald, said there 
was no assault; the increased
adrenalin flow could have resulted from the pair arguing.
Justice David Baragwanath remanded Shannon Tai for sentencing.
Pedestrian bashed
A Wellington pedestrian was hit over the head with a wheelbrace early 
yesterday after he made a comment about the speed of a car.
The man needed treatment for a cut after the incident, which happened about 
3.25 am in the downtown area.
Police said he was attacked after he made a comment to a driver whose car 
sped past him as he was crossing the
road.
The driver got out and hit him with a wheelbrace before driving off.
Police are seeking witnesses.


