Chronicled Today

Money allocated for cervical screening programmes did not always its intended 
destination, the Gisborne cervical screening inquiry has been told.

Page 2

District councillor John Lithgow's vision for Wdanui includes a substantial section on 
Hatrick Raceway, the much-applauded greyhound racing venue at Spriggens Park.

Page 6

The coldest relic of the Cold War lies literally frozen in time on the edge of 
Australia's Antarctic territory.

Crime stats good … or are they?
By Simon Walters

Wanganui was one of the country's 
leading police districts last year 
recording a drop in reported crime of
14 percent compared to 1998.
 Nationally reported crime fell by 5.1
percent,
 Latest crime statistics show that
6216 offences were reported to
Wanganui police last year.This was
compared to a total of 7309 reports of
crime in 1998.
 Average reported burglaries were
down to 77 reports a month last year
from 112 in 1998 and 129 in 1997.
 The resolution rate for burglaries
was 17 percent, but police plan to
increase it to 30 percent over the next
18 months.
 Nationally the number of recorded
offences fell from 461,677 offences in
1998 to 438,074 in 1999.
 Northland and Tasman police
districts were the only areas to record an increase in reported crime.  Central District 
police commander, Superintendent Mark Lammas said crime in the district - 
encompassing Wanganui, Ruapehu, Manawatu, Horowhenua, Palmerston North and 
Tararua - fell 5.3 percent.
He attributed the results to a variety of factors including increasing 
involvement of community groups and government agencies in making communities 
safer as well as policing strategies.
"Police are continually focusing on crime reduction and we are constantly 
reviewing our strategies to ensure that we are effective," Mr Lammas said.
He said some of the most recent strategies included deploying traffic 
patrols in high risk areas and visiting repeat
victims of crime and offering crime prevention advice.
Older but equally successful strategies included bail checks, targeting 
repeat offenders, and analysing crime
patterns.
Wanganui police chief, Inspector Gary Smith, could not he contacted for 
comment.

A former Wanganui police officer has challenged the claimed good results 
which show less reported crime last year
than previous years.
The retired officer, who did not want to be named, said there was not 
necessarily less crime, only less reported
crime.
"It is crucial that you make that distinction because police are saying 
less people are reporting crime, not that there
is less crime happening," the officer said.
He said people could not assume that a fall in reported crime meant that 
there had been a corresponding fall in
criminal activity. There were several reasons why reported crime had 
fallen.
"You have less police officers on the street today than you used to. That 
means they are not there on the streets to
see a lot of offences that they used to pick up."
This was especially true of nuisance offences such as graffiti, bad 
language, drunk and  disorderly behaviour and
smoking cannabis, he said.
"Nowadays when police do see somebody smoking a joint they tell them to 
get rid of it and often there is no charge.
Another reason there was less crime reported to police was because victims 
were less inclined to report all crime, he said.
 Minor house burglaries, thefts from vehicles and similar offences were 
often not reported because people knew that police would not investigate them as 
police treated them as low priority offences.
Police simply did not have sufficient resources to allocate to investigate 
those offences, he said
"I'm not saying that is true of all such offences and police do still 
investigate major burglaries but there are many that
they do not and so people feel there is often little point reporting these 
crimes unless
they intend to make an insurance claim."
And with much higher premiums and higher excesses, victims claimed less 
often for minor losses, opting to lodge
insurance claims only when major items were stolen.
The former officer said there was currently no way of telling whether there 
was more or less actual crime and that a
more reliable method of measuring crime was needed.
"The current system can be influenced by all sorts of factors, internally 
and externally, and other than less crime. It
does not accurately reflect what is happening in the community."
He said it was in the best interests of police managers to see the reported 
crime figures fall and questioned whether
this always led to the best strategies being implemented.
"Statistics can be made to tell a variety of stories and reported crime 
statistics have been tweaked and twisted more
than most over the years."
Wanganui police boss, Inspector Gary Smith and Central District commander, 
Superintendent Mark Lammas, could not be contacted for comment.

"It is crucial that you make that distinction because police are saying less people are 
reporting crime, not that there is less crime happening."

Keyboard cupids tie 'net knot
By Mary Bryan

Computer couple … Keith and Tasha Marcroft

'As soon as I arrived in New Zealand and met Keith I knew I had made the right 
decision.'

Kissing cousins Keith Marcroft of Wanganui, and Tasha
Marcroft met in person for the first time a week ago, married yesterday and 
tomorrow the bride flies back to her home in
the United States.
But it has been no whirlwind romance for the two who have been 
corresponding through the Internet for the past two
years. Mrs Marcroft, 27, a laboratory processor
has a passion for family genealogy and
originally made contact through the Internet
with Keith's brother Peter. This led to her
contacting Keith through the Internet's chat
programme and "the conversation just flowed."   
Keith Marcroft, 37, proposed via the Internet seven and a-half months ago 
but admitted to being nervous about the wedding.
"I'm the one with the nerves  because I have been through a marriage 
before. It is a big step getting married again but
in my heart I know it in the right decision.
"And Tasha wants me to take her name, which I don't mind,"
Marcroft quipped.
His wife though wasn't In the slightest bit nervous.
"As soon as I arrived in New Zealand and met Keith I knew I had made the right 
decision," she said.
"We are the same sort of people and  are  really into computers. It will be hard to fly 
back to America, but I could only get away I from work for about a week- I'll be 
taking back my Kiwi T- shirt with Bugger on it. We will keep in constant touch 
through the Internet, and in a few months Keith will come to America." 
Whether they would make their home in America or New Zealand had yet to be 
decided, she said
 Mrs Marcroft said she and Keith were at least sixth cousins, as his great 
grandfather came to New Zealand in 1910
from England, and her father's people went from England to America in 1854.
Their marriage certificate has four Marcroft signatures on it as Keith's brother Peter 
and their father Philip are the two witnesses.

Jobs to go in city wool industry
By Iain Hyndman
Agricultural Editor

The sad state of the New Zealand wool industry has hit home for up to five long-
serving Wanganui woolstore workers.
Eight of the nine workers at the Wanganui Wrightson Woolstore in Heads Rd have 
been asked to reapply for three positions, effectively stripping five of their jobs.
The nine employees have a combined service of 115 years.
While the number of job cuts is relatively small, the impact on the workers and their 
families is huge. But, perhaps more importantly, the job cuts reflect the sad state of an 
industry which has been in decline over the past decade.
Wrightson Wool group manager Richard  Wakelin, a former Wanganui manager 
now  based in Napier, confirmed yesterday jobs would be lost in Wanganui. 
"It's business as usual for us and the any job losses reflect the decline in the number 
of wool bales being handled through the Wanganui woolstore," Mr Wakelin said.
"The industry is changing, so we too have to be ready to adapty to that change as any 
good business should.
"It's regrettable people have to lose jobs. Wool is now being sold in a wider variety of 
ways with direct selling, electronic selling and the traditional auction system.
"Unfortunately, Wanganui is no longer the wool centre it used to be," he said.
It is understood the current Wanganui manager will retain his job along with three 
others who successfully reapply. 

Good news for gardeners

Wanganui Chronicle gardening enthusiasts are in for a treat. 
Today we introduce Christchurch-based
garden designer and  lecturer Helen Solomons to our garden pages.
Helen's column will appear fortnightly in the Saturday garden pages starting 
today.
Christchurch educated, she completed her university education before heading 
overseas to Europe for seven years.
During this period she received her degree in
garden design at the English School of Gardening in Chelsea, London.
Returning to her home city, she set up her own business as a writer, 
garden designer and lecturer.
Helen travels to Europe and America each year to look at new trends and 
writes on those experiences.
Turn to page 15 to catch Helen Solomons' first column.

Murder inquiry

Police launched a murder inquiry after two people were found dead in a Taupo house 
yesterday afternoon. Detective Sergeant  Chris Parker said the bodies of a man and a 
woman were found about 3pm after a "concerned relative forced entry to the house".
"The deaths are being treated as suspicious at this stage and a full homicide 
investigation has been implemented."  He said later he believed that no one else was 
involved. "However, we can't be 100 per cent sure until we've done a full scene 
examination."
Birthday salute
A 21 -gun salute will be fired in  Wellington at noon today to mark the 
actual birthday of the Queen. Soldiers from the
army's 16th Field Regiment would fire the salute from Point Jerningham 
the army said. The Queen will be turning 74. Her birthday is observed in June. - PA.
Fire suspicious
Canterbury police are investigating what they believe was a deliberately lit 
fire at a house in Kaiapoi, north of Christchurch on Thursday. The fire, about 4.15am, 
slightly damaged the 
house and a man had to be rescued by fire
fighters suffering from smoke inhalation - PA.
Kidnap foiled
A punch ended an attempt to kidnap a young Nelson woman walking through the city 
on Wednesday night.
Senior Sergeant  Eric Davy of Nelson police, said the woman was grabbed by a man 
who tried to push her into a car at 7.10pm. "The complainantsuccessfully punched the 
offender and was able to run away."  Mr Davy said police were seeking a tall Maori 
male, aged about 30. - PA.

Cannabis and alcohol deadly mix behind the wheel

WELLINGTON Drivers who use cannabis appear to be
as safe as sober motorists but become deadly when the drug is mixed with large 
amounts of alcohol, a road researcher says.
Police Minister George  Hawkins  has confirmed police intend studying cannabis use 
in relation to road accidents,  using blood samples from 4800 drink-driving suspects.
Wellington-based road  researcher John Bailey said an earlier study into fatal road 
accidents found that one in five drivers who died on the roads in a two-year period 
had been smoking cannabis in the hours before they crashed.
But he said cannabis on its own didn't appear to be a problem; it was when the drug 
was mixed with alcohol that drivers became dangerous.
"In our fatal accident study we found there's not really
much of a problem with people who just smoke cannabis, who haven't drunk alcohol 
as well.
 "That small group appeared to actually be safer than those people who 
had no drugs at all on board, , neither cannabis or alcohol."
The biggest concern was people who had a very high blood-alcohol level 
which in the fatal accident study corresponded to about 25 glasses of beer and who 
also smoked  cannabis.
Mr Hawkins said the aim of the study was to show how widely cannabis was being 
used by drivers, and how  much of a problem that was. 
 Unlike alcohol there was no specific limit for cannabis,
above which a driver was considered legally incapable of driving so police did not 
routinely  analyse blood for its presence.
Dr Bailey said he had been talking to police and the Land Transport Safety Authority 
about follow up research to the fatal accident study for some time.
 Among the propositions which could arise from the new
research was roadside testing for cannabis, while its findings
would be useful in the debate over whether cannabis should
be decriminalised, an issue due to be considered by Parliament toward the end of the 
year.
"Because of the high cost of the cannabis analysis it's possible the Government has 
missed a key aspect of this problem over many, many years.
"The focus has been on the consumption of alcohol, including even the consumption 
of small amounts of alcohol, when it should have been primarily, on the consumption 
of alcohol, often in combination with cannabis."

Funds did not reach cancer screening programme: report

GISBORNE - Money allocated for regional cervical screening programmes did 
not always reach its intended
destination, the Gisborne cervical screening inquiry has been told.
According to information from the inquiry on Thursday, Crown money sent 
to area health boards for the purchase of
cytology services and other screening programme requirements was  not 
always passed on to the programme.
The inquiry was established to examine retired Gisborne pathologist Dr 
Micheal Bottrill's performance in reading
cervical smear slides between 1991 and 1996.
Hanne Janes, counsel for the inquiry committee, tabled a document 
with statistical data from the programme's early history.
"Expenditure of the Cervical Screening Programme at the Area Health 
Board Level 1990-91", by Terri Green noted that nationally 70.9 percent of the money 
budgeted for the programme was
allocated to it. Som regions fared worse than others, with Otago 
receiving only 57.7 percent of the
funding available and Canterbury, 65.3 percent.
In those cases, it appeared the balance may have been diverted to other 
area health board activities, said Ms Janes.
The Tairawhiti region, which includes Gisborne, received 100 percent of 
allocated funds.
More witnesses for the Ministry of Health are due to appear before the 
inquiry next week. – PA


Winz staff rip off thousands

WELLINGTON - Work and Income NZ staff have defrauded the department of more 
than $300,000.
Statistics show that 11 staff have committed fraud totalling $349,435 since 
the department opened in October 1998.
The amount involved in each case ranges from several thousand dollars to 
more than $100,000 in one case.
The staff involved no longer work for the department
Spokeswoman Kate Joblin said it was not known how much of that money had 
since been repaid, though all 11 staff
were understood to have been prosecuted and reparation sought through the 
justice system
"Any outstanding balance can be recovered through the normal benefit debt 
recovery process," Ms Joblin said.
"Any level of fraud is of concern to the department."
Systems to prevent staff fraud were continually under review, she said.
Work and Income briefing papers to the incoming Government last year show the 
department had initiated a guardianship project to clamp down on internal fraud and
to "foster a culture that values trust, honesty, integrity and care," among staff.
Chief Executive Christine Rankin said staff starting with the department 
underwent a comprehensive training
programme which included providing
them with understanding and
awareness of fraud issues
 "The systems  and quality assurance
checks include a process of authentication
whereby a second  staff member is
required to approve main benefits,
advanced payments and special needs
grants prior to any payment being
released," Ms Rankin said. 
"There is also a national programme in place where a national unit carries 
out random cheeks as to the accuracy and
timeliness of  work completed by frontline staff."
In addition, an internal audit group regularly undertook audits to check that processes 
were being followed, Ms Rankin said.

'Any outstanding balance can be recovered through the normal benefit debt 
recovery process.'

Fun nights no trivial matter to players

The brainpower of Wanganui Hospice supporters will be put to the test when the 
winter season of Trivial Pursuits evenings starts again.
Teams of six will pit their general knowledge and intellectual skills
against other teams, with proceeds
going to hospice.
Organiser Dawn Meade said they
were more evenings of hilarity
than a  serious attempt at a contest.
"Having said that, the quiz master is subjected to some pretty, close questioning if 
team members think he has got the wrong end of the stick," she said.
The hospice has to raise about $250,000 every year to cover day-to-day 
running costs. Last year the battle of the brains raised over $ 1000.
The trivial pursuits evenings start May 10 at St Andrew's hall in Glasgow 
St and will  run every second winter Wednesday. For more
 information  contact Mrs Meade 345 1576.

Men charged 

Wellington Two men have
been charged with attempted murder following an attack which left a Napier teenager 
with his throat cut and stab wounds to his face and chest on Thursday. Karl Pringle, 
19, staggered into a suburban Napier house after apparently  being dumped in a 
nearby  park.
"Mr Pringle remains in a serious 
 condition in hospital and detectives are anticipating that he will be able
to be interviewed later," Detective
Senior Sergeant Bill Gregory said.

Visitor number increase

WELLINGTON - The number of 
international visitors to New Zealand in March jumped 5 percent on the same month 
last year, Statistics 
New  Zealand figures show.  Almost 153,000 people visited the
country in March, up 7610 on the same month in 1999 and surpassing the 
March high  of 149,290 visitors, recorded in 1997.
Statistician Denise Brown said there were 1.652 million visitor arrivals 
in the year to March 2000, up 9 percent on the previous year.
There were increases in the number of visitors from Asia (up 3770), Australia (up 
3060) and Europe (up 2900) during March, Ms Brown said.
Permanent and long-term
departures exceeded arrivals by  2520 in March 2000, slightly less than 
the month last year (2540)
 Ms Brown said 2170 more people
moved from New Zealand to Australia
than made the reverse journey and
1080 more people moved to the United
Kingdom, than came here. However, 680 more people came to New Zealand
from Asia than went there.
For the year to March, a total of 8990 more people moved out of New Zealand than 
came to live. - PA

Chairman delighted with hospice fund-raising progress

Drumming up support for a new $1.8 million Wanganui Hospice has kept building 
committee chairman Alan Burnet on his toes these past weeks.
Mr Burnet said the committee was very happy with the response from visits to 
mayors, service club heads and schools around the Wanganui district.
The committee had also decided to grant room naming rights to people who donated 
large sums.
The Wanganui Chronicle appeal has raised over $6000 so far.
"The small donations are very important too – we want everybody to be involved."
He said the committee was thrilled with the progress and felt confident the appeal 
would heat up with the River City FM radiothon on May 27 and 28.

Readers say no to titles in close vote

Opinion is divided among Wanganui Chronicle readers on whether or not the country 
should retain the system of Royal honours.
Our Monday poll asked of readers if they agreed with moves by Government to scrap 
the honours, meaning an end to titles such as Sir and Dame.
The vote was close, with 52 percent wanting to drop the titles and 48 percent voting 
against any change.

Scrambled Eggs: Wanganui shoppers were a blur on Thursday as they whisked their 
way through The Warehouse in a rush to bag Easter goodies. Meanwhile, the more 
traditional Easter celebrations begin in earnest on Good Friday yesterday and will 
continue with Sunday services in churches tomorrow.

Time for fun
The countdown to the Wanganui Chronicle Round the Bridges Fun Run is on. It 
is time to dust off your sneakers
and/or warm-up your inline skates or wheelchair in preparation for Sunday, 
April 30. Walkers, runners and wheelers
have a choice of a 7km or 11 km long course, both starting by the river 
outside the Chronicle building on Moutoa
Quay. Walkers take off at 9.30am and runners at 10am. Prizes including a 
trip for two to Nelson will be drawn during
the run and everyone across the finish line will get a certificate. Proceeds 
go to the Alzheimer's Society and young athletes through Sport Wanganui.
Named
 Name suppression has been lifted by the Wanganui District Court in respect of a man 
charged with an assault on a security guard outside the Castlecliff Club last Saturday 
night. Dion Hamiora Matthews, 27, was on Thursday remanded to
 out plea for a psychiatric report and to ascertain if he is fit to plead. Matthews is 
charged  with injuring with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
McCahon talk
Colin McCahon - painter, poet, prophet - will be the subject of a floor talk at 
Wanganui's Sarjeant Gallery tomorrow at 2pm by Gillian Wilkshire. It
is being held in conjunction with the gallery's exhibition Answering Hark, a 
collaboration of war works by McCahon and poet John Caselberg.

New York trip
Environment Minister Marian Hobbs is to attend talks in New York next week 
on climate change and sustainable
development  Ms Hobbs will attend the annual session of the Commission on 
Sustainable Development, a United
Nations body set up to monitor progress on the sustainable development action 
programme agreed to at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. - PA.

Shop laws defied 
WELLINGTON - Seven garden centres will have to dig deep for flouting shop 
trading laws and opening yesterday.
Labour Inspectorate acting manager Peter Winchester said five Oderings 
stores  in Christchurch, and Palmers
Gardenworld and the Wholesale Tree Company, both in Auckland, had opened 
in breach of the 1990 Shop Trading
Hours Repeal Act.
The Act restricted trading on Good Friday, Easter Sunday and half of 
Anzac Day for retailers except dairies, petrol
stations, chemists, fast-food outlets, cafes, restaurants and souvenir 
shops.
The penalty for breaking the law was a maximum  $1,000 fine. PA.


 WOMEN AT War: Wanganui Return Service Women's Association members (from 
left) Joan Lucas, Marie 
Littlewood add. Naomi Olliver look at old photographs at last week's 
WRSWA meeting. Mrs Olliver attended the
inaugral meeting  on March 3, 1948. The association helps the RSA with 
Poppy Appeals, other projects and
welfare work. Nearly 46 Wanganui women served overseas in four wars - 
Crimean War, Boer War, World War 1 and
2. There were sisters in the New Zealand Army Nursing Service, the 
Women's Auxiliary Army Corps, pilots in the Air
Transport Auxiliary and the British Queen Alexandras, and Wrens.
See Women at War feature P17 

No smacking message going out to parents
By Meredith Stuck

A smack on the bum is more likely to knock children's confidence than 
teach them good manners.
That is part of the no smacking message Wanganui's  Child Youth 'and 
Family, Barnardos and Parent Support
Services want to get across.
CYFS social worker Gabrielle Strichen said although not illegal, research 
showed smacking by parents fostered
aggression in children.
She said the agencies all acknowledged parenting was a difficult job, but 
a slap in anger could leave a child resentful
and lacking in self-esteem.  
The agencies considered key factors in
raising well-disciplined children were parents who provided love and 
security, set consistent boundaries and rules,
were good role models, knew what their children were doing, and ignored 
minor but confronted serious misbehaviour.
Barnardos spokeswoman Suzanne Roberts said New Zealand had double 
standards because it was a criminal
offence for adults to strike each other.
"Even on the sporting field in codes like rugby and soccer, hitting, 
punching and kicking is dealt with by sin-binning or
being sent off. Our agencies suggest similar use of time out for 
children's misbehaviour teaches children self-discipline and self-responsibility," she 
said.
Parent Support Services spokeswoman Beth Rumney Said parenting programmes 
and support were available through the agencies for familys stuck in the smacking 
mode.
"There are huge numbers of families out there who do not use physical punishment 
yet are teaching their children positive behaviours," she said.
All three agencies are taking part in a television advertising campaign that
promotes alternatives to smacking. For more information phone 0800 777 333

Doctor stands by work

AUCKLAND - Auckland general practitioner Dr Bill Daniels, yesterday 
rejected allegations he had made "significant
errors," in medical checks of pilots.
The Civil Aviation Authority has grounded 10 commercial pilots and 
suspended Dr Daniels, but he said yesterday he
stood by his work as a medical assessor for the authority.
The authority's director, Kevin Ward, said the errors ranged from the 
administrative, "right through to quite serious
things" involving the reading of electrocardiograph (ECG) heart tests, 
and sight and hearing tests.
"There were things like an ECG that in our view showed abnormal signs 
that hadn't been referred on for further
checking."
Passengers might have been put at risk he said, but the authority
was not aware of any "safety occurrences" linked to the 10 pilots.
Only one of the pilots was flying regular, scheduled passenger flights, 
he said. Two flew small aircraft on charter
flights and several were retired pilots who were operating privately 
and not exercising their  commercial privileges.
Dr Daniels said in a statement  released through his lawyer. "I stand by 
my assessments. In my opinion the 10 pilots
in question were fit to fly and I have not done anything to compromise 
pilot or public safety."
He criticised the authority, saying it had set him up to be "tried by the 
media."
One of Hamilton-based Eagle Air's pilots was grounded in the Thursday 
swoop by the authority.
The chief executive, John Hambleton, said last night that passengers would never 
have been at risk from the pilot, whose name and medical records he would not 
discuss, as Eagleair's aircraft had two  pilots. One of the grounded pilots, Morrinsville 
freelance charter pilot John Shuttleworth, said  the authority's  consultant cardiologist 
interpreted his ECG test from 
last May as abnormal and that it could indicate
the slow onset of heart disease.
 Mr Shuttleworth said Dr Daniels, "a man of vast experience,", had deemed 
the result acceptable and not unsafe.
He was puzzled at his grounding, given that he was due for another medical 
assessment shortly. He would now go for an ECG test next week -PA.

Motorists well-behaved

Traffic wise the Easter weekend got off to a good start in the Wanganui district.
Senior Sergeant Ged Byers said while there had been some reports of speeding on the 
highways yesterday, the behaviour of motorists generally was very good.
On Thursday night more than 200 motorists were stopped at checkpoints in the 
district and not one was driving with an excess alcohol breath level.
The only accidents reported in Wanganui were a minor injury two-car collision on the 
Anzac side of the Whanganui City Bridge at 6.50 pm on Thursday and a non injury 
collision in Koromiko Rd involving a car and an ambulance going to the bridge 
accident.
In Marton on Thursday at 6.30 pm the Volunteer Fire Brigade was called to the 
Pukepapa Rd-State Highway Three junction where more than 60 containers of acrylic 
paint were spilt and scattered over the roadway.
Chief Fire Officer Paul Hudson said a pallet of paint apparently fell from an unknown 
vehicle. After the road was washed down sand was spread on it by roading contractors 
Fulton Hogan, Mr Hudson said.
In Taihape last night two people received minor injuries and were taken by ambulance 
to Taihape Hospital after a vehicle accident at Mulvay's Corner, State Highway One.

Teen's killers lose appeal

WELLINGTON - Two men who kicked Wellington teenager Jeff Whittington to 
death in a central city lane have had their appeals against their murder convictions 
dismissed.

Jason Morris Meads, 25, and Stephen James Smith, 27, were in December sentenced 
to life imprisonment after a week-long jury trial in Wellington High Court.

The trial was told the pair approached Jeff in the city in the early hours of May 8 and 
drove him to nearby Inverlochy Pl where they kicked and beat him. He died in 
Wellington Hospital.

While Smith and Meads conceded they had injured Jeff, they appealed their murder 
convictions on two grounds relating to the trial judge's summing up and Meads also 
appealed on the grounds that his trial was prejudiced by outbursts in the court by 
members of Smith's family.

In a judgment delivered this week, Justice Goddard dismissed the appeals.

"We are satisfied  that the trial judge's summing up was overall balanced and that no 
incorrect or inadequate directions were given on any crucial issue, or in relation to 
any legal element. Such deficiencies as there were, were rectified by further 
directions."

"The appeals must fail and are dismissed." - PA.

Police crack down on Napier gangs.

NAPIER - Napier police have made 38 arrests and seized large quantities of drugs and 
stolen property in an attempt to curb gang activities in Napier.

"It's been going on for the last few weeks," CIB chief Detective Senior Sergeant Bill 
Gregory said yesterday.

He said Operation Premium focused on the activities of gangs in Napier and had been 
based on information from the public over a long period of time.

"We took bits of information from here and bits from there - it shows how effective 
the public can be when they give us any sort of information."

Forty-four search warrants were issued during the operation and in one case morphine 
sulphate, with an estimated value of $5000, was seized.

People were also arrested for cannabis offences as well as property offences.

Vehicles and stolen property totalling "several thousand dollars" was recovered.

Mr Gregory said one outcome of the operation was getting unsafe vehicles off the 
road. Traffic infringement notices totalling $15,000 were issued,

"It shows the state of some of the vehicles being driven by gang associates."

Mr Gregory said the operation was one of a string of campaigns aimed at keeping 
pressure on people who chose to offend.

"It has been very successful in curbing dishonesty offences," he said, adding that the 
operation took place during the cannabis season and when drugs hit the streets. - PA.

Sudanese family threatened at gunpoint

WELLINGTON - A Sudanese family and friends were threatened at gunpoint 
by a neighbour in Upper Hutt yesterday, police say.
Santino Deng and other family members moved into two flats in the suburb 
of Trentham in March after leaving
southern Sudan two months ago.
Mr Deng and his brother Solomon were in one of the driveways, helping 
move some carpet, about 10am, when a man
came out of a neighbouring flat and started threatening them.
Other neighbours said the man had been drinking heavily since the 
previous day and had a friend visiting.
"The first man came out and said 'I don't want you to stand near my home', and 
proceeded insulting us, saying 'this is my country'." Mr Deng said. 
"I told him there's no difference between black and white, and he carried 
on insulting us.
Mr Deng said that the man wanted
  to fight "but we
ran away, we just laughed because he was old, we didn't want to fight him".
Mr Deng said the man returned with a firearm five minutes later when the 
group had gone to the back yard, and threatened to kill him and others, including a 14-
year-old boy.
"I said 'what's the matter with you, we're standing outside our flat, we haven't taken 
anything from your flat'. He was pointing the gun at my head," Mr Deng said.
The group pleaded with him to go away and he did several minutes later.
The armed offenders squad arrived about 20 minutes later after the man 
had gone home.
One man was handcuffed as he ran down the street, and another man was 
forced to the ground by police and a police
dog.
"Some of my friends died because of guns, and
this man came and showed me the gun. We've come from one problem into 
another problem," Mr Deng said.
Penny Fisher, of the Refugee and Migrant Service, said the family was 
hoping to become New Zealand citizens, and
deserved a chance.
"This shows that beneath the surface, we have to look at ourselves for 
racism and bigotry, we're the same as any
other country.
"The majority of New Zealanders welcome anyone with open arms - 
everyone's been a migrant to New Zealand," she
said. - PA
Dalziel eases visitor rules for Zimbabweans

WELLINGTON - Immigration Minister Lianne Dalziel has told immigration 
officials to "soften their approach at the
border" to people escaping violence in Zimbabwe.
At least four people - two white farmers, a policeman and a pregnant woman - 
have died as a result of the invasion of
500-1000 white-owned commercial farms by veterans of Zimbabwe's 
independence war of the 1970s.
The veterans support President Robert Mugabe, who has described the white 
farmers as "enemies of Zimbabwe".
Ms Dalziel told NZPA she had instructed immigration officials to relax 
entry rules for Zimbabweans.
Zimbabwe had visa-free status to New Zealand, meaning residents did not 
have get a visa to visit here.
However, when they arrived, immigration officials had to be satisfied they 
were genuine visitors before issuing them
with visitors' permits, she said.
"If they're not satisfied that they're genuine visitors then they simply 
turn them around and send them home again,"
Ms Dalziel said.
The relaxation meant that would not happen and would apply particularly, 
but not exclusively, to people who already
had family here and who intended to apply for residence under family 
reunification or humanitarian criteria.
"If that's a relaxing, then it's really a relaxing in relation to the 
issuing of the visitor's permit," Ms Dalziel said.
As well, Zimbabweans who had allowed their passports to expire, "obviously 
not thinking that they were going to be
travelling in the near future", would be allowed into New Zealand on a 
visitor's permit.
The relaxations applied to both white and black Zimbabweans - "our policies 
are colour blind".
It was likely people who entered New Zealand under the relaxed rules would 
want to stay only until the situation
calmed down at home, expected to be after the country's general election 
next month, Ms Dalziel said. - PA.

Latest mite testing good news

WELLINGTON - The varroa mite may not have spread beyond the Ministry of 
Agriculture and Forestry's (MAF) initial quarantine area, the ministry hopes.
Varroa jacobsoni - a mite which poses no threat to human health but kills bees - was 
found almost two weeks ago on four South Auckland properties.
There were fears the mite could have a devastating impact on New Zealand's live bee 
and honey and fruit export trades.
MAF immediately imposed a quarantine area covering the greater Auckland 
region, from Rodney to the Waikato and Hauraki districts.
So far 37 apiaries have tested positive for the mite, all within the South Auckland and 
Hauraki Plains districts, MAF spokesman Matthew Stone said in a statement. 
More than 20 beekeepers have been affected.
Tests on an apiary at Middlemarch, Otago, had shown no evidence of the mite, Mr 
Stone said. Similar negative results had been recorded in hives tested in the Bay of 
Plenty. The results were good news, but did not mean vigilance could be relaxed, he 
said.
"Until we are confident that the mite has not spread beyond the South 
Auckland/Hauraki area we must continue testing all suspect areas. We are not at that 
stage yet. Thousands of results have still to be processed in the laboratory, and the 15 
field teams working through Easter will probably produce more work for the lab." - 
PA.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Royal New Zealand Plunket Society's Wanganui branch 
president Tina Redpath (left) with Salty Anderson, who has just received the society's 
medal and bar for dedication and long service to Plunket. Mrs Redpath said Mrs 
Anderson had served on Plunket's Wanganui branch and the Durie Hill sub committee 
for over 10 years in the roles of treasurer, secretary and president. Mrs Anderson also 
was instrumental in the relocation of the Plunket Karitane Family Centre to its Heads 
Rd site, she said.

Island in state of alert

WELLINGTON – Bay of Plenty's White Island remains on a state of alert after more 
volcanic tremors were recorded.
Geological and Nuclear Sciences Institute chief volcanologist Brent Alloway said 
yesterday that the tremors were slightly down on those recorded during the past 
couple of weeks.
Overcast conditions meant the volcano had not been seen by scientists since 
Thursday, when plumes of steam and ash reportedly spewed more than 1500m into 
the sky.

Hopeless idea to become TV series

WELLINGTON – A comedy about Wellington's twenty-somethings, which opens in 
cinemas next Thursday, is to be made into a 26-part TV series.
Hopeless, a low-budget film by Wellington director Stephen Hickey, centres around 
young people and the Capital's bustling café and bar culture.
New Zealand On Air has allocated $4 million for 26 half-hour TV shows to be filmed 
in the city this year. The series will screen on TV3.
The film was shot mainly in central Wellington.

Buller mayor uneasy about Govt plans for $100m Coast deal

WESTPORT - The Government has indicated it wants to control the purse 
strings for the $100 million development
package it has proposed for the West Coast, says Buller Mayor Pat O'Dea.
"Personally I would rebel against that and I would hope any other 
fair-minded person on the West Coast would rebel
against that.
Negotiations between the local bodies and the Government obviously had a 
long way to go, he said.
Mr O'Dea released parts of a letter to the West Coast councils received 
from Deputy Prime Minister Jim Anderton.
It suggested a trust for controlling the money and sought councils' views.
It said the Government proposed to make the initial trust appointments, 
taking into account nominations by West
Coast councils and local Maori.
Consideration would be given to establishing an electoral college, 
including representatives of local Maori, chambers
of commerce, local councils, other businesses and community interests.
The college would be responsible for making subsequent trust appointments, 
the letter said.
Mr O'Dea said that was unacceptable.
"The guts of that is, it seems they want to set up a trust which we can 
have a word in, but they want to do it.
"They're signalling that they're going to have an electoral college, that 
college will run the trust and set the parameters
and everything else. To me that's totally unacceptable."
If there was to be a trust, it should comprise four council and two 
government representatives, he said,
He declined to release the full text of the letter until his council had 
seen it, but said he wanted to keep the
community informed.
The trust's activities would focus on building on the West Coast's natural 
competitive advantages in a way which
generated net national benefits, sustainable industries and jobs, with 
particular regard to development opportunities
for local Maori, rather than competing with other regions, the letter said.
Coast local bodies had asked the Government for an extra $35m and an 
assurance Timberlands and its exotic plantings would continue.
The letter said the Government would respond at the next meeting with West Coast 
local body leaders on May 1.
The letter said the Government had offered the West Coast $100m to take 
ownership of its own future.
"The Coast won't have ownership ... not with the parameters they've outlined," Mr 
O'Dea said.
West Coast Regional Council chairman John Clayton said he believed the 
Government was open to suggestions from the local bodies and the result would be a 
reasonable trust deed. - PA.

Chronicled Today

Accused of neglecting Castlecliff, the Wanganui District Council has produced a 
report outlining its wide-ranging involvement in the suburb.

Page 3

Ways of making successful investments while protecting existing assets were 
canvassed in a two-day seminar for Maori held in Wanganui last week.

Page 6

Lucky South Africa had to rely on first five-eighth Braam van Sraaten's boot to beat 
England 18 – 13 in the first rugby test at Loftus Stadium on Sunday morning (NZ 
time).

Page 15

Todd seeks legal advice over sex, drugs claims

Superstar accused of leading double life

WELLINGTON - Double Olympic equestrian champion Mark Todd said yesterday he 
was taking legal advice over shock allegations in a British newspaper yesterday 
implicating him in a drugs and sex scandal.
The Sunday Mirror yesterday published a story accusing Todd of snorting cocaine 
with a gay lover in a hotel room while his wife Carolyn was setting up a new home 
for the family's return to New Zealand later this year.
A spokeswoman for Todd in New Zealand said last night he was consulting his 
lawyers about the allegations which were an "unjustifiable and disgraceful intrusion".
She said Todd had been the victim of a "squalid tabloid newspaper set-up".
For legal reasons in these circumstances he has been advised not to make any 
comment of the many distortions and untruths in the story which has caused great 
distress to his family and to him," the spokeswoman said.
The Press Association was unable to contact Todd at his British base last night.
The general secretary of the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) Michael 
Hooper said any allegations of drug taking were a concern.
"Our policy on drugs in sport is clear - the two don't go together, we're totally 
imposed to any inference there.
"We would take action against any athlete found to be taking drugs."
Mr Hooper was last night trying to get a transcript of the article before 
commenting further.
Equestrian was one of about four sports still to settle their teams for the 
Sydney games.
The equestrian team, one of New Zealand's chief medal hopes, was to be named on 
June 28.
 Chairman of selectors for the equestrian team Jim was dismayed to read the article.
"It's a very sad situation whichever way it goes.
"It's a total and complete bolt out of the blue. Anything of this sort is very 
unfortunate."
It was too early to speculate on whether Todd would make his fifth Olympics.
The equestrian hero, made a MBE by the Queen in 1984 and a CBE in 1995 and a 
friend of the Royal family, has been hailed as one of the world's 100 greatest athletes 
of all time.
He has been described by Princess Anne's ex-husband Mark Phillips as "the most 
gifted three-day event rider the world has ever seen.
Todd, who is married with two children, is recognised as the foremost horseman in 
modern three-day eventing.
His greatest glory was winning two consecutive Olympic golds in 1984 and 1988 on 
his favourite horse Charisma.
Todd was aiming for a third Olympic gold in Sydney in September, a swansong for 
his final competition year.
 He recently paid more than $1.2 million for a 60ha Cambridge dairy farm he planned 
to convert into a boutique horse-breeding operation and a retirement home for
Charisma. The Sunday Mirror said Todd led a double life.
Todd, who also owns a 200-acre farm in Gloucestershire, has previously spoken of 
the evils of drugs, saving he fears for his 11-year-old daughter and seven-year-old 
son.
In his autobiography  So Far, So Good, he says: "You read all these stories about kids 
going off the rails, running away and getting into drugs, all sorts of horrific things, 
and that really terrifies me."
New Zealand equestrian federation president Cam McRae told NZPA last night he 
would not be surprised if the story was part of a smear campaign aimed at hurting 
New Zealand's chances at Sydney.
"I've known Mark for 20 years through the sport and I can't believe it."

Family wiped out by fire

By Simon Waters

Kevin Chiles surveys what is left of his family's Pitt St home after fire yesterday 
destroyed it and most of their possessions.

Everybody has probably done it at some point... left the pot on the stove a few 
seconds while they nip off to finish an errand. For Kevin Chiles' family it was a costly 
decision that ended in disaster yesterday.
An unattended pot of chips cooking on the stove caught fire and within five minutes 
their entire Pitt St home was ablaze.
Mr Chiles, his partner and their five children aged seven, eight, nine, 17 and 24, found 
refuge with friends last night.
Almost everything they owned was lost in the fire. They were not insured.
"We salvaged a few clothes that were in the washing
machine, a box of knick-knacks, and some blankets. Everything else is gone," Mr 
Chiles said.
The fire happened shortly after 11am yesterday and drew an immediate warning from 
Wanganui fire chief Bernie Rush about leaving pots unattended on stoves.
"It's a message we're very keen to get across - never leave pots on stoves unattended 
even for the briefest of moments."
He called on landlords to consider installing smoke detectors in their rental properties.
"Had there been a smoke detector in the house the fire most probably would have 
been caught much earlier and the damage would have been far less."
Mr Chiles said he was amazed at how quickly the fire spread. It took about five 
minutes for the entire house to become ablaze from the time smoke was discovered in 
the kitchen.
"I ran around the back and grabbed a bucket of water but the smoke was too thick in 
the kitchen and I had to get out.
"It spread so quickly, we had no time to salvage anything."
The family assembled uninjured in front of the house and watched as firefighters 
fought back the flames.
A charred shell was all that remained.
Mr Chiles said the weeks ahead would be hard for the family. They needed to find 
somewhere else to live and needed bedding and clothing. "We'll just have to start 
over."
The house is expected to be written off.

Have your say on the information centre

How long does it take a district council to make up its mind on where it 
should site an information centre?
A long time if the Wanganui local authority is to be used as a reference.
The debate about the information centre has been to-ing and fro-ing for months now. 
The latest hiccup in the process comes with the council deciding to give itself a three-
month extension to try and resolve the issue.
One lobby is pushing for a central city site, utilising the old John Coull building next 
to Majestic Square, another group insists on a riverbank location and there has been 
suggestions the office stay where it is.
The Chronicle has published much on this debate, and our letters columns extracted 
more comment.
But what do our readers think? Where do you think the information centre should go? 
Can the present site be upgraded, overcoming the need to find new premises?
See Page 2 and your opportunity to express your view.

Report on city habits holds a few surprises

By Dave Laurence

Anyone who thinks they know how the Wanganui community ticks could be in for a 
shock.
A social indicators report prepared by the Wanganui District Council will demolish 
many widely held views.
In addition to the usual statistics on how Wanganui performs poorly in comparison 
with the country as a whole it shows some intriguing trends in, for instance, sport.
Bowls and cricket are in gradual decline along with school rugby while netball, golf, 
senior rugby and touch are maintaining their participation. Tennis numbers dropped 
between 1994 and 1998 but recovered last year. Growing strongly are hockey, the 
Masters Games and Kiwisport.
Despite the march of information technology, District Library book issues are rising 
impressively (658,848 in 1995 to 708,406 in 1999).
Opera House attendances generally fell since 1995 while museum figures changed 
little.
Attendances at the Splash Centre and Gonville and Wanganui East pools fell since 
1997.
House sales improved (694 in 1997 to 930 in 1999) and the average price was 
static.
Pedestrian counts at two prime Victoria Ave locations slumped between 1998 
and 1999.
Visitor numbers crashed in 1997 and recovered well in the next two years.
Urban electors are not enthusiastic about district council elections - participation 
dropped from 69.2 percent in 199.5 to 64.6 percent in 1998.
The council commercial rates average trended downward since 1995 while the 
residential average trended upward.
In 1999 the number of marriages and marriage dissolutions was almost 
identical. The marriage tally dropped since
1995.
Though it may seem crime is out of control, police say
the number of reported incidents in  Wanganui decreased from 9910 in 1995 
to 6514 in 1999. The question of whether
the public is increasingly reluctant to report crimes was not addressed in 
the report.
Thankfully, Good Health Wanganui waiting lists shrank from 2287 in 1997 to 
1124 in 1999.
There is increasing use of services by Age Concern, the foodbank and Youth 
Advice Centre.
More of us live alone. The 1996 census showed one-person households were 26 
percent of the total.
Long-term disability is more common than may be imagined. In Wanganui at 
latest count it affected 14.9 percent of
the population compared with 11.4 percent across the country.
If you're feeling the pinch financially it could be because personal 
incomes in Wanganui are lower than in New
Zealand generally.
We're increasingly godless. Those with no religion or no specified religion 
climbed from 12,093 in 1991 to
16,110 in 1996, and there was a corresponding slump in those specifying a 
religious affiliation.
Compared with the rest of New Zealand, Wanganui people are less likely to 
have a car but are more likely to smoke.
People wanting to phone the Chronicle to complain about this article may 
have trouble. In 1996 6.7 percent of
households did not have a telephone compared with 4.9 percent across the 
country.
According to the report, last year 66 percent of surveyed residents said 
they used the Chronicle to find out what was happening in Wanganui while 11 percent 
relied on radio and 11 percent listened to friends and neighbours.
Asked whether they would shift out of Wanganui if they had the opportunity, 41 
percent said yes and 50 percent said no.
Asked where they would move to, 10 percent said Palmerston North, which 
goes to show there is no accounting for taste.

Planes grounded

Waikato-based Eagle Air says it has suspended four of its aircraft from 
flying after hairline cracks were found in their
undercarriage. The temporary suspension of four of its six Metroliners 
would affect passengers and flight  schedules
over the next few days Eagle Air manager John Hambleton said. "The 
company is working closely with the aircraft
manufacturer on action to be taken". Affected passengers would be 
rebooked on other flights and an Eagle Air
Bandeirante would-be used for extra flights. Mr Hambleton said it 
regretted any inconvenience to customers, but the
action was necessary for safety reasons. Eagle
operates 130 to 140 flights a day to New Zealand's provincial centres.- PA.

Historic reserve

Prime land on Auckland's North Shore was officially opened to the public 
yesterday as an historic reserve. The Fort
Takapuna Historic Reserve will be opened by the Minister of Conservation 
Sandra Lee. The land was protected after
public concern that it would be sold for residential development. The 
land has been the subject of competing claims
by North Shore City Council, Defence Ministry and Department of 
Conservation.- PA.

Fatal stabbing

A man found dead in his Hamilton driveway on Friday was stabbed, a 
post-mortem examination has confirmed. The
body of David Maurice Walker, 48, was found on his suburban Dinsdale 
property about 3pm on Friday, prompting a
homicide investigation. Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Whitehead, of 
Hamilton police, said yesterday's post-mortem
examination had confirmed Mr Walker died from stab wounds. A knife found 
on the property appeared  to be
"consistent with the injuries," he said. Scientists from the Institute of 
Environmental Science and Research were
helping police with a scene examination, which was expected to continue 
today. - PA.

QUICKLY PLEASE: About 16 Wanganui District Council rural firefighters 
were put through their paces at a training
exercise at the Wanganui Airport on Saturday. The firefighters trained 
filling monsoon buckets suspended from
helicopters as well as with compressed air equipment and other rural 
firefighting methods. Spokesman Jes Sorensen
said the volunteers train at least once a year and that Saturday's 
exercise went very well.

Shares tally

Under an amalgamation proposal by Powerco Ltd and CentralPower each 
holding of 1000 CentralPower shares will
qualify for 1000 shares in the new company and about $1800 in bonds. The 
number of CentralPower shares was
stated incorrectly in a page two article in
Saturday's Chronicle.

Chronicle poll question

Every Monday the Wanganui Chronicle runs its weekly reader poll. We frame a 
question on some topical issue and
ask for your vote. The answers are collated on Thursday and the result 
published on Saturday. To register your vote,
either call our voteline 0900 700 50, or fill in the coupon below and drop 
it into our Taupo Quay office or the Marton
branch office. You may prefer to mail it to Reader Poll, Box 433, Wanganui 
to reach us no later than 3pm Thursday
this week.
You can also e-mail your response to: wc - editorial@wilsonandhorton.co.nz. 
Feel free to add your comments.
Question: Where do you think the information centre should be sited?
1 Stay where it is?
2 Relocate to the central city area?
3 Relocate to the riverbank?
a Tick only one of the above.

District highways on funding list

By Dave Laurence

Several sections of State highway in the Wanganui region may qualify for 
allocations under the national road programme in 2000/2001.
The possibilities include:
+ Realigning SH1 south of Hunterville ($8.92m).
+ Reconstructing SH1 at Hihitahi Bluffs, south of Waiouru ($8.73m).
+ Realigning SH1 south of Taihape ($3.94m).
+ Realigning 1.5km of SH1 south of Mangaweka ($2.64m).
+ Realigning 1.6km of SH4 at Otoko ($1.75m).
+ Realigning 1.6km of SH3 between Pauri Rd and Marybank ($1.53m).
+ Improving the Calico Line-SH2 intersection north of Bulls ($1.74m).
Transfund NZ says in Manawatu-Wanganui it will spend $1.4 million on investigation 
and design for State highway projects to
improve motorist safety and comfort and reduce road maintenance costs.
In 2000/2001 Transfund will also outlay over $1.6 million in 
Manawatu-Wanganui to smooth the surface of local roads
reducing vehicle maintenance costs and improving motorist comfort.
Transfund has further allocations in 2000/2001 for a range of State highway projects 
which already are under way.
They include passing lanes on SH1 north of Hihitahi (to reduce driver 
frustration at the lack of overtaking opportunities)
and reconstruction of SH4 through an unstable hillside south of Lawrence's.
Overall, Transfund is spending a minimum of $51.59 million in 
Manawatu-Wanganui in 2000/2001.
Additional funding from a regional project pool of $21.89 million may be 
allocated during the year.

Assault lands teens in jail

WELLINGTON - Two 14-year-old Paraparaumu girls spent Saturday night in 
police cells after an incident in which two
taxi drivers and a policeman were hurt
Senior Sergeant Steve Whitehead of Paraparaumu said the Department of 
Child, Youth and Family Services
assessed the girls yesterday and placed them back in the care of 
relatives. Both girls are due to appear in the Youth
Court today, charged with assault.
A 17-year-old youth also arrested in relation to the attack, will appear 
in Porirua District Court tomorrow charged with
assaulting police, possession of an offensive weapon, resisting arrest 
and threatening to kill.
Detective Greg Caldwell said a youth had gone into the Paraparaumu Taxi 
office about 6.30pm and became abusive
to staff. A fight broke out during which taxi staff managed to confiscate 
a knife with a 20cm long blade, from the
youth, he said.
As the youth tried to run away a policeman grabbed him and a struggle ensued. Other 
youths kicked and punched the policeman on the ground, Mr Caldwell said.
Windows at the taxi company premises were smashed during the fracas.
The policeman suffered bruises, headaches and double vision but was back 
at work yesterday. Two taxi drivers also
needed medical attention, one of them needing stitches to his face. 
Alcohol and paint sniffing were a factor in the
attack, Mr Caldwell said.
Child, Youth and Family spokesman Stephen Ward said the department was 
told of the incident on Saturday night.
We never like to hold teenagers in police cells but we asked police to 
hang on to them overnight given the time of
night, the intoxication of one of the girls, the seriousness of the 
assault charge and general concerns about their
wellbeing." - PA.

Schnackenberg's mo goes for thousands

AUCKLAND - With his upper lip naked for the first time in 31 years, Tom 
Schnackenberg is nervous about trying to
enter the United States this week without his trademark moustache.
The head of Team New Zealand lost his facial hair for $10,000, paid by an 
anonymous phone bidder, at a cancer charity auction on Saturday night.
Schnackenberg will attempt to grow the mo back while he's on holiday in 
Maui later this week, but is concerned his passport photo no longer matches his 
face.
"Maybe I'll have to keep a false moustache in my pocket to whip out at US Customs. 
Maybe I'll be arrested," he joked.
"I keep looking at this strange face in the mirror.
 "My wife seems to like it - she says she can see me smile more often now."
 Maybe Team NZ skipper Dean Barker
 did not want to look at a smooth-lipped
Schnack - he bid to keep the moustache on.
The Sail For Cancer auction raised over $50,000 for the Children's Cancer Foundation 
and the Auckland Cancer Society.
Another bidder paid $4600 for a round of golf with Barker at Millbrook, 
near Queenstown. - PA.

Scholarships

Wanganui Collegiate School student Nicholas Fancourt will vie with 18 other 
students from throughout New Zealand
for one of three scholarships to travel to Cambodia. The finalists will 
prepare an essay based on the theme of "how can I take care of the local and global 
family" and will also travel to 
Wellington where they will meet with Prime
Minister Helen Clark, the Opposition leader and the Governor-General. The 
scholarships are provided by Sanitarium
Health Foods and are awarded to those who did outstanding jobs raising 
funds in the World Vision 40 Hour Famine in
March. Winners will be announced only July 16.

Assault

Wanganui police are seeking witnesses to an assault at the rear of the 
Fosters Tavern early Saturday morning. A
man was assaulted around 12.47am and was taken to Wanganui Hospital where 
he was treated and later discharged.
Police arrested one person and are continuing their inquiries. Police 
Constable Shane Durston said no other
information could be released at this time.

Olympic offer

Wellington's Beat Girls have been asked to perform at the Sydney Olympics 
by American magazine Sports
Illustrated. The Beat Girls sing cover hits from the swinging 60s and 
comically act out characters from each song.
Since the original offer, the band has eagerly anticipated a call 
confirming  their trip. An exact date hasn't yet been
set. - PA.

Council emphasises work in Castlecliff

By Dave Laurence

Castlecliff close-up

Accused of neglecting Castlecliff, the Wanganui District Council has 
produced a report, outlining its wide-ranging involvement in the suburb.
The report written by community development manager Rosemary Hovey and 
community liaison officer Keith Smith follows substantial Chronicle coverage of 
Castlecliff affairs, including claims of council inaction.
Last year the council set up a Castlecliff linking committee to facilitate dialogue with 
community organisations.
Mrs Hovey and Mr Smith said the committee met several times and now intended to 
focus on specific major issues.
In May, for instance, representatives of Castlecliff United Sports Club advised the 
committee about the proposed development of a community centre.
 "The issue of the committee's future arose again in May in light of recent adverse 
publicity," the report said. Group representatives agreed unanimously the linking 
committee was working well and should continue.
The report highlighted the following:
+ Sand removal: Council officers met the Port Bowen Trust to discuss a 
contract for sand removal from the Rangiora
St carpark and round Duncan Pavilion. Until now, some of the work has 
been done by the trust voluntarily.
+ Duncan Pavilion: The pavilion management committee plans to upgrade the
building and attract more users.
+ Castlecliff United: "This is an exciting development, targeting not 
just the young people of Castlecliff but, with
major benefits to families, the community as a whole."
+ Surf club: Programmes introduced by the club, for beach education and 
administration are well regarded by the
national body Surf Life New Zealand.
+ Lundon Park: New playground equipment has been installed.
 + Beach domain: The council and Port Bowen trust have tidied a formerly 
unkempt  area in Seafront Rd, off  Karewa
St.
+ Balgownie: With Balgownie landfill's closure the Balgownie wetland is 
being restored.
This involves getting the right water levels so the wetland stays wet and the
 surrounding industry stays dry. To achieve this, an ecological assessment of
 significant vegetation is being carried out, along with digging and fencing.
+ Survey: Further analysis of the Castlecliff community survey in March is 
under way; some of it has been sent to the
police and Good Health Wanganui for follow-up.
Agencies involved in the survey will meet again next Tuesday.
+ Graffiti: Police Volunteers are doing an audit, particularly on bus 
stops, and will work with council officers on
monitoring and removing graffiti.
The report stressed the council's parks and property and environmental 
units are busy on a range of tasks in Castlecliff.

Liam home for Xmas

DUNEDIN - The mother of child cancer patient Liam Williams-Holloway expects he 
will be home in Wanaka by Christmas.
Trena Williams said last night her five-year-old son's return depended on 
his response to the alternative cancer
treatment being administered at the Oasis of Hope clinic in Tijuana, Mexico. – PA

HOWDEE Y'ALL: Don McGrail (right) of the Wanganui Country and Music Club 
lends his voice to the dozens of
others that sang on Saturday at a fund-raising concert. Held at Wanganui 
Collegiate School's Prince Edward
Auditorium, the concert was to raise money for the completion of a Garden 
of Remembrance memorial for stillborn
babies at the Aramoho Cemetery. Others to take part in Saturday's concert 
included the Happy Wanderers vocal
group and several students from Wanganui High School. Organiser Ron Dixon 
said just over $400 was raised. Further
fund-raising would be required to complete the memorial, he said.

NO COST SAFETY: Attentive inspector Russell Barry with an elderly Austin
 and a grateful motorist who snapped up
the opportunity of a free safety check at Vehicle Testing NZ's Wanganui 
station on Saturday. The objective was to
ensure brakes and lights were up to standard for the demands of winter 
motoring.

A VITAL CLUE: Wanganui Search and Rescue volunteer Daniel Aldridge was 
one of about 25 volunteers to take part
in an urban training exercise yesterday afternoon. Dealing specifically 
with looking for missing children and sufferers
of Alzheimer's disease and dementia, the volunteers scoured areas around 
Rotokawau, Kowhainui and Virginia Rd.
The exercise was deemed to have been successful and further exercises are 
planned for the future.

Fisheries commission members made to play waiting game

WELLINGTON - Still waiting to hear Cabinet's decision on their fate the 
10 Waitangi Fisheries Commission members sat lined up at the front of this 
weekend's annual meeting in what chairman Sir Tipene O'Regan called "death row".
Most expected that their future - on or off the commission - would have 
been announced by Maori Affairs minister Dover Samuels before the hui.
"The minister has publicly stated that new appointments will be in place soon, if not 
by the time of this Hui-a-Tau
(annual meeting) the hui report said.
 "There are also strong indications that
he wants to see a  lessening of the numbers apppointed."
But Prime Minister Helen Clark is reported to have taken an interest in the 
appointment process, delaying any announcement.
 Sir Tipene said the delay in allocating
fisheries assets, now valued at $846 million,
meant Government ministers now believed
it was not possible to reach a settlement
and that commissioners had to be replaced
to make all  any progress.
"It is my understanding that the decision is now to be made at a Cabinet level, not by 
the minister," he said. The commission has spent the last few years fighting a flurry of 
litigation - 11 actions on the books in the last year – so commissioners believe their 
model for allocating the pre-settlement assets is unlikely to be distributed to iwi 
before July next year, at the earliest.
 "I can safely predict that if there is a
wholesale replacement of commissioners,
the same frustrations will be experienced
and litigation possibly from other directions will continue to delay the allocation 
process," Sir Tipene said.
"Wholesale replacement of commissioners is not a solution; it will merely 
add further delays. Perhaps the real motive
behind those that have been seeking to frustrate the completion of the process is that 
they do not want allocation to
occur under any circumstances."
Speakers at the hui, including leaders of the big Ngati Porou, Ngati 
Kahungunu and Ngai Tahu iwis, endorsed the
commissioners' leadership.
Delays in allocating the assets are costing Maoridom more than $1 million 
a month, according to a report
commissioned by the Treaty Tribes Coalition lobby group.
The allocation model is supported by 76 percent of iwi representing 63 
percent of Maori, but opposed by some
northern and more populous tribes.
Sir Tipene warned none of the iwi had yet put in place sufficient 
representation and accountability mechanisms, in the
commission's Judgment, to be eligible to receive assets anyway.
Ngati Porou chairman Apirana Mahuika
and former Ngai Tahu chairman Charlie Crofts criticised the commission 
for seeking to judge whether iwi were ready to receive their assets.
Commissioner Whaimutu Dewes said there was little pressure for iwi to 
put their houses in order yet, because allocation was not on the immediate horizon. He 
did not believe that Government intervention would hasten the allocation process.
"I'm not convinced that it will speed things up unless Parliament, as 
opposed to the Government, simply adopts the
model that the commission has promulgated, which is the model that has 
got 75 percent of the iwi supporting  it," he said.
"If they don't accept that model, don't they have to consult? The 
Commission went through years and years of
consultation, negotiation, and of course litigation, and came up with a 
model. 
"If Parliament is going to run right through that and change it, then they need 
all of their Parliamentary sovereignty because they
will end up with a very disgruntled bunch of people." - PA.

Brigadier Calls for youth training

NEW PLYMOUTH - New Zealand should establish a form of military training 
for its youth.
That was the message pushed on by guest speaker Territorial Force adviser Brigadier 
Tim Brewer at the New Plymouth cenotaph service for the compulsory military 
training national reunion in the city yesterday.
"I'm not advocating returning to compulsory  military training but I believe more can 
be done in voluntary military service," Brig Brewer said.
 The reunion service, which included a
 rendition of the Last Post, prayers and
 speeches, took place following a street
 parade through central New Plymouth of
more than 600 men who were involved in compulsory military training.
Brig Brewer believed New Zealand society could benefit from military training
With the recent political unrest in Fiji, the
Solomon Islands and East Timor, the values
and lessons of military training would again
be "written on the blackboard of history for all of New Zealand to read," he said.
 "The world is not a safe place. We are a
 free people but there is a price to be paid
for remaining free. Part of that price is that
we have to be prepared to defend that freedom."
A small country such as New Zealand, which had a limited fulltime 
military service, had to involve citizen soldiers.
Brig Brewer said.
"In your day, compulsory military training was a shout to the world that 
New Zealand would do what it could to be a good mate," he said.
"We showed that we were prepared to put our most precious resource on 
the line. Today, New Zealand barely
whispers to its mates.
"Military service can help many young people to achieve potential in life 
which could be lost to them and helps to
bridge the gaps."
Military service taught young people self-reliance, team work, discipline 
and self-esteem.
Reunion committee chairman Brian Inns was thrilled at the success of the 
reunion which attracted more than 700
people involved in compulsory military training.
More than 66,000 men, aged 18-20, had to undertake training in the army,
 navy or air force between 1950 and 1960. - PA.

School wants neighbour Potter moved away

AUCKLAND - An Auckland intermediate school principal is upset convicted 
child sex offender Bert Potter is living
nearby and today Housing New Zealand will be urged to accommodate him 
elsewhere.
Potter, who has just served a one-month sentence for breaching parole 
conditions, is now living in a Housing New
Zealand flat less than 10m from Northcote Intermediate School's boundary.
Yesterday, the 74-year-old Centrepoint founder said he had moved into the 
flat two weeks ago and wanted to avoid
controversy.
"I just want to he left alone to live a nice quiet life," Potter said.
But the school was not told who its new neighbour was and now wants 
Housing New Zealand to remove him.
Principal Michael Wilks called an emergency Board of Trustees meeting on 
Saturday afternoon after he found Potter
was living next door to the school.
He said the board would approach Housing New Zealand and urge it to 
relocate Potter.
"We don't think it's an appropriate place for him to be with his track 
record," Mr Wilks said.
"Having Bert so close to the school and so close to children, when he has been
convicted of crimes and offences with children, is a natural concern for any parent."
Neil and Irena Tolich, whose 12-year-old
son, Ben, attended the intermediate, were disappointed Housing New 
Zealand had placed Potter beside the school.
Mr Tolich did not believe the children's safety was at risk but wanted 
some answers from the agency.
"With streams of kids going past the door morning, noon and night, why 
would you put a convicted sex offender,
who's not expressed any remorse for anything he's done, next to the 
gates of a school?" Mr Tolich said.
Mr Wilks said a letter would be sent to parents of the school's 205 
pupils today to reassure them the school was safe
and advise them of what action was being taken.
"Obviously he's entitled to live somewhere but placing him right beside 
a school is a little insensitive."
Housing New Zealand spokesman Tim Lawrey said Potter had been unable to find 
accommodation in the private sector and had approached the agency for help.
"Housing New Zealand recognises the decision to house Mr Potter in his current 
accommodation is not an appropriate long-term solution."
Mr Lawrey said the probation service, who knew where Potter was living, would be 
working with Housing New Zealand to find an alternative arrangement for him as 
soon as possible. - PA.

Asthma plan

The Asthma and Respiratory Foundation today launches a plan to help parents 
learn more about children's asthma
and how to manage it. Foundation spokesman and pediatrician David Barry 
said many parents and caregivers felt
helpless in the face of children's asthma. The plan and diary would help 
them to learn more about asthma and deal
with it more effectively. Dr Barry, who chaired the committee which 
developed the plan, said its symptom-based   
approach would be particularly  useful for people with wheezing and coughing 
children too young to use peakflow
meters. The plan and symptom diary were available free of charge, and 
copies were available from general
practitioners, practice nurses, the foundation, or an affiliated asthma 
society.- PA

Arrest

A man has been arrested after a service station robbery in Christchurch 
yesterday. Police said a man entered the Shell service station on Moorhouse Ave 
about 4.30am and threatened the sole attendant, getting away with about $135. No 
weapon was used and the attendant was unhurt. He will appear in Christchurch 
District Court today charged with robbery. - PA.

Winz relaunch

The Government is planning "a major public  relations exercise" this week to relaunch 
Work and Income New Zealand (Winz) under the continued leadership of its 
controversial  chief executive Christine Rankin, the Act Party says. Act's social 
welfare spokeswoman Muriel Newman said the Government would release 
a report tomorrow. PA.

High winds wreak havoc

CHRISTCHURCH - High winds and rain caused chaos across parts of the South 
Island yesterday.
Winds gusting more than 110kmh wreaked havoc around Canterbury cutting power, 
overturning vehicles and lifting roofs.
Hundreds of homes in Christchurch and Banks Peninsula were without power 
for large parts of the day.
Police urged motorists driving trucks, campervans, caravans and trailers to 
take care after two truck and trailer units
were flipped by the wind. The Fire Service was called to secure a number of 
roofs.
MetService spokesman Bob Lake said the wind consistently reached 107 kmh on 
Banks Peninsula yesterday
afternoon but some gusts would have been far greater. Further inland the
wind reached 90kmh.
Mr Lake said the wind started building in the morning and peaked in  
mid-afternoon He said it was the result of a
"vigorous" system passing quickly. He said it was not that unusual to have 
such high winds and warm temperatures
in the mid to high teens at this time of the year.
Meanwhile, police and motorists had to contend with surface flooding in 
Invercargill streets yesterday as a front
passed east over Southland. Several city streets had whole lanes covered by 
surface flooding as a wet weekend hit
the south.
45S weather service meteorologist Dick Holloway said yesterday the weekend 
weather was a "fairly classical" winter
situation with warm north-west winds preceding some heavy showers and 
thunderstorms. - PA.

Changes at lights

Pedestrian rules at one of Wanganui's busiest intersections will he 
altered tomorrow.
Lights at the intersection of Guyton St and St Hill St no longer will have 
a pedestrian-only phase.
Instead, pedestrian signals will operate in parallel with traffic movement - 
as they do at seven other intersections.
The Wanganui District Council says removing lengthy diagonal crossings by 
pedestrians and allowing them to cross
in parallel with vehicles should alleviate the delays which motorists 
complain about.
Turning traffic must give way to pedestrians, though in recent months the 
council and police have received numerous
complaints that motorists are not letting pedestrians cross first - notably 
at the intersection of Victoria Ave and Dublin St.

Fog provides lift for Taumarunui

By Greg Sweetnam
Thick fog shrouding streets until midday may be a detractor for some 
towns but not Taumarunui.
The King Country centre is to have a one-day Fog Festival on Saturday, 
July 21, promoting its fog.
Backed by the Taumarunui Promotions Group (TPG) the day promises 
celebrity 'ski' races down the town's main
street, a street carnival and the chance to build the world's biggest 
pompom plus a visit by a steam train from
Auckland.
Taumarunui businesses have been searching for a ways to rejuvenate their 
town after the loss of its major employer,
Affco, in 1998 and short festivals which bring visitors to town are one possibility.
Rather than ignore the fog the TPG thought resurrecting a previous idea of a Fog 
Festival was a good one. Plans for the day have since gained momentum.
Taumarunui already celebrates its own Happy Day, when townsfolk are urged 
to smile, and Azalea Day celebrating the flower of the same name. Those wanting to 
be involved need only show up and enjoy the festivities.
They may even get the chance to meet Fogman currently being concocted by 
the TPG to promote the event.
Organisers now have fingers crossed that the dawning of July 21 will provide 
sufficient fog to make the event a success.

End of the line for St Stephen's

AUCKLAND - A decision to close the historic but troubled St Stephen's 
School near Auckland has devastated
students, says assistant principal Wiremu Doherty.
Parents and a group of old boys also are disappointed and are hoping
to find a different solution to the school's financial and behavioural 
problems.
The Anglican Maori boys' school will close at the end of next year, the 
St Stephen's and Queen Victoria Schools
Trust Board has decided.- PA.

Taxi fare dispute turns ugly

WELLINGTON - Three people were assaulted after a dispute over it taxi 
fare early yesterday, Wellington police said.
 A man 35, was arrested and will appear in Wellington District Court today.  
 Detective Constable Cormac McBride said a taxi driver went to the Miramar
 depot for help after an argument with a passenger about a fare at 6.50am. At the
depot the passenger allegedly assaulted the taxi driver and two other staff before 
leaving. A man was found by police soon after. Black and Gold Taxis manager Ian 
Gaskin criticised the driver on Saturday night, saying his actions had put the company 
at risk. "Really, discretion is the way to go. If he had just used radio telephone and 
called assistance, that would have defused the situation," he said. "I guess the cab 
driver was just on edge because of the previous assaults."

Suzanne's hard work rewarded with top city fashion post

Her classmates might be green with envy, but Suzanne Sowry says it's no 
secret how she stepped straight into a
fashion designer's position in Wanganui after completing her degree at 
Massey University in Wellington.
"Fashion can be a very competitive industry - just
graduating is not enough, you've got to be totally immersed in what 
you're doing, and prove you can go the extra
distance," she says of the effort she put into her Bachelor of Design 
(fashion) degree.
"I'm sure I wouldn't have got this job if I hadn't put
everything into that final year."
Suzanne completed her degree with a prestigious top
designer award at Massey's end-of-year fashion show, plus a highly 
commended in the future designers awards
organised by Wools of New Zealand.
Fresh from her studies, she was flown down from
Whangarei for an interview with well-known fashion designer Therese Regan 
- the new owner of Kooky Fashions - and
immediately started in the Wanganui factory as the assistant designer and 
pattern maker.
Kooky Fashions has a strong reputation for quality,
with 10 stores nation-wide. The company has traditionally provided mature 
women with bright,
wearable clothes in a wide range of sizes.
It also specialises in mother-of-the-bride. Suzanne soon found herself 
working closely with Ms Regan, putting the
theory into practice.
"Therese is, this winter, doing a few things that are a little more 
innovative, so it was fun being involved in that, we'll be
doing more in the future ... " Suzanne said.
"And at the moment it often falls back on me to make sure the quality of 
clothes being made outside the factory is the
way we want, so that can get rather hectic...
"Then last week, we selected fabrics and developed a new range of seven 
outfits for a bride-and-groom show. You
learn a lot about working under pressure ..."
Suzanne's pattern-making role means she's working closely with the 
cutters, machinists and production manager, helping turn the design concepts into 
finished garments.
"I'm a bit of a perfectionist - and the youngest girl here - so sometimes it can be a bit 
awkward, telling other people what to do. It's all a steep learning curve ...
Suzanne said graduates from the Wellington course were well respected in 
the industry because of their wide knowledge.
The degree integrates the product design and development process with 
business studies and marketing, providing a
foundation that opens up a wide range of employment opportunities. A 
two-year diploma is also available.
"We were taught why things are done, rather than just how to do them, and 
we also worked closely with the industry.
Everything in the degree was relevant to what I'm doing now," she said.
And plans for the future? Totally immerse herself in Kooky Fashions, then 
aim for that essential overseas experience.
"Then I would like to think I could come back and start up my own company in New 
Zealand, creating 'alternative professional' clothes for the 25-35 age group.
"I want to buy beautiful, high-quality fabrics and create high-quality fashions which I 
can export to America or Japan."
Given the international success of earlier graduates like Kate Sylvester and Nick 
Blanchett – who both had high profiles at the recent Australia Fashion Week – it 
seems Suzanne has made the right start in achieving that goal.

Fashion designer Suzanne Sowry (right) celebrates on graduation night with sister 
Marie.

New course to assist Maori in tourism industry

A new course at Rotorua's Te Wananga o Aotearoa has been designed to take 
Maori to the top in the tourism industry.
Campus manager of the Rotorua-based Maori tertiary institute Turi Ngatai 
said getting involved in tourism and
hospitality was part of the wananga's strategic planning and the
certificate in Maori Tourism will take full
advantage of the tourism sector in Rotorua.
"By involving Te Arawa trust board member Ruka Hughes who is widely
 respected in tourism circles ... we know the course is going to be very
worthwhile."
Maori played an active role in tourism but a lot more could be achieved, 
said Mr Ngatai.
"Maori need to raise aspirations and
have the desire to go beyond the jobs Maori are seen in across the country.
"This sort of course will develop the confidence and the skills for Maori."
Mr Hughes was involved with the advent of marae-based tourism and operated 
a hospitality business at the Agrodome and Whakarewarewa for many years.
He said he had seen the need for a tourism course targeting Maori people.
Over the past month Mr Hughes has worked with wananga advisory board staff 
in drafting the programme which will
initially be at certificate level, but could develop into a diploma. The 
final course programme was yet to be approved by
the New Zealand Qualifications Authority. PA

Ancient anchor stone found by girl

An 11-year-old Hastings girl has discovered what could be an ancient 
Maori anchor stone or punga.
Keen amateur geologist Ayla Comrie, a Heretaunga Intermediate pupil, found the 
object on a family four-wheel drive trip in the Puketapu area on Anzac Day in April.
Her mother Bobi Comrie, said their party had stopped by the Tutaekuri 
River and was doing a spot of "bush bashing".
"Ayla was down at the edge of the river foraging about. Then she comes 
staggering back with this thing - it's so big she can barely carry it - and she says, 'Hey 
Mum, look what I've found.
"My husband and I just looked at each other - we realised immediately 
what it was."
The stone weighs 9kg, indicating it may have been used for sea travel.
It was found near Ngamahunga Station, the site of a former pa.
The family contacted the Ministry of Culture and Heritage, and were 
referred to academics and museums throughout
the country.
There were only 20 such punga in public ownership, Mrs Comrie said.
Ayla was driven to Wellington by her mother to give the stone to Te Papa 
officials in person.
"We explained to her, if she kept it for a doorstop no one was going to 
get any benefit from it," Mrs Comrie said.
"We encouraged her to make a contribution to her national heritage."
Te Papa's Maori collections manager, Dougal Austin, said if the stone 
turned out to be a punga, it would be "a
significant find'... "Taonga (treasures) like this don't turn up very 
often - and the best thing about this is, we know where it's from and we can construct 
some history around it."
It would be difficult to date the punga since it was found in a river rather than the 
ground, but Mr Austin said it would date from pre-European times.- PA

Seasonal tales from magical dancing, critters

By Mary Bryan
Worms, spiders and caterpillars can be creepy little critters but a new 
production, Seasons, being toured by Capital
E's National Theatre for Children will convince everyone, especially small 
children, otherwise.
Capital E, which was last in Wanganui in March with its Happy Prince 
production for the city's arts festival, will be
back on June 28 with Seasons, which will be staged in Wanganui Collegiate 
School's Prince Edward Auditorium. It
will be performed at 9.30am, 11am and 1pm and is open to the public as well 
as school parties.
Created especially for under seven-year-olds, by Capital E's theatre 
director Peter Wilson, Seasons sweeps its young
audience into nature's world with gusto and humour in a spectacle of 
puppets, props, music and dance.
The friendly cast of creatures from
bumblebees, spiders, butterflies and caterpillars to romancing birds - even 
a dancing lamb - enact their cycles and tell
their tales through song against a backdrop of magically changing seasons.
Children are encouraged to participate, singing the original songs in both 
English and Maori and making nature's
sounds.
Seasons has been inspired by the work of many children's book illustrators 
including Eric Carle and Brian Wildsmith.
Its original score has been created by Wellington lyricist Jenny Pattrick 
and composer Laughton Pattrick with
costumes, puppets and props designed by Wellington artist Debz Ruffell.
For more information people can contact website www.capitale.org.nz or 
Alice Taylor, communications coordinator,
Capital E, Tel: (04) 348 9126, Fax: (04) 801 5363, e-mail: 
Alice@cape.org.nz.

NOTEWORTHY THUMBPRINT: Jonathan Tonkin, 17, against his winning work, a 
sculpture of his thumbprint.
The sculpture done at the Sarjeant Gallery's Robertson Art School, 
attended by 11 students from Wanganui
secondary schools, has won him the $1000 Wanganui Polytechnic Scholarship 
toward its Quay School of the Arts
tuition costs, if he decides to attend.
The Robertson Art School work was judged by Ana Flores (an artist in 
residence at the polytechnic) who said all the
work was of such a high calibre it was hard to believe it was done by 
school students.
The work was worthy of its inclusion in the gallery's Who Am I? 
exhibition and the students were very fortunate the
workshop tutor was Jeff Thomson (Tylee Cottage artist in residence), Ms 
Flores said.

COLLEGE ARTISTS: Wanganui City College art teacher Lorraine Lewis (centre 
left) and assistant principal Kath
Kirkwood watch over the opening of their school's art exhibition last 
Thursday evening at the Community Arts Centre
in Taupo Quay.
The exhibition was opened by the art adviser for the
central region, Taranaki and Hawke's Bay Rei Hendry and includes about 
200 paintings, prints, photographs, textiles
and items from design and technology.
The exhibition's opening night was attended by students, friends and 
teachers and will finish this Wednesday.

Another opportunity for writers

A new writer's residency in Berlin, Germany, has been announced by the 
arts board of Creative New Zealand.
The one-year residency at the prestigious Knstlerhaus Bethanien will be 
advertised later in the year as a part of the
Arts Boards international residencies programme.
Last year, Christchurch visual artist Peter Robinson was awarded the 
residency at the Berlin museum and this year,
the Arts Board decided to offer the residency to a writer.
Arts board chairman Christopher Finlayson said the residency acknowledged 
the wonderful contribution that New
Zealand writers made to the culture of New Zealand. It would provide a 
writer with time to devote to writing in a
stimulating environment, he said.
Other artists' experiences showed that international residencies also 
help build valuable networks and open doors to new markets, he said.

No answers yet on tests botch

WELLINGTON - The Crown Company Monitoring Advisory Unit (CCMAU) has 
yet to find answers for Health Minister Annette King about 
allegations over Gisborne Hospital's botched prostate cancer tests.
Former Gisborne laboratory biochemist John Rutledge said yesterday 
that he had been suspended from work last year after confidentially 
telling a National Party candidate about cost-cutting in the hospital 
laboratory Rutledge said he was being blamed by hospital management 
for errors affecting the hospital's prostate test results of
465 men, of whom 111 have been recalled for reassessment.
The hospital has said the errors involved a senior technologist's use 
of chemicals from the wrong manufacturer in a Prostate Specific 
Antigen (PSA) testing machine.
Health Minister Annette King said yesterday she had asked CCMAU to 
check if either the then health minister or the unit had received any 
advice about Mr Rutledge's situation at the time of his suspension.
Mrs King said she was disturbed that the laboratory technician passed 
on his concerns and that they were allegedly covered up by National 
Party members.
"It would be totally unacceptable to New Zealanders if political 
hacks 
had withheld information that might have serious
implications for a large number of people," she said.
"We need to get to the bottom of this. It would be outrageous if 
vital 
information was not passed on about the impact
of changes to laboratory funding, and that lives could be lost."
She wanted to know if a cover-up had occurred, and had asked CCMAU to 
investigate whether the technician's
information was passed on to the health minister of the day, the 
board of 
Tairawhiti Healthcare or to CCMAU.
A CCMAU spokeswoman told NZPA yesterday that the unit hadn't yet "got 
to the root of it all." She did not know how long it would take to 
answer the minister's query.
The independent inquiry was ordered by Mrs King a month ago following 
allegations a former Gisborne Hospital anaesthetist rubbed ice cubes 
over women's breasts during surgery, threw syringes and
bloody needles, and cut or ripped gowns off female patients.
Mrs King sacked Tairawhiti Healthcare's board last Wednesday, and 
appointed Northland health chief Wayne Brown
as a one-man board, after learning of the prostate scare.
Mr Rutledge said yesterday the laboratory where he worked was 
subjected to cost cutting and staff were put under
"intolerable pressures by management".
Before last year's general election, he raised the issues with East 
Coast National Party candidate Matthew Parkinson
in a confidential conversation.
He said he did not tell Mr Parkinson his name because he was scared 
of losing his job if caught criticising hospital
management.
Mr Parkinson then allegedly told the then hospital board chairwoman 
Pat 
Seymour, who was also a top National
Party official.
Mr Rutledge said when he got back to work after his three-day 
suspension he 
found out that Mrs Seymour had told
hospital chief executive Sheryl Smail, who had suspended him.
Mrs Seymour said yesterday that if a complaint was brought to her as 
chair 
of the board, her role was to pass it on to
management.
She had not been told that Mr Rutledge had spoken in confidence.
She knew Mr Rutledge had been suspended, but believed it was because 
he had 
refused to talk to management
about his concerns.
Medical Laboratory Workers' Union advocate Tony Corrigan has blamed 
the 
errors on cost-cutting and pressure on
overworked staff at the hospital.-PA.


SCALP TINGLING SINGING: America's Joker's Wild barbershop quartet 
(from left) Steve Legters, Dave Kindinger, Jon Clunies, and Dave 
Meyer at the New Zealand Association of Barbershop 
Singers' Harmony College being held at the
Wanganui Collegiate School this week. The college, hosted by the 
Manawatunes Barbershop Chorus, has attracted
50 plus participants from throughout the country. Tutors include the 
quartet's members and five other singers from
America. US and international champions, Joker's Wild was formed in 
1990. 
It has put out three CDs and featured in
shows throughout the world. On Friday the quartet will take part in 
the 
college's public concert at the Prince Edward
Auditorium. It starts at 7.30pm. Tickets will be available at the 
door.

Hives stay put

Taihape beekeeper Don Tweeddale and his Wanganui-based brother will 
be keeping their 4000 hives at home this spring rather than risk 
varroa mite infection in the Bay of Plenty.
The pullout by some beekeepers, who also fear that hive movement will 
speed the spread of the bee-killing mite,
raises concerns that the 3600 million kiwifruit crop will not be 
adequately 
pollinated.
Apart from Don Tweeddale and his brother, Rotorua beekeeper Russell 
Berry, 
who would normally supply 4500 hives
to Bay of Plenty, will also stay close to home.
They believed the Government had miscalculated on the pollination 
issue 
when it opted for a management plan rather
than eradication, which would have involved the immediate 
depopulation of 
thousands of hives.
In a public briefing paper, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries 
said 
that there "should be minimal impact on
pollination services as the management option enables viable hives to 
be 
available for pollination."
But MAF wrongly assumed that
beekeepers would willingly put their hives at risk of becoming 
infested, Mr Berry said.
Mr Tweeddale said he would lose $300,000 -  "a good chunk of our 
income" in pollination charges by not supplying around 3500 hives to 
kiwifruit growers. His brother supplied about 400.
He said that taking the hives to the Bay of Plenty meant there was a 
strong possibility of their becoming infected "and
we don't want to do that. If we can hold off the mite as long as 
possible without having to spend the money on control,
the better for us." Mr Tweeddale, a second-generation beekeeper whose 
sons are also in the business, said once
hives were infected he would have to spend around $100,000 a year on 
pesticide to kill the mites.
"That's most of our profit on an average year disappeared," he said.
About 48,000 hives are used to pollinate kiwifruit in the Bay of 
Plenty. It is estimated that 16,000 hives are based in the bay, 
suggesting that 32,000 are needed from outside the area. - PA

Wrong-way driver causes scare

AUCKLAND - A 95-year-old man repeatedly terrorised Auckland motorists 
yesterday by driving the wrong way on the
road.
The man drove the wrong way down two motorway offramps and later, in 
the 
city centre, crossed on to the wrong side
of the road.
Police said it was a miracle no one was hurt. The man was eventually 
found 
near his South Auckland home about
nine hours later.
The Papatoetoe man, who holds a current licence, went out yesterday 
morning 
to get a new warrant of fitness for his
Austin Allegro. He then planned to go shopping.
However, he became confused and lost.
Worried motorists first called police about 8am saying the man had 
driven 
the wrong way down the Newton Rd
motorway offramp.
Later in the morning, he did the same thing at the Te Atatu offramp.
However, witnesses could not give
police a registration number and also provided varying vehicle 
descriptions.
In the meantime, the man eluded police.
A breakthrough came about 2.30pm when a member of the public saw the 
man on 
the wrong side of Nelson St and
recorded the registration number.
Police went to his home soon afterwards but no one was there.
Shortly before nightfall, the man broke the clutch in his car and 
ended up 
at a service station about 4km from his
home.
He called his stepdaughter and police were alerted.
Senior Constable Stu Kearns said the man had hit something and 
damaged the 
front left of his car, but he could not
tell police when or where that had happened.
Mr Kearns said the man had failed his last licence test but then won 
it 
back on appeal.
Police will seek to have his licence revoked but will not charge 
him.-PA.

Revamped slogan unveiled soon
By Dave Laurence

An upgrade Of Wanganui's "well worth the journey" slogan will be made 
public soon.
 The project is being handled by the Wanganui Regional Community 
school of design under a contract with the Wanganui District Council.
The council has set aside $40,000 in its economic development budget 
for improving Wanganui's image through "marketing image development 
and stakeholder relationship building."
Organisations such as Wedco, Destination Wanganui. the Wanganui 
Business 
Development Centre and Mainstreet
are keen to polish Wanganui's promotional slogan and associated 
material 
and to encourage consistent use across
all sectors.
Remembering the adage that a camel is a horse designed by a 
committee, the 
council has the unenviable task of
deciding which concept, if any, is acceptable.
Despite the aspirations of its proponents, the basic "Wanganui 
quality - well worth the journey" slogan has failed to excite the 
community at large.
It is not yet clear whether the current objective is to tweak the 
original 
or start with a clean slate.
Council planning committee chairman Stephen Palmer said yesterday the 
committee meeting next Tuesday would
discuss arrangements for the polytech to outline a proposal or 
proposals.
He stressed there was much more to the exercise than updating the 
slogan; 
there would be a package of material
suitable for use by various sectors.
Cr Palmer anticipated the material would be publicly displayed and 
discussed.

Prison gang meetings concern

CHRISTCHURCH - Members of rival gangs have been holding meetings in 
Paparua 
Prison, apparently to defuse
internal tensions, despite stern anti-gang warnings from Justice 
Minister Phil Goff, according to The Press.
Mr Goff has long advocated the need to break the gangs' authority in 
jails and has urged prisons not to acknowledge gang hierarchy.
Yesterday, the day after Mr Goff proposed tougher sentencing laws to 
keep 
serious offenders in jail longer, he said he was "extremely 
reluctant" to see gangs used as a tool for settling tensions.
Several gang meetings are understood to have taken place at Paparua, 
following rising tensions over the arrest of a
prison officer for
possessing cannabis for supply.
The officer appeared in the Christchurch District Court on Thursday 
and was 
remanded on bail without plea to July 
27.
He has interim name suppression and is on special leave from his job.
As a result of the arrest, an inmate - one of the prime movers in the 
Paparua hostage drama of 1997 - was apparently
accused of "grassing" or dobbing the officer in, and feared his 
safety was at risk from gang members.
Instead of shifting the prisoner to a protection unit, a meeting was 
organised with members of Black Power and
Mongrel Mob gangs to quell the tension. The first of the meetings 
took place on Saturday, followed by more talks yesterday.-PA.

Tv feature on 'unfortunate experiment'

AUCKLAND -  - A dramatised television feature will be made of the 
cervical study scandal which rocked the country a decade ago.
The "unfortunate experiment" at Auckland's National Women's Hospital 
- where women with cancer were left untreated - will be told through 
the eyes of the woman who exposed the story in an article written by 
Phillida Bunkle and Sandra Coney in Metro Magazine.
Clare Matheson, then known only as "Ruth", will be portrayed by an 
actress in the two-hour telefeature which has been given $1 million 
by New Zealand on Air.
The movie will be produced by Dave Gibson and screened in prime time 
on TV 0ne next year,
 Mr Gibson said Ms Matheson's story would "humanise and personalise" 
the drama, which will span 20 years and culminate in the inquiry 
headed by Dame Silvia Cartwright.
 Actors are still to be cast in the key roles of Ms Matheson, Dame 
Silvia and the authors of the expose.
 Mr Gibson said the telefeature had been given
the green light by TVNZ "a long time ago" but a change in staff saw 
support for the project pulled.
"A while ago we went back to TVNZ and they
were really enthusiastic about it and they've been very keen. I think 
very much people see the story as having some relevance these days."
Ms Matheson said it was appropriate the story be told now but she did 
not believe the Gisborne cancer inquiry had spurred support for the 
television project.
"I think that the two cases are entirely different."
She said a decade on it was still important to tell the story of the 
unfortunate experiment. 

No bee mite delay

WELLINGTON - A cabinet committee did not cause a week's delay in the 
Government's decision on controlling the
bee-killing varroa jacobsoni mite, a spokesman for Prime Minister 
Helen Clark says.
The spokesman denied a report yesterday by the New Zealand Herald 
that cabinet's policy committee requested on
July 5 the Government delay its decision to allow for a trial on ways 
to kill all bees.
 At the time most beekeepers and
horticulturists were on tenterhooks, hoping to hear that the 
Government
would plump for a $55 million eradication attempt.
But the spokesman said yesterday the committee had proposed looking
at some technical of aspects of an option
proposed to the Government, "then  the
following week, the decision was made to go down the path we have 
done".
"The committee never called for that trial to go ahead at all," he 
said.
The only request that had been made was for more technical advice on 
the proposal for a pilot trial, alongside
whatever control or eradication regime was put in place.
On July 12 the committee accepted the technical group's advice that 
further research was unlikely to help, and that
there was a very low likelihood of success of an eradication 
programme.
Minister of Agriculture Jim Sutton and Minister of Biosecurity, 
Marian Hobbs announced last week that the
Government had opted for a $40 million management plan.
A sketch of what the future could hold for the bridge block's former 
BNZ bank building.

Another option for information centre

By Dave Laurence

A building in the bridge block of Victoria Ave has emerged as an 
option for relocation of Wanganui's visitor information centre.
It is the former BNZ building, recently purchased by a Wanganui 
property developer.
The owner, who is insisting on anonymity at this stage, yesterday 
confirmed the building's availability.
He pointed to ample parking front and rear and said there was space 
for various promotional organisations as well as displays.
The building has the advantage of being within the main shopping 
centre and close to Trafalgar Square, PS Waimarie, the Whanganui 
River. arts facilities and Whanganui Regional Museum.
"It may also be suitable as a tram terminal, the project greeted 
enthusiastically by many citizens," he said.
The owner said lie had informally discussed the building's attributes 
with the Wanganui District Council.
In the last year or so the council's investigations have concentrated 
on 
the John Coull building and War Memorial Hall
in the central city, sites along the riverbank and the existing 
information centre premises in Guyton St.
The former BNZ building is a recent addition to the list of options.
The outcome of the council's investigations is expected to be made 
public 
in a few weeks.

Women's refuges need more cash

WELLINGTON - Domestic violence victims are not getting follow-up help 
because, of underfunding of the Women's
Refuge, says chief executive Merepeka Raukawa-Tait.
Travelling New Zealand to drum up publicity for next week's national 
appeal, Ms Raukawa-Tait again called for more
Government funding. She warned the service could not do its job 
properly unless more than 450 volunteer staff
became fully paid professionals. Only 139 of its 600 workers are 
paid.
Another $4 million was needed, double the current Government funding, 
for it to be effective.
Currently it was funded to be an
"ambulance at the bottom of a cliff", doing short-term crisis work. 
That 
left it unable to do follow-up work with women
and children once they left the safe houses, sometimes returning to 
violent 
men. Nor could it do long-term community
education, despite high levels of
demand from community groups for public speaking and information on 
violence, she said.
"We expect the Government to understand that long-term we can turn 
around 
the tragic consequences of domestic
violence in New Zealand, but we need money to do the job.
"If we were effective, we should be closing refuges, not looking to 
strengthen them. But we have a problem in New
Zealand with women and children which is well past its crisis point."
Since Commissioner For Children Roger McClay released a report on the 
death of four-year-old James Whakaruru, who was beaten by his 
stepfather, there had been a surge of calls to Women's Refuge from 
people wanting to know the signs of child abuse to watch for, Ms 
Raukawa-Tait said.
A spokesman for Social Services Minister Steve Maharey said the 
service was unlikely to get more funding this financial year.-PA.

Salvage team returns

BLENHEIM - A Picton dive crew has just returned from a two-month 
stint 
salvaging a ship which sank off the
Chatham Islands several weeks ago.
The Seafresh 1, a fishing vessel from New Zealand, caught fire when 
its 
crew was fishing off the Chathams. They
stopped the main engines to attend to the fire, but could not restart 
the 
engines when the fire had been extinguished.
The ship had to be towed to a safe anchorage in Hanson Bay but began 
taking on water and leaking fuel, the reason
for which has not vet been discovered.
The crew includes Picton's Mike Baker and Dave Herbert from 
Commercial 
Diving Consultants, who were contracted
by United Salvage. They have spent almost two months working with 
others 
to remove pollutants from the ship and
stabilise it so it was no longer a navigational hazard.
Marlborough harbourmaster Alex van Wijngaarden, a specialist in 
dealing with oil spills, was called in to help reduce the impact
on the coastline.
Hanson Bay is one of the Chathams' most productive paua beds so the 
shipwreck had the potential to be an
environmental disaster. It was thought about 80 tonnes of fuel was 
left 
on board, but the crew only recovered 44
tonnes with almost none ending up in the sea.
So far it has been a long, complicated project for the salvage team.
Initially there was a buyer for the ship so the team was required to 
salvage it in an operable state. In the course of the
project the buyer disappeared and the priorities of the team changed.
The salvage job is not over yet. The team will head back to the 
Chathams 
in the summer months when the weather
will be more favourable.
"It's hard to know how long it will take in the summer because the 
weather is the deciding factor," Mr Baker said.
In the meantime, the ship is being monitored regularly to make sure 
no pollutants are leaking from it.-PA.

Why my son only: mother

WESTPORT - A mother whose son was expelled from Buller High School 
last year for buying alcohol on a school trip is furious that the 
school has decided not to expel four students who smoked cannabis 
during interval last term.
Lois McVicker said her son, Jared, deserved to be suspended.
"But how do you compare an 18-year-old who can legally go into the 
hotel ... and buy alcohol, with cannabis buying?" 
Principal Peter Robertson said that changes in the Education Act 
encouraged rehabilitation rather than expulsion.
However, Mrs McVicker said those changes had been in place for some 
time before her son was expelled.
In 1998 Buller High students on a school camp had alcohol and drugs 
but were not expelled, she said.
The board had assured her and her husband that it had her son's 
interests at heart and promised he would be allowed
to sit School Certificate, but the school had subsequently stopped 
him from taking the exam, she said.
She had unsuccessfully sought hearings with the principal, before and 
after Jared's expulsion.
Board chairman Peter Campbell said the board could not discuss 
details of individual cases.
He said Mrs McVicker has not disclosed  all the facts, nor the 
context in which the matter concerning her son had occurred.

Bus driver charged after death

AUCKLAND - - An Auckland bus driver has been charged with careless 
driving causing death after a schoolboy was
killed moments after he got off a bus in May.
Matthew Taylor, 12, died when his bag caught in the doors of a 
Stagecoach bus as he got off in Browns Bay on Auckland's North Shore 
on May 10. He was run over by the bus.
Police said yesterday they had charged the driver of the bus with 
careless 
driving causing death and failing to stop to
ascertain injury.
Police said the driver would also face charges after another traffic 
incident earlier in the day in the North Shore suburb of
Glenfield involving a car.
As a result of the earlier incident the driver had been charged with 
careless driving and failing to stop to ascertain
injury, said Senior Sergeant Bill Russell from the police North Shore 
traffic safety branch.
The driver was due to appear in court next week.-PA.

Prison hunger-striker's health slips

WHANGAREI - - A hunger-striking prisoner's health is deteriorating as 
he enters the 23rd day of a protest at being moved away from his 
family.
Father of four, Kara Whareumu, 38, is protesting over being moved 
from 
Auckland's Mt Eden prison to a Hawke's Bay
prison, 500km from his Whangarei family.
He has vowed to continue starving himself until he gets a meeting 
with the Minister of Corrections Matt Robson, or a representative, to 
ask why prisoners' families are being punished by inmates being sent 
so far away.
Whareumu, a convicted burglar, is now in Mt Eden prison after facing 
driving charges in an Auckland court recently,
and is still waiting to hear when he is going back to the Hawke's 
Bay.
His partner, who did not wish to be identified, yesterday said 
medical checks had revealed Whareumu had started to
pass blood in his urine. She was worried about his health.-PA.

Lefties left out with computer mouse

BLENHEIM - - Blenheim man Bill Malins only has a right-handed mouse, 
and he's not happy.
So Mr Malins is taking on software giant Microsoft over what he says 
is its failure to produce a left-handed computer mouse.
He has written to the Commerce Commission and the Human Rights 
Commission over what he sees is Microsoft's failure to cater to left-
handed people.
Mr Malins, who is left-handed, became even more reliant on his left 
hand after a motorcycle accident in 1984 robbed him of the use of his 
right hand.
He recently ordered a new computer mouse after the old one failed.
He bought a Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer for $130, took it home 
and found it was for right-handed users only.
"I thought that was strange, looking on the outside of the box," he 
said.
After contacting Microsoft, he was told that Microsoft's Intellimouse 
Explorer was designed exclusively for the right
hand, although the company was now aware of the packaging defect.
"What does concern me is that there may be an assumption (by 
Microsoft) 
that the world is peopled by those who
are limited by the use of their right hands, who are setting the 
standard 
and those who use their left hand are of no
consequence," he said.
He contacted Microsoft in Auckland and has been sent an Intellimouse 
optical, which is not hand specific and is
excellent to use.
He has received a letter from Microsoft saying that with only about 
10 
percent of the population being left handed it
was not financially feasible for Microsoft to make a lefthanded 
mouse.-PA.

Schoolboy found guilty of stabbing

CHRISTCHURCH - Name suppression was refused for a high school student 
sent to Christchurch District Court
yesterday for sentencing on a charge of wounding with intent to cause 
grievous bodily harm.
Hani Abdelaal Selim, 16, defended the charge at a Youth Court 
hearing, 
but was found guilty.
Judge Graeme Noble said Selim had claimed self-defence or the defence 
of 
another person, but he had found that by stabbing the complainant in 
the back with a large knife, he had used a greater degree of force 
than was reasonable.
He noted that the pre-sentence report referred to Selim's continued 
involvement in a risky peer group, a patchy school
performance, limited
empathy with the victim, and "overtones of continued denial about the 
seriousness of the offending".
He took account of Selim's age, 16 years, his lack of previous 
offending, 
his strong family support, and his
compliance with a curfew and court requirements over the last six 
months.
 He sentenced Selim to 18 months'
imprisonment, suspended for 18
months, and warned him that any
further offending within that time
could result in him serving the
sentence.  
He also released him under supervision and directed that he undertake 
drug and alcohol assessment and treatment.
He was fined $200, all of which is to go to the victim. - PA.

Two-year-old Benjamin Luffscott's bib was working overtime yesterday when he 
visited SteamRail Wanganui's display in Trafalgar Square.

Slice of railway history draws crowds
By Daniel Jackson

Pieces of Wanganui's rail history have found a temporary home at 
Trafalgar 
Square.
Rail enthusiasts' group, SteamRail Wanganui, has collected a range of 
railway memorabilia and old fashioned tools
as well as pictures of its current projects for a display in the 
shopping 
centre.
Spokesman Warren Palmer said the display had generated a lot of 
interest 
since it opened on Sunday. Many of the
visitors were former New Zealand Rail employees or people who had 
been associated with the railways.
 "Whenever we get a dull moment we ring the bell (from an old
railway station) and people start coming back in again," he said.
The society also has a scale model and drawings of an old
 fashioned railway station and museum it hopes to build and use
as a base for its activities.  
As a fundraiser for the project, the society has arranged for a train 
to carry passengers to Hastings  Blossom Festival 50th anniversary
parade on September 19.
Last year the trip attracted more than 600 people.
"We'd like to try and exceed that this year, Mr Palmer said.
The display is open between 10am and 4.30pm most days until the end 
of the month.

Man charged
A man has been arrested and charged with the manslaughter
of Morrinsville man Peter 
Hohepa. Mr Hohepa, 44, died in  
Waikato Hospital on June 17. Detective Sergeant Mike Caldwell said 
the 
arrested man was due to appear in the
Hamilton District Court. - PA 
Destroyed
An engineering  workshop was destroyed in a fire at the Rotorua 
Carter Holt Harvey Wood Products Sawmill on 
Saturday. Rotorua Fire Service senior fire
officer Richard Anastasi said the fire started about 4am. It was 
brought under control in about an hour, but by that
time the building was destroyed. The company's mill was not damaged 
in the fire due to the efforts of the Fire Service and the sprinkler 
systems in the mill, Mr Anastasi said. Sprinklers were not fitted in 
the workshop.-PA.
Arson admitted
A teenager has admitted starting a blaze which partially destroyed a 
Whangarei high school as well as lighting a fire
at a kura kaupapa (Maori primary school). The 13-year-old Whangarei 
teenager appeared in Whangarei Family Court
before Judge Peter Boshier. Police arrested the teenager on June 19 
after a 
fire at Tikipunga High School earlier that
day, which partially destroyed the school's administration block. The 
cost 
has been estimated at $1 million. Judge
Boshier asked the teenager whether he had set three separate fires. 
The 
teenager admitted he had lit a fire at a
Tikipunga Te Kura Kaupapa on June 11 and the fire at Tikipunga  High 
School 
on June 19. He denied setting a bush
alight in a Tikipunga street on June 18. Judge Boshier placed the boy
the in the continued custody of the Department of Child, Youth and 
Family Services and called for social welfare reports. He adjourned 
the case to a later date, yet to be set.-PA.
On the run
Police are looking for a Rolleston Prison inmate who failed to turn 
up for his morning tea yesterday. Sergeant Ron Wilson, of the police 
southern communications centre in Christchurch, said the prisoner, 
Nathan McLean, 26, was not considered dangerous. McLean was on 
gardening duties at the prison when he went "walkabout" about 10am. -
PA.

Growers embrace wool report

By Iain Hyndman
Agricultural Editor

Wanganui woolgrowers last night embraced the McKinsey and Company 
report proposing sweeping changes to the New Zealand industry.
More than 80 farmers and industry players listened intently to a 
slick, but highly plausible overview of the proposed new-look 
industry from McKinsey and Co consultant Andrew Grant.
The purpose of last night's meeting, one in a series of meetings 
nationwide, was to prepare growers for the upcoming vote for or 
against the McKinsey package in its entirety in a postal ballot 
at the end of this month.
The report makes 10 basic recommendations, including reducing the 
wool levy growers pay from five percent to one, which from day one 
will only be for research and development and on-farm skills 
training.
It also recommends the dissolution of the New Zealand Wool Board and 
that the assets of Wools of New Zealand the board's marketing arm and 
Merino New Zealand he used as the basis for establishing new 
commercial wool marketing companies.
Growers will be given the chance to invest a portion of their share 
of 
reserves in the proposed commercial ventures, or
take it in cash.
A portion of the board's reserves will also be earmarked for a new 
commercial enterprise to foster genetic research
and development, similar to the recent discovery of the fertility 
genetic 
mapping by AgResearch scientist Sue
Galloway at Invermay in the South Island.
Mr Grant told the meeting if the entire package was adopted in the 
postal 
ballot, there was a sense of urgency in
implementing the recommendations.
However, he also said the government required a "clear mandate" from 
farmers that this was what they wanted before
legislative changes would be made to dissolve the board and 
redistribute reserves.
Traditionally the farming sector has responded poorly to postal 
voting with little more than a 30 percent turnout.
However, if the package was to get it best chance to work, a much 
larger voting turnout was needed and it must show a large majority 
were in favour.

Ratana Church Tumuaki Harerangi Meihana receives a quick lesson in Te 
Kura o Ratana's new computer system
from nine-year-old Atawhai Docherty.

Computers open up world for Ratana

By Daniel Jackson

Students at Te Kura o Ratana have access to the world's biggest 
library 
from any computer in their school thanks to
a new system officially opened yesterday.
Ratana Church Tumuaki (leader) Harerangi Meihana ceremonially 
switched on 
a computer at the school in front of a
gathering of students, parents and staff.
Board of trustees chairman -Adrian Rurawhe said the commissioning of 
the system was a special day for the Ratana community.
"We're a small rural community and we can't afford a big library but 
through these computers we have access to the
Internet which is the biggest library in the world."
The system, which includes eight new computers spread around the 
school and linked by cables, was bought and installed at a cost of 
$35,000.
Mr Meihana said the installation of the system and the access it gave 
to information would help broaden students'horizons.
"I see it as part of closing the gaps," he said.

March to protest landfill plan

HAMILTON - Opponents of a proposed 30 million cubic metre landfill at 
Hampton Downs near Meremere are
organising a 34km hikoi (march) from Te Kauwhata to Ngaruawahia on 
Thursday to present their grievances to
Waikato District Council.
 Foremost is the proximity of New Zealand's largest dump to the 
Waikato River, just 700m to the west. 
Protesters say burying waste so close to a major waterway is an 
ecological time bomb.-PA.

Families benefit from appeal

The Tawaroa and Olsen families each received $1600 yesterday from an 
appeal launched after the death of six
Wanganui family members in a car accident in South Otago in March.
The appeal, organised by Wanganui woman Jane Motu, was launched after 
David Tawaroa, his father George, wife
Jinaya Olsen and their three children died in ahead-on collision with 
a truck on State Highway One near Invercargill.
Mrs Motu said the three-month appeal had raised $3200 which was split 
between both families.
"There are many people to thank, including my husband David, Mayor 
Chas Poynter who was co-signatory for the appeal and Huia Henare and 
her Castlecliff team. None of this would have been possible without 
their help and the generosity of Wanganui people,"

Patient One praised for 'pushing' concerns

GISBORNE - If a woman who had four slides misread by former Gisborne 
pathologist Michael Bottrill had not gone
public with her concerns about his practice, more cases of misread 
smears 
may not have come to light in time, an
inquiry heard yesterday.
An expert cytopathologist yesterday praised Patient One at the 
Gisborne 
cervical screening inquiry, saying if she had
not "pushed" the issue before the Medical Practitioners' Disciplinary 
Committee and in the High Court, more women
could have developed cancer before anything was done.
Although it was Dr Clint Teague's "sincere belief" that misreadings   
would have become apparent in time, Patient
One's actions sped the process up.
"It was the strongest indication we had to do our investigation. ... 
(It was the) only way the issue would come to light if women had a 
history of normal smears and had a high grade."
Patient One's first slide was read as low grade by Dr Bottrill but 
later 
found to be high grade. Her second slide was
originally recorded as normal and re-read as high grade, the third 
read 
as normal but found to be high grade, and the
fourth initially read as high grade when in fact it showed carcinoma.
Of Patient One's first slide, Dr Teague said Dr Bottrill "got it 
mildly 
wrong", missing the true state of sample cells by
one degree.
However, he acknowledged that for the woman concerned it made a 
difference. If her smear was deemed low grade
she would be told to get another
smear in six months' time. If high grade, she would be sent for a 
colposcopy.
Stuart Grieve, QC, representing the women affected by misreads, tried 
to 
get Patient One's slides accepted into
evidence yesterday so they could be examined by Australian 
cytopathologist Dr Annabelle Farnsworth today.
Dr Farnsworth oversaw the Sydney re-reading and will present evidence 
about the nature of the abnormalities found.
Ailsa Duffy, QC, leader of the committee of inquiry, ruled against Mr 
Grieve's line of questioning, saying the slides
should also have been presented to the other cytologists who 
testified.
Dr Teague told the inquiry that if cytology-histology correlations 
had 
been possible before the reconfiguration of the
cervical cancer register in 1997 and if audits of all cancer cases 
were 
allowed today, there would be no need for the
present inquiry.
He called it the "gold standard" but in its absence (due to a piece 
of 
legislation protecting information which might
identify women) there were other factors which would prevent such a 
disaster.
All cytology labs were now accredited, internal and external quality 
assurance was commonplace and for the past
three years cytology-histology correlation had been possible. Dr 
Teague 
said it was possible that the Tairawhiti
population was not effectively screened but he said even when 
screened, some women were going to get cervical cancer. - PA.

Taranaki Tv channel going well

NEW PLYMOUTH - Taranaki's regional television channel has survived 
the technical glitches of the first few weeks, its station manager 
Ray Cleaver said yesterday.
The channel now had a team of about 13 staff.
Currently showing are a three nights-a-week programme on local 
current affairs hosted by Seven Taranaki chairman Stuart Perry; news 
and weather, a weekly Taranaki sports night with sports personalities 
Howie Tamati and Steve McKean, a locally produced computer show; and 
a community diary.-PA.

Board elected
The Registered Master Builders' Federation has elected its first 
board of directors to keep up with the body's increasingly commercial 
approach. The 99-year-old federation had previously been run by a 
national council of regionally elected representatives. The four 
elected board members were Aucklander John Sheriff, Kevin Stanley, of
Matamata, John Marshall, of Taupo, and Cantabrian Arthur Grant.-PA.
Axe threat
A man used an axe to threaten staff in a rural Canterbury pharmacy 
and get away with cash and prescription drugs, police said last 
night. The man entered the pharmacy in Templeton, 14km west of 
Christchurch, about 5.50pm. After threatening the staff, he took all 
the money from the till and an unknown amount of drugs, a 
Christchurch police spokeswoman said. Police described the man as a 
Maori or Pacific Islander, 1.67m, dressed all in black with a black
balaclava and a cap with "Bad Boys" written on the front.-PA.
Gun alert
Two schoolboys pulled out a slug gun at an Auckland intermediate 
school yesterday, sparking a police alert. No one was hurt in the 
incident, which happened at Remuera Intermediate School about 1.15pm. 
Police said they knew the identities of the two boys.-PA.
Store robbed
A Cambridge video store was robbed of $100 cash by two men, one armed 
with a knife, on Saturday. The two men walked into the Civic Video 
store in Lake St about 10.50pm, Cambridge police Sergeant Gordon 
Grantham said. One threatened the shop attendant with a knife and 
told him to lie on the floor while the second man took the money from
the till. The pair then ran off.-PA.
Tough going
Scallopers heading into Tasman Bay off Nelson, for the opening of the 
recreational season on Saturday found it tough
going, but it was a different story in Golden Bay and Okiwi Many 
fishermen returning to Port Nelson had caught only a fraction of the 
limit and complained that many they had found were undersized. But 
Ministry of Fisheries officer Frank Best said reports from other 
areas, and Golden Bay and Okiwi Bay in particular, indicated there 
were plenty of scallops in good condition.
Chronicle poll
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voteline 090070061.

Prison term looming

Taihape District Court

The prospect of imprisonment lies ahead for a former Nelson man now 
living 
in Taihape.
Appearing before Judge Phillip Connell in the Taihape District Court 
yesterday was 40-year-old Mark Anthony Starr,
supervisor, who pleaded guilty to assaulting a female, dangerous 
driving, 
failing for stop for police and driving with a
breath alcohol level of 883:1.
The offences were committed at Nelson early in June and arose out of 
what 
was, initially, a domestic incident.
 Police said Starr became angry with his partner
and during the ensuing argument he slapped and punched her several 
times.
He then stormed out of the house, got into his car and drove away at 
speed.
He was spotted by police who pursued him along several Nelson 
streets.
During the chase Starr drove through roundabouts and controlled 
intersections at speeds up to 80 kmh, ignoring the
flashing lights and siren on the police car.
When he did finally stop he was breath tested and returned a breath 
alcohol reading of 883:1.
Remanding Starr to August 14 for a probation report an sentencing, 
Judge Connell granted bail but warned Starr he should not take that 
as any indication he would not be sent to jail.
Counsel: Paul Brown.
A Taihape man's good nature earned him a $1000 fine, eight months' 
disqualification from driving and a warning not to
drink and drive again.
Jeff Marwood Kelly, 28, farmer, pleaded guilty to
driving with a breath alcohol level of 664: 1. It was his second 
drunk driving offence since 1997.
Counsel Charlene Benson said Kelly had gone out to spend the evening 
with friends, at a local hotel.
When it came time to go home, the person who had driven the group to 
the hotel was too drunk to drive home so asked Kelly to drive.
Being a "helpful sort of person" and believing he had not consumed 
enough alcohol to put him over the limit, Kelly agreed to drive.
While acknowledging the circumstances that lead to the offence and 
the several references submitted by Mrs Benson
on her client's behalf, testifying to Kelly's good nature, Judge 
Connell said as a second offender Kelly could not be treated 
leniently.
Parliament had strengthened the penalties for repeat drunk driving 
and expected Judges to apply them.
Imposing the heavy fine and lengthy period of disqualification Judge 
Connell also warned Kelly: "A third conviction for this sort of 
offending and you will end up in prison,"

Widespread doctor stress

WELLINGTON - One doctor in 10 is  suffering significant psychological 
stress, and  more than half think about quitting because of  stress, 
a survey has found.
Excessive paperwork, health reforms, interference, long hours and on-
call work were the main causes of stress, an article in the New 
Zealand Medical Journal said.
The survey found 9.9 percent of respondents showed "significant" 
psychological distress, while psychological symptoms in a further 
31.4 percent were described as "high".
Such stress resulted in 57 percent of the 391 doctors surveyed 
considering giving up; 55 percent feeling disinterested in medicine, 
and 32 percent feeling unable to remain competent in their job.
The stress was also having physical effects, with 46 percent saying 
work had affected their bodily health recently.
The findings had direct repercussions for the quality of patient 
service, Wellington School of Medicine general practice
Professor Anthony Dowell said .
Health officials should listen to what the medical workforce was 
saying and act on it, researchers headed by Prof Dowell said.
The study quoted a recent report on Britain's National Health Service 
(NHS), which said: "Clinicians and nursing staff have clear ideas of 
what is wrong with the present system - but junior medical staff
have great difficulty in getting their voices heard.
"The fear of the adverse reference and being termed a troublemaker 
are still potent forces within medicine."
Those with the highest stress levels had spent significantly fewer 
years in practice.
While most doctors were satisfied in their work, rural GPs were less 
satisfied than those in the cities, and sole
practitioners were more likely to be unhappy than those in group 
practice.
The NHS report warned that consultants were facing an increasing work 
load but a decreasing role in how that work
was done, as others "both inside and outside the workplace" took over 
such decision making.
"They feel that many of these decisions are eroding their ability to 
retain professional autonomy even within their clinical practice."
The report warned that nurses spoke "with their feet", backing up 
recent reports of elective surgery in New Zealand hospitals being 
cancelled due to nursing shortages.
The health system was also suffering from a shortage of junior 
doctors, who have been demanding higher pay levels in an attempt to 
stem their flow overseas.-PA.

Lucky escape for boys in explosion

Blenheim, July 17 - Two Blenheim teenagers are lucky not to have been 
seriously injured in an incident with live
explosives on Saturday night.
The 15-year-old and 17-year-old boys both had shrapnel removed from 
their faces, bodies and eyes after an
aluminium detonator exploded in their faces.
The parents of one of the boys said yesterday it defied logic the two 
didn't lose a hand or weren't blinded by the blast.
They also wanted to know why young people were managing to find such 
dangerous items.
It is the second incident in a year where a Blenheim teenager has 
been injured while playing with detonators. Last
year a 16-year-old boy seriously damaged his hand after attempting to 
saw through a detonator he found in a stormwater drain.
One of the boys in the latest incident is believed to have found half 
a dozen of the detonators on the Taylor River bank in Blenheim on 
Friday.
He kept four, which he planned to let off on Saturday night. However, 
the fun lasted less than two seconds.
When he and his companion lit a fireworks sparkler which they were 
using as a fuse, the detonator exploded. Both boys were within
centimetres of the device and shrapnel from the casing was embedded 
in their skin.
One youth had to have small pieces dug out of his face, while the 
other had shrapnel removed from his chest.
Both had pieces in their eyes and were transferred to specialists 
outside Marlborough.
They are now back in Blenheim, out of hospital and slightly abashed, 
according to one set of parents.-PA.

Astronomical Society member Mark Lee peers through the Ward 
Observatory's 1860-built Thomas Cook 26cm telescope during 
yesterday's lunar eclipse.

Eclipse sight in a millennium

By Simon Waters and NZPA

Hundreds of Wanganui people and thousands of New Zealanders 
sacrificed 
sleep to watch in awe a lunar eclipse that
won't be matched for another millennium yesterday morning.
Crowds watched as the full moon vanished from sight at 1.02am, hiding 
behind the Earth's shadow until 2.49am.
It was said to be the longest eclipse since 1859, and a phenomenon 
that 
would be unmatched for 1000 years.
Though the moon passed in Earth's shadow instead of darkening it took 
on a red-orange hue from the sun's refracted rays.
Wanganui Astronomical society president Ross Skilton said about 100 
people - more than expected - went to the
Ward Observatory to view the eclipse through the large
telescope.
"There were dozens of people there when we opened up and they were 
still 
coming through at 2am.
"There was a high level of interest," he said.
Observers watched as a bright full moon slowly turned orange, then 
began to 
resemble red planet Mars.
Across the country people were rewarded with differing perspectives.
Although Auckland Observatory attracted several hundred visitors they 
only 
saw a few minutes of the eclipse clearly
before the clouds rolled in.
Wellingtonians keen enough to venture out on a chilly night were 
rewarded by clear skies, and a spectacular display
by the stars of the milky way.
The total eclipse lasted so extrodinarily long because the moon
passed almost exactly  through the centre of Earth's shadow.

Go global call on ferry wake problem

BLENHEIM - Picton boat designer Steve Schmidt is calling on 
authorities
 to look globally in the search for a solution to the fast ferry wash 
problems.
 Owner of Naiad Inflatables (NZ) Ltd Mr Schmidt has drawn the  
Marlborough District Council's attention to a conference
in London in November which will look at
the wake wash and motions control of high
speed craft. 
Experts will talk about characteristics of wake wash generation in 
shallow and deep water and various measurement
studies completed around the world. Control systems and experimental 
techniques will also be discussed.
Mr Schmidt said the advertisement for the conference proved that 
Marlborough
not alone in dealing with such issues.
While the council had used some international consultants during its 
study 
of the ferry wash, Mr Schmidt believed a
broader approach was needed.
International naval architects recognised there a problem and Mr 
Schmidt believed they were already designing boats
with a less damaging wake.
Earlier this month the Marlborough District Council passed a 
resolution 
giving the go-ahead to finalise a by-law which
would cut fast ferry speeds.
A technical group proposed the top speed for fast ferries in the 
Sounds should be 18 knots unless companies could
prove the wash they created was within certain limits.
Mr Schmidt did not believe a by-law slowing down the ferries was a 
solution. Getting rid of the ferries was not a
solution either, as that would retard development of the area.
He said there were alternatives, and looking at wave placement when 
designing a vessel was imperative. Issues such
as the load weight and speed would also have to be considered.
It was time the council and other authorities looked at the bigger 
picture and pooled ideas with overseas nations on the issue, he said. 
Meanwhile, submissions on a speed limit for the fast ferries should 
be made by September 1. A final decision will be made at a council 
meeting on September 7.-PA.

Islamic centre
An Islamic centre is to be established in the Wellington suburb of 
Kilbirnie by Muslims whose worship centre in
Newtown is too small for the growing community's needs. Muslim 
numbers in 
New Zealand have risen  almost 400
percent in the past decade, to more than 20,000.-PA.
Moggy saved
Palmerston North firefighters resuscitated a Palmerston North cat 
after a 
kitchen fire on Saturday night. The woman
living in the house had left for several minutes, leaving food 
cooking on 
the stove. She cut her arm trying to get back
into the house to save her cat. Firefighters found the cat and 
resuscitated 
it by putting an oxygen tube in its mouth. 
The kitchen was extensively damaged, and the rest of the house 
suffered smoke damage.-PA.
Cycle helmets
Cyclists could gain a false sense of security wearing a cycle helmet 
says the New Zealand Cycling Strategy
Foundation. Project manager Roger Boulter made the comments in a 
report presented at a conference on the
development of a national cycling strategy over the weekend. He said 
helmets should be recognised as a sensible safety precaution, but be 
marketed more subtly. "It's especially important to avoid the  
sometimes common current message that helmets are a particularly 
crucial contributor toward cyclist safety - recognising  that helmets 
are only designed to protect against falls, not crashes," he said. - 
PA
Plan opposed
Telstra Saturn's plan to lay a fibre optic cable out to sea from 
Titahi Bay north Wellington has met with strong
opposition. Titahi Bay Residents' Association is set to oppose the  
resource consent application, citing an
Environment Court ruling banning the use of heavy machinery in the 
bay. 
Telstra Saturn has already sought
permission for a cable at Lyall Bay in Wellington but this has come 
under 
fire from surfers worried the proposal could
wreck one of Wellington's premier surfing spots. The company wants 
both 
beach crossings to build a fibre optic link
between Wellington and the South Island. -PA.
Trial begins
Jurors in the Hugh Mills murder
trial which began yesterday in
the High Court at Napier were
asked whether they had
contributed to the public
appeal for the man's family in
the wake of his death at Splash
Planet.
Mr Mills, a security guard at
the Hastings fun park, died
overnight on October 31.
Dennis Ronald Sandilands of
Hastings has denied a charge
of murder.
As the trial got under way
yesterday morning, Justice
Gendall asked potential jurors
whether they had given funds
to the family or felt "unable to
sit dispassionately on this case"
for any reason.
A jury of eight men and four
women was empanelled in the
trial which is expected to take
eight days.
Sandilands is represented by
Russell Fairbrother, assisted by
Peter Nee Harland. Graham
Long and Russell Collins
appear for the Crown.-PA.

Chronicled today

Prime Minister Helen Clark is staking her leadership on Labour MPs accepting her 
personal nomination for the next Maori affairs minister – tipped to be first-term 
Labour MP Parekura Horomia.

Page 3

The prospect of imprisonment lies ahead for a former Nelson man now living in 
Taihape.

Page 4

The thumping 104 – 5 defeat at the hands of Ratana on Saturday, a swarm of injuries 
and a general lack of interest from a few players may lead to the demise of the 
Wanganui Tech senior rugby side for the remainder of the 2000 season.

Page 18

Concussion, sport dangers highlighted

WELLINGTON – The dangers of playing sport after being concussed have been 
highlighted in Wellington Coroner's Court yesterday.
The deaths of two Wellington rugby league players Aaron MacDonald, 25, of Porirua, 
who died last year and Leonard Va'a, 26, of Wainuiomata, who died in 1998, from 
head injuries, were the subject of inquests.
Neurosurgeon Graham Martin said many sportspeople continued to play unaware they 
had suffered concussion.
Mr Martin said a scan of Mr MacDonald showed severe swelling of the brain and 
there were signs there had been an earlier head injury a week or so before.
Police Sergeant Steve Watson said Mr MacDonald died at Wellington Hospital on 
May 11, three days after being admitted. He collapsed after a tackle in the match.
Mr Martin said Mr MacDonald's head probably hit an elbow or knee as he went down 
and his head then struck the ground.
Told by coroner Garry Evans that Mr MacDonald, a supermarket worker, had been 
beaten up by a shoplifter five months before, Dr Martin said he did not think that 
contributed to the death as it was too long before.
Dr Martin estimated that death from a minor injury in sport occurred in Wellington 
once every three to five years. The hearing continues. – PA.

Queenstown host to Swiss movie

WELLINGTON – A production team from a country famous for its alps has arrived 
in Queenstown to film an action adventure movie on the southern ski slopes.
The Swiss movie, to be filmed on Cardrona skifields, stars five of that country's top 
snowboarders in a story about a group who venture off-piste and find themselves in 
peril.
The team would stay at least another month in the hope of more snow to film 
avalanche scenes, a Cardrona spokesman said yesterday.
The movie would screen in Europe in October. – PA.

Chronicled today

A raging storm was hampering efforts yesterday to rescue 116 sailors trapped in a 
crippled nuclear submarine at the bottom of the Arctic Barents Sea since Monday.

Page 5

After road rage and air rage, the latest phenomenon to sweep Britain is office rage, 
claims a new survey.

Page 6

Maori trustee John Paki is odds-on favourite to succeed Ngatata Love as chief 
executive of Maori affairs ministry Te Puni Kokiri, as the ministry takes on a big new 
role as watchdog of the public service.

Page 13

Loans for stormwater separation

By Dave Laurence

Wanganui will have a loans scheme for private property owners who need help in 
paying for the separation of stormwater from ordinary effluent.
This critical decision was reached at a special meeting of the Wanganui District 
Council planning committee yesterday.
The committee endorsed a draft stormwater separation guide which, with 
modifications and additions, soon will be distributed to all property owners.
Cr Sue Westwood proposed interest-free two-year loans but this was rejected in 
favour of Cr Pat Bullock's move for interest-bearing loans.
Cr Rob Vinsen successfully argued the cost of the loan scheme should not fall on 
ratepayers whose properties already meet separation requirements.
"It's not equitable for work to be financed by owners who've already done the job," he 
said. "Why should they be paying again?"
Committee chairman Stephen Palmer said this would require two levels of wastewater 
rate, an enormously complex situation to deal with an amount which was chickenfeed 
against the overall wastewater scheme cost.
Cr John Lithgow: "Regardless of how much it is, it's a matter of principle."
With all new substantial building since 1972 there has been a requirement 
to separate stormwater. About 4500
properties have partial or full separation.
Separation will become an issue for an estimated 10,000 owners whose 
stormwater currently is piped away with
sewage. Their options include soakage pits, storage
tanks, pipes to the property boundary, pipes to an open drain, discharge on 
to the ground and neighbourhood
drainage systems.
Wastewater manager Dean Taylor produced indicative cost bands for the 
options but they were so broad that the
committee decided to delete them from the guide.
The draft included a proposal that no residential property owner should pay 
more than $2000 (including GST) for
separation. Owners would have had to get Council approval in advance and 
supply invoices and certification, gaining
reimbursement of costs above $2000.
Mr Taylor said the $2000 cap would have been reached with separation on 
back sections, hilly sections or sections
whose soil was not suitable for soakage.
Drainlayers said the proposal targeted the wrong people and some were 
asking why low value ratepayers were to
subsidise those with higher values.
So the committee rejected the cap.
 Everything in the draft is subject to
confirmation. It seems certain,
 however, that separation will be programmed over seven
 years and that the council will bend over backwards to
 advise and assist ratepayers who are concerned about
 their obligations. Aramoho will be first to confront
stormwater separation.
Even the owners of properties which comply will be approached. For the 
Council's records they will be asked to
confirm the work has been done.
"The council will set up a separation help desk.
Cr Westwood said people would ask only two questions: Why? And how much?

Goodbye sav, hello lolly

By Iain Hyndman
Agricultural Editor

Wanganui butcher Des Stead is giving kids a fair suck of the sav and 
handing out boiled sweets as a treat for
youngsters.
Owner of Grand Meats Warehouse in Moana St, Wanganui East, Mr Stead has 
handed out sweets to children for
years instead of the traditional saveloy, but not because of the potential 
danger of food poisoning similar to an
incident in Christchurch last year.
In July last year the unnamed Christchurch butchery inadvertently infected 
two children with
salmonella poisoning by giving them pre-cooked saveloys which had been 
contaminated with bacteria.
The incident prompted the meat retailers' national organisation, the Retail 
Meat and Allied Trades Federation, to issue
a warning to butchers to discontinue handing out the traditional saveloy 
treat.
Mr Stead said he had started handling out sweets instead after the price of 
the humble sav increased, but yesterday
dismissed any suggestions that people should now avoid the pre-cooked 
saveloy.
"The butcher down south had obviously made his own saveloys using tatty old 
meat, but there's not many butchers
who still make their
own in-store," Mr Stead said. "I haven't made my own for years. It's 
cheaper to buy them in and by doing it that way
you always know they're safe. The distributors of smallgoods like saveloys 
produce them in health controlled
environments with no likelihood of contamination."
Mr Stead called it correctly and the proof in the pudding came with the 
release of a Public Health Report, produced by
the Environmental Science and Research Institute for the Health Ministry. 
The report confirmed the contaminated saveloys in Christchurch were made on the 
butcher's premises, which were too old and small for mass production of a cooked 
product.

End in sight for bill
Parliament was last night preparing for another sitting under 
urgency but the end was finally in sight for the
Government's controversial Employment Relations Bill. The House will sit 
at 9am today to get the bill through its third
reading stage, but National and Act remained determined to hold it up 
until the last minute. The opposition parties
have put up more than 600 amendments to the legislation which will 
replace  the Employment Contracts Act. None of
the amendments has succeeded.-PA
Quakes rock island
An earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale was felt through much of 
the North Island when it struck at
4.33pm yesterday. The quake was centred 750km  north-east of White Island 
in the Plenty, the Institute of Geological
and Nuclear  Sciences said.  It was centred so far off the  New Zealand 
coast and 445km  deep.  There was another
earthquake  at 2.02am yesterday. The  shallow quake registered 4.6  on 
the open-ended  Richter  scale. It was
centred 10km east  of Waikanae. - PA
Road reopened
 State Highway Five between Taupo and Napier was reopened late yesterday 
afternoon allowing the clean-up of a volatile
mix of chemicals spilt when a truck and trailer unit overturned early  
yesterday. The truck with articulated trailers was
travelling towards Taupo, with a range of chemicals, when it rolled 20km 
from Taupo.-PA

Poor literacy worries universities

CHRISTCHURCH.- University students cannot read, write, or even spell properly, 
University of Canterbury academics say.
Responding to a university questionnaire, 150 academics said they 
regularly found poor grammar, careless spelling,
an inability to read significant amounts of material, and a lack of 
skills in critical reading among their students.
Academics across all faculties said they were struggling to raise writing 
and study skill levels to a point where
students could adequately approach their course work.
A large number expressed concern that students had been let down by the 
primary and secondary school systems,
flawed curricula and deficient teaching methods.
Some advocated higher entrance procedures or some kind of proficiency 
test before students could be accepted into
university.
However, Canterbury's dean of undergraduate studies John Freeman-Moir 
said current legislation did not
allow universities to exclude students because they were ill-prepared. 
Raising entry standards would not be realistic
under the current funding regime.
He disagreed with academics who blamed deficiencies in primary and 
secondary schools for students' problems.
"It's a good deal more complex than that," he said. "It would be fair to 
say that most academics don't know what goes
on in schools, such as the nature of the curriculum."
High student:staff ratios in senior secondary schools was partly to blame.
"They're very busy when it comes to focusing on their students," he said.
University of Canterbury Students' Association education co-ordinator 
Jill Tetley said part of the problem came down
to high fees - students had paid for their education and expected it to 
be given to them without taking responsibility for
their own learning.
"Students are coming to university expecting something else. They want to 
be spoon-fed but they're not."-PA

Accused found guilty of woman's murder

AUCKLAND.- A High Court jury yesterday afternoon found Travis Burns guilty 
of murdering kindergarten teacher
Joanne McCarthy.
After a seven-week trial, a jury of seven men and five women found Burns, 
32, brutally bludgeoned Joanne McCarthy,
33, to death in front of her 11-month-old son Marcus and a friend's 
14-month-old daughter, Georgina Roe.
He was sentenced to the mandatory life imprisonment by Justice Chambers.
The trial was told both children were blood-spattered and "frozen"' in 
shock when Georgina's mother Julie
arrived at Ms McCarthy's
Whangaparaoa home, north of
Auckland, on November 12, 1998, to
collect her daughter.
 Ms McCarthy's body was in the bath.
 Crown prosecutor Simon Moore
said Ms McCarthy fought feverishly to
ward off Burns, scratching him and
leaving vital DNA clues under her
fingernails.
 However, for Burns, Barry Hart
argued the DNA sample had been
contaminated.
 The court was packed for the jury verdict.-PA

Gas directors cop flak over statement

By Dave Laurence
District councillor Rob Vinsen is
accusing Wanganui Gas directors of being remiss.
He said so on Monday night when
the Wanganui District Council formally received the company's statement of 
corporate intent for 2000/2001.
Mayor Chas Poynter, the Wanganui
Gas chairman, took no part in the item and handed over to deputy-Mayor Pam 
Erni.
Cr Vinsen complained there was no
public comment from Wanganui Gas on whether there may be an increased rate 
of return and on what may be
happening with possible mergers or acquisitions to put the company in a 
sounder position.
He compared the situation with
New Plymouth's investment in Powerco through the old electricity department 
and said the shareholding value had
grown substantially with
merger and acquisition.
Wanganui Gas expects an $800,000 dividend in this and the next two financial 
years. The council holds three-quarters
of the shares - an investment of about $12 million.
Finance and administration committee chairman Pat Bullock said the 
community should be grateful and excited
about Wanganui Gas dividends.
The chairman and directors would always be aware of opportunities for 
expansion, Cr Bullock said.
"But they won't show their hand on every deal."
Cr Gerald McDouall said the energy sector was still settling down.
"I don't believe the Wanganui Gas directors have made any mistakes."
The council will ask the company to expand the statement of corporate 
intent with information enabling the council to
measure performance against stated objectives.

Council intends to buy avenue properties

By Dave Laurence
 On a 6-5 vote, the Wanganui District Council has decided to negotiate for 
the purchase of Nos 60 and 62 Victoria
Ave with a view to incorporating them in the Footlab parking area.
The vote on Monday night resulted from a submission by Victoria Ave 
businessman John Wilson who claims that
improved parking will boost retail trade in the area.
It is not clear whether the proposed acquisition would enable vehicle 
access from Victoria Ave.
A report is expected to go before the works and transport committee next 
month.
Cr Pat Bullock opposed the initiative on the grounds the council was well 
down the track with its parking strategy.
"For the council to react to an idea brought to us because of the 
availability of two sections is totally wrong," he said.
Cr Stephen Palmer agreed the council would be buying into a mass of trouble 
and said he saw no reason to review
the parking strategy.
Cr Rob Vinsen said the properties were an eyesore and an embarrassment. The 
retail environment was changing fast
and the council's district plan needed to move along with it.
He said the owner of Nos 60 and 62 was more than willing to come to an 
arrangement with the council.
Cr John Lithgow canvassed the block and found only five retailers were 
interested in demolishing the buildings; all
were in premises directly opposite.

VHF still best bet

By Daniel Jackson
Boaties should not rely on cellphones in emergency situations despite a 
newly established hotline, Wanganui
Coastguard media liaison officer Phil Pollero said yesterday.
Because of the increasing number of emergencies reported by cellphone, 
Auckland Coastguard has set up an
emergency number, 555, for use by boaties.
However, Mr Pollero said the Wanganui Coastguard would prefer people used 
VHF radio to make emergency calls.
"We don't want Wanganui people getting the wrong idea," he said.
People from Wanganui calling 555 would be connected to an operator in 
Auckland, possibly causing confusion,
whereas those using VHF channels 64 or 16 in the Wanganui
area would follow the normal channels.
"We've (Wanganui Coastguard) got a system set up to contact the right 
people. If someone in Auckland doesn't know
that system then the delay could put people at risk.
"We would prefer people only carry a cellphone as a back-up to using VHF."
Mr Pollero said cellphone coverage was not reliable and boaties who went to 
sea without radios could find themselves
with no way of communicating in an emergency.
Another drawback in using cellphones to report an emergency at sea was that 
other boaties nearby, who could help,
could not listen in.
"Cellphones are one-to-one but on VHF everyone can listen in to the call.,,

Findings due
The findings of a police investigation into the fatal shooting of Waitara 
man Steven Wallace earlier this year will be
known today. Police Commissioner Rob Robinson will release a statement 
announcing the long-awaited outcome of
the investigation this morning, after he has spoken with representatives of 
the Wallace family, the constable who shot
Mr Wallace, local iwi and community leaders. It is expected Mr Robinson 
will announce whether the constable will
face any criminal charges as a result of the investigation.- PA
Statistics improve
New Zealand has one of the lowest rates of perinatal mortality rates in the 
world according to latest figures from the
Health Information Service. Provisional figures for 1998 and 1999 showed 
rates of 8.1 and 9 perinatal deaths (stillbirths
after 20 weeks of
pregnancy and deaths of babies within the first week of life) per 1000 
births. In 1997 there were 10.7 per 1000 births.
The 1998 rate was among the lowest in the world. The number of women dying 
during pregnancy or after delivery had
also dropped from four in 1996 to two in 1997.-PA
Death a mystery
Matamata police are at a loss to explain why a man ran into the path of a 
truck on Monday. 
Andrew Thomas Newman, 30, was killed instantly when hit by the truck about 
12.50pm, outside the Matamata
College grounds. Constable Rob Colley said at least two witnesses saw the 
man walk several metres onto the road
as the truck approached. He then ran in front of it. They were unsure if 
the man was watching the truck as it
approached.-PA
Have your say
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Just when you thought it was safe …

By Dave Laurence

Just when it seemed the possible relocation of Wanganui's visitor 
information centre was to be laid to rest for a while
there has been yet another push to use the War Memorial Hall.
On Monday night the Wanganui District Council decided to postpone 
relocation, though it did not say for how long.
The council decided the annual plan allocation of $43,000 for relocation 
expenses should be spent on improvements
and deferred maintenance at the existing premises in Guyton St.
This is expected to cover redecoration, a public toilet, new front entrance 
and an office extension.
Finally, on a split vote, the council decided to further investigate the 
feasibility of the information centre being located
in the War Memorial Hall.
The first and third clauses appear contradictory - the council has 
postponed relocation but is looking further into a
future site for the centre.
This sort of mixed message may explain why planning committee chairman 
Stephen Palmer acknowledged the
council was being
"caned" in the news media.
Cr Palmer underlined wide disagreement in the community on where the 
information centre should be located and
said there were continuing difficulties in securing a site on the Whanganui 
River bank.
" So really the most sensible thing for us to do is to postpone a decision 
till difficulties on the riverbank are a little
clearer," he said.
He contended that if the council had resolved to relocate the centre 
there would be so much disagreement again
that nothing would happen anyway.
No reason was given on Monday night for keeping the door ajar on the War Memorial 
Hall option.
A report from culture and recreation manager Mark Daniels stated: "The memorial 
hall is a registered historic place for its architecture so that a resource consent 
application for substantial alterations could be difficult and time consuming."
And the council was advised by Property Services manager Rowan McGregor 
that the requirements of an information
centre were in conflict with the Historic Places Trust
classification of the memorial hall.
Mr McGregor also said the memorial hall would be structurally difficult to 
change to accommodate an information
centre, either below it or in front of it.

Appeal under way

By Iain Hyndman

The generosity of Wanganui people is again to the fore with the setting up 
of an appeal for Canadian woman Marian
Wilkens.
Mrs Wilkens is in the River City visiting terminally ill sister Evelyn 
Ettinger, who is in Wanganui Hospital diagnosed
with untreatable liver cancer.
During a visit to the hospital on Monday, Mrs Wilkens had her handbag 
stolen. It contained not only $700 in cash, but
also her passport, credit cards and identification.
Yesterday, Good Health Wanganui, manager of clinical quality, Trish 
Newton, said calls from the public
offering help had prompted the formation of a trust fund to help ease the 
minds and financial pressure for the two
sisters.
"Since the front page story appeared in the Chronicle, we have fielded 
quite a few calls from the public wanting to help
in some way.
"After some discussion, GHW decided the best way to help was to set up a 
trust fund. Anyone wanting to donate
cheques can make them out to the Wilkens Trust Fund and send it care of 
Good Health Wanganui, Private Bag,
Wanganui.
"If people want to donate cash, they can drop it into our main reception 
on the ground floor at the hospital," Ms Newton said.

Agencies get clinic off the ground

By Ada Hill

Georgina Dickson has a quick vision check in the new Low Vision Clinic under the 
watchful eye of Royal New Zealand Foundation for the Blind chairman Gordon 
Sanderson (right) and optician Mike Webber.

Two years of hard work became a  reality yesterday when the Wanganui Low Vision 
Clinic opened at Wanganui Hospital.
Low Vision Trust secretary Bryan Dean said the clinic was unique because of the 
community co-operation and support it had received.
"It is the first of its type within New Zealand and hopefully will be a blueprint as to 
what can be achieved in other centres when all interested agencies pull together," he 
said.
About 35 people attended the opening. Guest speakers were Royal New 
Zealand Foundation for the Blind chairman
Gordon Sanderson, the foundation's manager of adaptive living Paula
Daye, Good Health Wanganui chief executive Sue De Gilio, Wanganui 
optician Mike Webber, Low Vision Trust
chairman Les Wright and Wanganui district councillor Ailsa Stewart, who 
opened the clinic.
The idea was first promoted by Wanganui's visually impaired John McDonald 
after the Palmerston North clinic closed
a few years ago.
Mr McDonald spoke to the Wanganui Rotary Club about the possibility of a 
clinic in the city and gained $100 seeding
finance. A trust was formed and planning for the clinic began.
The different groups involved in the planning include Good Health 
Wanganui, local opticians and the RNZFB's
advisory committee.
A panel of local opticians have offered their
services free of charge to the clinic for the first 12 months and the 
RNZFB has agreed to have its rehabilitation staff do
initial and post-consultation interviews of those seeking treatment and to 
provide the required capital expenditure.
Mr Wright said a person had reached the point of low vision when no more 
could be done to improve their sight
including wearing glasses or surgery.
The aim of the clinic was to help those people maintain their 
independence.
Initially the clinic will open once a month but it is anticipated that 
will soon increase to twice monthly and later more
often according to demand.

MP finds it hard to stay away

By Iain Hyndman

Jill Pettis … brief stay in hospital

Self-confessed political junkie and Whanganui MP Jill Pettis is going 
through withdrawals while recovering from a brief
hospital stay in her hometown over the weekend.
Mrs Pettis was admitted to Wanganui Hospital on Friday for a minor medical 
complaint, but has had her ear firmly
glued to radio while fellow MPs have scrapped over the Employment
Relations Bill in Parliament.
"I visited my doctor last week and said I couldn't afford to be in 
hospital, but the doctor said I couldn't afford not to
be.
"I'm fine now and was discharged on Monday night, but I must say I've felt 
terribly guilty leaving my colleagues in the lurch," Mrs Pettis said from her
bedside last night.
"I'm assistant speaker so I felt dreadful at letting my speaker
colleagues down, especially during what I knew was going to be a long and 
arduous bill."
Instead she has been listening to the debate on radio.
"I don't feel too far removed but I miss the excitement and I'm definitely 
feeling withdrawals.
"I didn't require surgery, and although I'll be resting at home for a week 
before going back to Parliament, I'm still doing
some work from my bed."

Police plan to talk to Middleton

Police will speak with Wanganui man Mark Middleton before deciding whether 
to lay charges for comments made
about killer Taffy Hotene.
Mr Middleton said in the Chronicle on August 11 that he would kill Hotene, 
who is the confessed murderer of
Auckland journalist Kylie Jones, if Hotene was ever released from prison.
Detective Senior Sergeant Sam Hoyle yesterday
said that police had yet to speak with Mr Middleton and would make the 
decision whether to lay charges after that.
Mr Middleton is awaiting trial on a charge of threatening to kill after 
allegedly making similar statements about
murderer Paul Dally. Dally was convicted of murdering Mr Middleton's 
stepdaughter, Karla Cardno, 10 years ago.

Woman's body found

WELLINGTON.- A 31-year-old unemployed New Plymouth man has been charged 
with the murder of woman whose
body was found at a house in the city yesterday.
The man entered no plea and was remanded to the Henry Bennett Centre at 
Waikato Hospital for a psychiatric
assessment when he appeared in New Plymouth District Court yesterday. He 
is due to reappear in court on August
25.
Senior Sergeant Mike Merrick, of New Plymouth Police, said police 
believed the woman died on or about last
Saturday.
A weapon had been recovered at a house in New Plymouth and would be sent 
for forensic and ballistic testing, he
said in a statement.
A post-mortem examination would be held this morning at Taranaki Base 
Hospital, Mr Merrick said. Both the man
and the dead woman's names had been suppressed.
Detectives found the 25-year-old woman's body while checking out the 
Glenpark Ave dwelling of a man who had
admitted himself to hospital with gunshot wounds-PA

Suspicious death

WELLINGTON.- Police are treating as suspicious the death of a man whose 
body was found in a burned out car near
Putaruru early yesterday morning.
The man's body, which was found half in and half out of a burned out car 
in a lay-by near the south Waikato town,
was yesterday afternoon being removed from the scene and taken to 
Hamilton for a post-mortem examination,
Detective Sergeant Mark Loper, of Tokoroa police, said.
The car would be being taken to Tokoroa for forensic examinations, he 
said.
Mr Loper confirmed the body was a man's and said police believed he was 
from south Waikato.
Police and firefighters were called to the scene, 6km west of Putaruru, 
at 3.30am by someone who saw the blazing
vehicle.-PA

Liquor ban hits a snag

By Dave Laurence
Wanganui's central city liquor ban may have struck a snag.
The Gore District Council ban bylaw was challenged in court last week and a decision 
is awaited.
Regulatory committee chairperson Sue Westwood told the Wanganui District 
Council on Monday night the Gore bylaw worked quite well. "But if it's found to be 
invalid it could well raise questions about other bylaws round the country," she said. 
"The challenge was based on the general validity of the bylaw."
Cr Westwood said it was wise to defer a decision on proposed amendments to the 
Wanganui bylaw.
This was done. The bylaw is based on Nelson's and has no provision for search and 
seizure. Police are asking for this provision.
There is also a move to prohibit empty liquor containers within the ban area.
The council expanded the liquor ban area recently to include Wanganui 
Intermediate School grounds, Cooks Gardens and Queens Park and has decided not to 
include Wanganui City College at this stage.
The decision is likely to be reviewed if drinking problems arise on the college 
grounds.
Environment policy analyst Stuart Hylton suggests the public and affected parties 
have a chance to get used to the currently defined ban area.

Judge slams drink driving culture

Wanganui District Court

A culture of drunken driving existed among some of Wanganui's younger people 
which was both evil and destructive, Judge Anthony Walsh said in the Wanganui 
District Court yesterday.
He told 18-year-old Jesse Paul Johnson, convicted of three drunken driving offences 
committed within four days of each other, that Johnson put others and himself at risk.
"It is a sad matter for the court to send someone as young as yourself to prison," Judge 
Walsh said.
"But a clear message needs to be sent. As more young people come before the court it 
is obvious that there is a culture of drink driving among young people.
"This culture is an evil one and a destructive one."
Johnson drove drunk in Victoria Ave on July 21 and was caught, charged and 
forbidden to drive again.
Less than 24 hours later he was again caught driving drunk and on July 25 he tried to 
evade police, unsuccessfully, when he was caught a third time driving drunk.
Johnson was convicted on all three drunken driving charges as well as for careless 
driving, driving while forbidden, failing to stop and offensive behaviour.
He was jailed for two months, disqualified from driving for one year, placed under 
supervision for nine months and had his vehicle confiscated by the court.
Judge Walsh said he stopped short of sending Johnson to prison for as much 
as one year because of his young age
and the fact that he had spent three weeks on remand at Kaitoke which 
"should have been a salutary experience for
you."
With more than 100 convictions spread over 20 years of offending, a 
recovering drug addict was given one last chance
to stay out of jail.
Linda Louise Jensen, 37, admitted 18 charges which included fraud, 
burglary, theft and receiving.
Her counsel, Mark Bullock, said the crimes were "classic drug addiction 
type of offending" committed to feed her drug
addiction.
The offences took place in two series of
offending in June/July last year and August/October last year.
For nearly the past year Jensen had steered clear of illegal drugs after 
getting herself on to a drug rehabilitation
programme. She deserved a chance to prove she could stay drug free and 
out of jail, Mr Bullock said.
Judge Walsh described Jensen's 12 months free of offending as 
"remarkable" especially because she had been a
hard drug user since the age of 17 and amassed more than 100 convictions 
over 20 years of offending.
"This case has caused me some anxiety but I have agreed to suspend your 
jail term," His Honour said.
 He sentenced Jensen to six months' imprisonment which he suspended for one year, 
placed her under supervision for nine months and ordered that she pay reparation of 
$795.
Jensen was told that if she offended again that the jail term would be 
activated and she would have to serve that plus
any other sentence handed down.
Three offenders had charges of burglary against them reduced to entering 
with intent after police accepted that they
were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Nicholas Patrick Hanson, Hayden Archibald, and Tamiti Black, all 21, were 
jointly charged after they were found at
the scene of a burglary of Wanganui's Benchmark building supplies.
The court heard that the trio were driving past when they saw that a 
window of the shop had been broken and decided
to investigate. They were about to enter the building when police, 
responding to alarm activations, arrived and the
three men ran off but were caught.
Initially charged with burglary, the trio had the charges reduced when 
police accepted that they had not been
responsible for breaking the window.
Counsel for Black, Lance Rowe, said
their offence was about "as far down the scale as you can get" and that 
the reason they ran from police was that they
had panicked. He argued for either a conviction and discharge or order to 
come up for sentence if called upon.
Judge Walsh imposed the latter on all three and also ordered that they 
pay court costs of $130 each.
A boarding house custodian who pushed a tenant's head against a wall for 
making too much noise was convicted of
assault.
Murray David Hanning, 30, was sentenced to 30 hours' community service.
 For possession of cannabis seeds and
 cultivating cannabis Dennis Aberhart, 38,
received 50 hours'
 community service.
Aberhart admitted to ownership of two cannabis plants growing in buckets 
at the rear of his Talbot St address.
He said the cannabis was for his own use and that none of it was intended 
for commercial gain.
For breaching a domestic protection order Wilson Ross, 27, was sentenced 
to six weeks' imprisonment.
Because Ross had been in custody for three weeks on remand he would be 
released almost immediately.
Counsel Mark Bullock said the breach took the form of a verbal argument 
and did not involve violence.
It was, however, Ross' third breach of such an order and prison was 
inevitable.
A man with 25 disqualified driving convictions since being indefinitely 
disqualified in 1988 was remanded for sentence
in the Auckland District Court along with other matters.
Leslie John Fergusson, 36, admitted driving while disqualified, careless 
driving and giving police false details when he
was stopped along Anzac Pde in June.
The remand to Auckland where he will
be sentenced was in custody.
A 31-year-old solo mother faces sentence for convictions on eight counts of 
fraud, two  of attempted fraud and one of
receiving stolen property.
Raelene Baker committed the offences before going to jail in March last 
year for similar offending and had already told
police what she had done.
Counsel Lance Rowe said because they were only wash-up charges a conviction 
and discharge might be an
appropriate response from the court.
Judge Walsh said he wanted more information before passing sentence and 
remanded Baker to October 3 for a
probation report and sentence.
A former Mongrel Mob gang member will need to be segregated while he serves 
a five-month prison sentence, Judge
Walsh directed.
Rodney Aoke, 29, of Waverley, was sentenced on charges of disqualified 
driving, breaching a domestic protection
order, willful damage, assault and unlawfully taking a motor vehicle.
Aoke's counsel, Jacinda Younger, said the offending related to her client's 
absolute reliance on his partner who had
left him.
He had showed tremendous courage and a desire to put his life in order by 
leaving the Mongrel Mob gang.
He had started the painful process of tattoo removal and had found 
employment.
"He has pulled himself out of a rut -  help keep him out of that rut rather 
than
push him back in," Ms Younger argued.
She said if Aoke was to be jailed then he would need to be segregated as he 
was in danger from members of the
Mongrel Mob and their rival gangs.
Judge Walsh said the offending was too serious to suspend a sentence of 
imprisonment but that he would take the
mitigating circumstances into account when arriving at an appropriate 
sentence.
He jailed Aoke for five months, disqualified him from driving for one year, 
ordered that he pay reparation of $550 and
granted him leave to apply for home detention.


WHITE WAIT: Chris Ball checks his whitebait net in the Matarawa Stream 
(Nixon's Creek) at Kowhai Park,
Wanganui, yesterday in the hope of securing some of the prized delicacy on 
the first day of the season.
Mr Ball, 35, normally spends his day working as a postie but said he made 
sure he had yesterday off.
"I love my fishing - it's the thrill of the catch
Nearby, 75-year-old Reg Cook agreed.
"I've been whitebaiting since I was five or six," he said.
Neither had caught enough for a fritter by mid-morning but were not giving 
up.
"I'm hoping to get a good feed," Mr Ball said.

Prisons board urged to help youth reform

Marton District Court

Wanganui District Prisons Board could play a key role in shaping a crime-free future 
for a persistent Marton offender.
In the Marton District Court yesterday Judge Barn, Lovegrove sent Jeremy Joseph 
Hetaraka, 19, unemployed, to jail for 15 months after convicting him on raft of 
charges.    
Hetaraka had previously pleaded guilty to burglary, theft, receiving, wilful damage, 
drunk and disqualified driving and possessing instruments for consuming cannabis.
The offences were all committed in and around Marton in May and June.
Following his arrest and initial court appearances in late June Hetaraka 
had been in custody at Kaitoke prison and
was handcuffed for his court appearance yesterday.
The May offences were committed only a few weeks after he was released 
from jail after having served time for similar
offending.
Counsel Grahame Lee said Hetaraka seemed "incapable of staying free of 
the evils of society" and was easily lead
into crime by others.
Although accepting that another jail term for Hetaraka was inevitable, Mr 
Lee said that should "set alarm bells ringing
at the notion of (Hetaraka) becoming institutionalised at 19 years of 
age".
Judge Lovegrove expressed similar views but said Hetaraka had "a history 
of lawlessness going back to 1997 and
which shows no sign of slowing down".
He said alcohol was a factor in Hetaraka's offending but as all previous 
attempts to deal with that problem had failed
another
approach would he needed.
"I believe rehabilitation issues will be best left to the district 
prisons board and a structured rehabilitation programme
that might achieve more than anything else has so far," Judge Lovegrove 
said.
However, he warned Hetaraka that how long he spent in jail this time 
would depend on how he presented himself to
the board when he became eligible for parole.
Hetaraka as also disqualified from driving until at least August 2003 and 
was ordered to continue paying reparation of
$3129.
Five months' periodic detention and six months' supervision were imposed 
on Lisa Taniko Karaynidis, 31, solo
mother, of Marton.
She had previously pleaded guilty to burglary, intentional damage and 
forgery.
Karaynidis broke into the Marton Appliance Centre, ransacked offices in 
that building and stole a laptop computer,
cash boxes, cheques, a radiocassette player and a microwave oven.
Police dogs were used to track Karaynidis to her home where some of the 
stolen items were found. Among them
were two cheques which she had already filled in and forged signatures on.
In addition to periodic detention and supervision Karaynidis was also 
ordered to pay reparation of $1398 for the
damage she caused breaking into the building and for items she stole but 
which were not recovered.
Counsel: David Woodbridge.
Not wanting to be regarded as a loser by his mates was a Marton man's 
motivation for becoming involved in two
burglaries at Arahina Conference Centre, Marton, in May.
That excuse, offered by Dene Roy Morris, 17, farm worker, of Marton, 
brought a sharp rebuke from Judge Lovegrove.
"If you involve yourself in burglaries because you don't want to appear a 
loser then I don't know what you regard as
being a winner," His Honour said.
Morris and his two associates firstly broke into the conference centre 
and stole numerous items including stereo and
television equipment. On the second occasion they broke into a chiller 
and stole 48 dozen cans of beer.
It was subsequently used to refresh guests at a 21st birthday party.
Morris was sentenced to 55 hours' community service and ordered to pay 
reparation of $560, being his one-third
share of the unrecovered (or
consumed) stolen property.
Counsel: Grahame Lee.
Failure to comply with conditions of his parole earned David Pura Timoti, 
26, shearer, of Marton, a stern warning from
Judge Lovegrove - but no penalty.
Timoti pleaded guilty yesterday  to failing to report to his parole officer 
within 72 hours of his release from prison in
June.
He said he forgot.
Although he had breached the 72-hour reporting condition Timoti did make 
contact with the probation service not long
afterward and rehabilitation programmes had subsequently been activated.
Harawe Snowdon, 39, driver, of Marton, was further remanded to September 18 
for a probation report and sentencing
on charges of driving with a blood-alcohol level of 209:100, trespass and 
threatening behaviour.
The driving offence was committed at Paeroa while the other two charges 
arose out of incidents at two properties in
Marton, where Snowdon abused and threatened his former partner.
Counsel: David Woodbridge.
A Marton man who dragged his partner off her chair at a Marton hotel and 
then kicked her in the face was told that
bail granted yesterday was no indication he would not go to jail for the 
assault.
Alistair Goff, 44, shearer, pleaded guilty to assaulting a female.
Police said just before the incident Goff had phoned the hotel and told his 
partner to come home or he would come
and get her.
When she did not respond, he carried out the threat and went to the hotel, 
where the woman was playing cards, and
assaulted the her.
Following his conviction yesterday, Goff was remanded, on bail, to 
September 18 for a probation report and
sentencing.
Counsel: Grahame Lee.
Twenty hours' community service was yesterday added to the 30 hours already 
being served by Dallas James Peeti,
18, unemployed of Marton, after he pleaded guilty to receiving.
Peeti was charged after being found in possession of a cellphone stolen in 
the burglary of Rangitikei Electrical, in
Hunterville, earlier this year.
Counsel: Grahame Lee.
"You are knocking at the prison door," Judge Lovegrove told 17-year-old 
Nathan David Karatau, pruner, of Marton.
He pleaded guilty to two charges of drunk driving and one of careless 
driving.
On June 9 Karatau was caught driving with a breath-alcohol level of 506:1. 
Just four days later when Karatau was
breath-tested after crashing into a fence, the breath-alcohol reading was 
779: 1.
He was sentenced to three months' periodic detention and disqualified from 
driving for a total of nine months.
Although treating both offences almost as one, for sentencing purposes, 
Judge Lovegrove said the two convictions for
drunk driving had put Karatau "in a precarious position" in that a third 
drunk driving conviction would almost inevitably
land him in jail.
Stuart Bryan Helm, 19, shepherd, of Hunterville, pleaded guilty to driving 
with a breath-alcohol level of 751:1.
A first offender, he was fined $600 and disqualified from driving for six 
months.
A spat between husband and wife, that degenerated into a physical scrap, 
carried Robert MacLachlan, 70, retired, of
Himatangi Beach, 50 hours' community service.
He pleaded guilty to pushing his wife to the ground and punching her in 
retaliation for her having thrown a pot plant at
him during an argument.
 Counsel: David Woodbridge.

Trustee set to take over Maori ministry

WELLINGTON. - Maori trustee John Paki is odds-on favourite to succeed 
Ngatata Love as chief executive of Maori
affairs ministry Te Puni Kokiri, as the ministry takes on a big new role as 
watchdog of the public service.
State Services Commissioner Michael Wintringham said yesterday that Dr 
Love, who has been the chief executive of
the ministry for five years, would not be seeking reappointment when his 
term ends on December 18.
Mr Paki, Dr Love's second-in-charge at Te Puni Kokiri, studied management 
at Harvard University last year and has
been groomed by Dr Love as his successor. He has a background in law and 
accountancy.
But other names suggested as possible successors include Robin Hapi, chief 
executive of the Treaty of Waitangi
Fisheries Commission, commissioners Shane Jones and Whaimutu Dewes, and Te 
Puni Kokiri general manager
John Tamahori.
Mr Hapi was director of Maori housing at Te Puni Kokiri, before he moved 
over to manage the Housing Corporation.
As head of the Labour Department's Group Employment Liaison Scheme, he gave 
Maori Affairs Minister Parekura
Horomia his first public service job as a fieldworker.
Fisheries Commission chairman Sir Tipene O'Regan, who is not expected to be 
reappointed when Mr Horomia
announces the new commission this month, is not a contender for the Te Puni 
Kokiri job but may be in the running for
a diplomatic posting.
Many people in Parliament and the public service considered that Dr Love 
acted as "minder" for former Maori Affairs
minister Dover Samuels until the minister's eventual sacking under the 
cloud of teen-sex allegations.
Dr Love offered his resignation last year over Te Puni Kokiri's mishandling 
of a self-build housing scheme in Northland,
which a Treasury report said could have cost the taxpayer up to $350,000, 
but instead was reprimanded by Mr
Wintringham.-PA

TV3 cleared over hidden camera use

WELLINGTON.- The Broadcasting Standards Authority has cleared TV3's use of a 
hidden camera to film convicted rapist Morgan Fahey as he was confronted by one of 
his victims.
Fahey, 68, a Christchurch GP and former deputy mayor, was jailed for six years in 
June after pleading guilty to one charge of rape, one of sexual violation and 11 of 
indecent assault, over a 31-year period.
In its decision, released yesterday, the authority declined to uphold complaints that a 
20/20 programme broadcast by TV3 on December 6, 1998, and said it did not breach 
the Television Code of Broadcasting Practice.
The programme included footage filmed on a hidden camera taken into Fahey's 
surgery by a former patient who
confronted and accused him of sexual and professional impropriety.
The programme was a follow-up to another on October 5 when other patients 
made similar accusations.
Complaints from William De Hart, Lynda Cameron and PW and PM Cotter, all of 
Christchurch, said the investigation
into Fahey's life was a breach of his privacy, was unfair, TV3's methods 
were "tacky, underhand and cheating", it smacked of a "kangaroo court" and the use 
of a hidden camera was a major intrusion into Fahey's privacy.
The complaints were made before Fahey was convicted of rape, but the authority 
waited to rule on them pending the outcome of defamation proceedings brought by 
Fahey against TV3 and until Fahey's criminal case had been heard.- PA

Churches prepare to celebrate

WELLINGTON.- Songs of praise will replace the roar of rugby fans at 
Wellington's WestpacTrust stadium on
November 4 when the region's combined churches hope 30,000 people will 
attend an afternoon celebration of the birth
of Jesus Christ 2000 years ago.
Organisers, who met in Wellington yesterday for the official launch of 
Celebrate Jesus 2000, said it promised to be
the biggest ecumenical celebration held in Wellington. A 600-strong 
choir, a full orchestra, and the Opera New
Zealand stage would occupy the section below the big screen, event 
producer Robert Hagen said yesterday.
Sir Howard Morrison heads a list of singers and entertainers the 
organisers say will include opera singers Linden
Loader, Deborah Wai Kapohe, Benjamin Makisi, and Jonathan Lemalu. Dave 
Dobbyn and Annie Crummer are also listed.-PA

Term considered harsh

WELLINGTON.- The High Court has signalled that a four and a-half-year 
jail term handed to a woman who used dead
children's identities to scam nearly $500,000 may be excessive.
Jo-Anne Cole, 44, of Whitby, was jailed in March on 165 charges in what 
the prosecution said was extraordinarily
extravagant offending, never seen before in New Zealand on such a scale.
In the High Court at Wellington yesterday, Cole's defence lawyer Mike 
Antunovic argued the jail term was excessive
and failed to adequately reflect Cole's early guilty plea, cooperation 
with police and personal circumstances.
Mr Antunovic said the four and a-half-year sentence was out of line with 
other fraud sentences, particularly when all
the factors were considered, and said a three-year term was more 
appropriate.
Justice Ellis, who reserved his decision, said it did seem the sentence 
was out of line with similar cases.

Chronicled today

Compensation for former Mangaroa Prison inmates was necessary, despite the 
confusion and consternation felt by the public, Whanganui MP Jill Pettis said 
yesterday.

Page 3

Merepeka Raukawa-Tait defies anyone to view the abuse figures that cross her desk 
daily and not speak out.

Page 6

Several hours of talkback radio on Monday night unearthed a disturbing public 
perception about New Zealand farming.

Page 12

Heartless theft puts students' futures on line

By Mandy Gillies

Riki Waitokia (right) and Stephen Conn with a replica of the small, black hard drive 
and carry bag that has been stolen. 

Naive thieves hold the key to the future for two Wanganui Polytechnic 
students after their computer hard drive was
stolen. Riki Waitokia and Stephen Corm have lost six months of their 
computer graphics degree work after Mr Conn's
ute was broken into outside the polyclinic on Wickstead St on Sunday 
afternoon.
The thieves stole the hard drive, which was in a carry case, and a backpack 
that contained personal items belonging
to Mr Corm.
The hard drive, which is an electronic storage device, is an Agate brand 
and is small, black and easily portable.
It will be worthless to anyone who has it but is very valuable to both of 
us because it has all our work on it," Mr
Waitokia said.
"Whoever has got it probably doesn't even know what it is.
"The most they could do with it is use it as a doorstop.
They had been putting up posters around the city and had even scoured 
rubbish bins and people's backyards in case the hard drive had been discarded.
"We have not backed up any of our work on to disc because it is not 
practical to do this with graphics," Mr Conn said.
Without the hard drive they will fail this semester's work.
They are both pleading with whoever has the hard drive to return it to them 
with no questions asked.
"I don't care if they drop it off on the doorstep of the polytech, because I  don't want 
to press charges," Mr Waitokia said.
I just my work back."

Petfood firm looking for room to move

By Iain Hyndman

Lucky Petfoods in Wanganui has offered to buy five Morrison St properties 
in Castlecliff to allow for future expansion
options.
Jeff Herkt, external relations manager for Effem Foods, the New Zealand 
marketing division of Lucky Petfoods'
owners, the Mars Corporation, confirmed the offer yesterday.
Mr Herkt said the offer was part of the company's commitment to long-term 
community relations.
"The Wanganui plant has gone to 24-hour, four-shift production and staff 
levels are up to around 250 people.
"As part of the company's commitment to community relations, we have given 
five neighbours in Morrison St the option to sell at market value, plus some 
compensation for relocation.
"This allows the company to own the entire block and provide room for any 
future expansion. We have encouraged the homeowners to seek their own 
independent valuations and basically, the ball is in their court.
"In general there is no urgency and if the owners decline our offer we will 
simply go back to the drawing board. That's where it stands at the moment."

Bashed guard outraged

No apology from GHW

By Simon Waters

A Wanganui security guard who required 20 stitches after being bashed over 
the head with metal instruments is
furious with the mental health system that let a dangerous patient loose 
into the community.
Dionne Matthews, 27, was jailed for two years nine months on Tuesday for 
the April attack on the security guard who
the Chronicle   has agreed not to name.
Good Health Wanganui was roundly criticised for its handling of Matthews 
and admitted deficiencies in its care which
they say they have since fixed.
But the assurances do not go far enough for the security guard who 
yesterday told the Chronicle that despite the
admission, GHW had not even contacted him to apologise.
"I was struck over the head repeatedly because they
failed to follow-up on a patient who was regarded as
dangerous," he said.  
"They have never contacted me - no apology - I haven't heard a word.
"I don't bear that man (Matthews) any anger or anything like that. My 
anger and frustration is with Good Health Wanganui for not carrying out the 
directions of the judge and therefore putting Matthews into the community where he 
fulfilled the prediction of the judge by
committing a vicious assault. That's what I'm angry with."
During Matthew's sentencing on Tuesday Wanganui District Court Judge Andrew 
Becroft criticised Matthews' care at
Good Health Wanganui's Te Awhina psychiatric facility, labelling it 
inadequate.
A report by mental health district inspector Stephen Ross pointed to 
failings in Matthews' care, saying it fell below
acceptable standards.
Matthews attacked the security guard outside the Castlecliff Club in April 
after having been released from
Te Awhina to where he had earlier been committed by the court over fears 
that Matthews was dangerous.
Matthews escaped from the facility three times within about a fortnight. 
GHW released him after 17 days of his
committal and once back in the community he was not monitored and did not 
receive medication to control his
illness.
Matthews' counsel, Terry Refoy-Butler, told the court that had Matthews 
received proper treatment the attack may not
have happened.
GHW admitted to deficiencies in Matthews' care and the care of up to 15 
other patients. GHW told the court that
procedures had been put in place to rectify the problem.
The security guard said that GHW should make public the changes it told the 
court it had made to its
procedures.
"Unless the public are aware of those changes then no-one's going to know 
if anyone is actually following them
through.
"There is a lack of accountability to a big degree. It's all very well to 
use phrases like fallen through the cracks' but it's
time we plastered the cracks.
"If it means we plaster the cracks with the bodies of those who are 
responsible for letting people out, then so be it."
Good Health Wanganui chief executive Sue De Gilio yesterday offered no 
apology and in a faxed statement said Mr
Matthews' case management was, in the main, adequate.
"However, we have taken cognisance of external comments on our procedures. 
We have been working on this
throughout this year and have implemented procedures to reduce the 
likeilihhod of a similar situation to Mr Matthews happening again."
No further comment was forthcoming.

See extended interview with victim on P2.

All's not above board at casino: Peters

Winston Peters … cover-up at Sky City.

WELLINGTON - New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has alleged 
widespread dishonesty at Sky City Casino
which he claims management covered up by shutting down an investigation.
It was also alleged in Parliament a former worker, who claimed 20 years 
salary from the casino as compensation for
being made redundant, had received a year's pay as "hush money" - 
believed to total $65,000 -- to keep quiet over the
allegations.
In Parliament yesterday, Mr Peters said 47 security officers at Sky City 
had admitted dishonesty offences, 36 gaming
staff were recorded on surveillance tapes acting dishonestly and six slot 
machine operators were also guilty of
dishonesty offences.
He said the offences had all occurred this year and called for an inquiry 
independent of the Government and Sky City.
Internal Affairs Minister Mark Burton told Parliament he was aware of an 
investigation in May 1999 into undercharging
at the Sky City Casino staff cafeteria "and other matters".
"There were concerns raised about that investigation by a
former employee of the casino.
"In light of this I've asked the Casino Control Authority to
investigate and provide me with a report in relation to any breach of the 
matters relevant to the law relating to the
licensing of the Sky City Casino."
Mr Burton said he wasn't aware whether the matters raised by Mr Peters 
were separate to that investigation but would
ask officials to look into it.
He said Mr Peters was correct in suggesting that any questions of 
dishonesty involving casino staff were required to
be reported directly to the Department of Internal Affairs inspectorate.
Casino staff must prove they are of good character to hold a licence to 
work there.
On matters involving the staff cafeteria, the inspectorate had been 
informed but he had asked the Casino Control
Authority to review whether they received "sufficient information to make 
a judgment on the matter", Mr Burton said.
"Obviously the additional matters that (Mr Peters) has raised I will now 
pursue
with some vigour."
National MP Lindsay Tisch, meanwhile, questioned
whether a redundant former employee of Sky City, who
wanted 20 years' salary, as compensation, had subsequently
accepted a year's salary which he was now claiming had been
offered as "hush money" to keep quiet over the investigation.
NZPA understands the payout totalled $65,000.
Mr Burton said it was not appropriate for him to talk about individual 
cases.
Sky City spokeswoman Sonya Haggie said the company "vigorously denied" 
the alleged staff dishonesty cover-up.
The company understood the allegations originated from a former employee 
who had recently left the company
following restructuring.
"The employee has been negotiating a settlement in relation to personal 
grievance issues," Ms Haggie said in a
statement.
"At no time has Sky City  requested or insisted that this settlement be 
subject to a confidentiality clause."
Ms Haggie confirmed the allegations related to the staff cafeteria and 
the discovery about 15 months ago that some
staff were "pilfering food and beverages".
The company had conducted an internal investigation and notified Internal 
Affairs.
As a result of the investigation, some staff were dismissed and others 
were reprimanded and cautioned. As well,
preventative measures had been put in place, including extending 
surveillance into the staff cafeteria.
"The company is confident that it has acted appropriately and within the 
regulations set by the Casino Control Act,"
Ms Haggie said.
It would co-operate with any investigation by regulatory authorities. - PA

Attack continues to haunt beaten security guard and his family

By Simon Walters

A Wanganui security guard who received a severe beating at the hands of a 
mental health patient in April says
memories of the attack continue to haunt him and his family.
He thinks often of the Hastings Splash Planet security guard who was 
beaten to death in circumstances not
altogether dissimilar to the beating he received while on duty outside the 
Castlecliff Club in April.
"That guy was a family man pretty much the same age as me. While you can 
try to make light of it, it's always
there," he said.
Not wanting to be named publicly he told the Chronicle yesterday that 
despite misgivings he continued to work as a
security guard.
"I still enjoy my work but I am more cautious at night time. I view certain 
people with a lot more suspicion than I did
before.
"You never know when someone is going to front up to you and an aggressive 
confrontation will occur. There's always
that thought in my mind."
He was not the only one feeling the effects of the April attack, when he 
was jumped from behind and beaten about the
head with heavy metal objects, he said.
"The effects are far more widespread than just myself. While it has 
affected me physically it has psychologically had
a result on my family - the whole family - and my wife is left wondering am 
I going to come home at night.
"It would be nice to be financially in a position to do something else but 
the reality is it's not easy for people my age
to pick up work."
The security guard was present in court on Tuesday when 27-year-old Dionne 
Matthews was jailed for two years and
nine months for the attack.
"As far as the sentencing was concerned the judge was pretty well balanced 
and fair.
"The thing I was interested in was the judge's description of Good Health Wanganui's 
failure to abide by his direction for treatment for Matthews.
There was no-one following him up making sure he was taking his medication.
"The district mental health inspector was critical if not damning of the system that 
was in place at the time which allowed him to be released without proper follow up.
"I don't bear that man (Matthews) any anger or anything like that. My anger 
and frustration is with Good Health Wanganui for not carrying out the directions of 
the judge therefore putting him into the community where he fulfilled the prediction 
of the judge by committing a vicious assault. That's what I'm angry with.
"I believe someone needs to front up and face this and say yes obviously 
with hindsight we did fail in this respect.
"But they have never contacted me - no apology - I haven't heard a word. 
While I have remained relatively anonymous
it would not have been difficult for them to have found me, whether through 
the police or their own hospital records."
He remains sceptical about GHW assurances that it has fixed the systems 
that let Matthews fall through the cracks."
"I don't think anyone can be happy with assurances like that. How many 
times do we read in the paper a patient has
fallen through the cracks?
"We get assurances every time that things have been put in place for this 
to not happen yet it is occurring time and
time again.
"Who's implementing the changes, who is seeing them through? If the 
workload is so great that caregivers or key
persons are not in a position to follow up everyone as is required, it's 
going to happen time and time again.
"None of the changes have been made public. Unless the public are aware of 
those changes then no-one's going to
know if anyone is actually following them through.
"There is a lack of accountability in a big degree. It's all very well to 
use phrases like fallen through the cracks and
this sort of thing but it's time we plastered the cracks. If it means we 
plaster the cracks with the bodies of those who
are responsible for letting people out then so be it.
"When you have someone like
Dionne Matthews who has been described by a learned person as having the 
potential to be very very, dangerous -
when he has sufficient concerns to put that man into a situation where he 
has to be treated then those people need to
be kept out of society until such times as he does not present a further problem.
"When you can't even carry out the directions of the judge then surely 
there is a problem."

'It would be nice to be financially in a position to do something else but the reality is 
it's not easy for people my age to pick up work.'

Council surplus
Wanganui District Council appears to have ended its financial year to June 
30 with a $136,264 credit, but not because
of any real savings. Expenditure was significantly under budget, mainly due 
to scheduled work not being completed,
David Foster, finance and information group manager, says in his report for 
today's finance committee meeting. The
meeting starts at 2pm in the council's chambers.
On tap soon
Wanganui's water supply from Okehu dam is expected to be restored soon. The 
source has been out of action since
a 10-metre section of pipe fractured about two kilometres below the dam. 
Wanganui Water Services manager Julian
Reweti said a minor landslide was caused by recent heavy rain. The fracture 
was in steep terrain and the vehicle
access track was unstable, so pipes were taken in by helicopter. Mr Reweti 
said these repairs were finished but
another section of pipe a kilometre away also had fractured and was being 
worked on. Water consumption is low at
this time of year and usually increases about November. The Okehu supply is 
needed until a bore in Brunswick Rd is commissioned.
Body found
The body of a tramper missing in rugged bush in the Coromandel Peninsula 
was found yesterday morning. Howard Barton, 43, of Te Puke, was walking from 
Stony Bay to Mt Moehau, a Maori site about 5km west of Port Charles last Monday, 
September 4, when he and his tramping companion Epi Ronaki, 26, became lost. Mr 
Ronaki was found by searchers last Wednesday. The body of Mr Barton was found at 
10am yesterday and airlifted out by helicopter, Thames police Senior Sergeant Bryan 
Oliver said.- PA.


Clowning around on the hill
By Kara Wright

St John's Hill School pupils (from left) Analee Schultz, Annie LaHogue 
and Stefanie McKnight get in some practice for
the annual school performance held last night.
The girls, all in year six and Kowhai house, made their own costumes and 
masks and choreographed their act which
included many silly antics.
"The performance is a way to explore the new arts curriculum, brought in 
recently by the
Minister of Education," organiser of the clown extravaganza Jo Maguire 
said.
"The new curriculum includes dance, music, drama and visual arts this 
was a great way to combine the four."
The children painted backdrops, decorated the school hall, made their own 
costumes and helped put together clown
acts using music, drama and dance.
She said using clowns as a theme had been very successful with the 
children, who were very enthusiastic about the
night.

Demolition raises no objection

By Dave Laurence

Mainstreet Wanganui's heritage committee has no objection to the demolition 
of eyesores at Nos 60 and 62 Victoria
Ave.
Retailers in the Ridgway St-Maria Pl block of Victoria Ave are urging the 
Wanganui District Council to buy the two
properties, demolish the buildings and develop a combination of new shops 
and off-street parking.
One of the council's problems is its commitment to the maintenance of a 
continuing retail frontage.
Earlier this month the council's regulatory committee declined to grant 
resource consent for demolition of a Taupo
Quay commercial building in the block nearest the avenue, citing a loss of 
cultural heritage values.
Mainstreet co-ordinator Melinda Cade advised the council this week that the 
organisation's heritage committee was
"not unhappy" at the possibility of the two Victoria Ave buildings being 
demolished.
She said the committee believed their cultural value had long dissipated 
and, physically, they had passed their "use
by" date.
The committee agreed to demolition on the condition new two-storey 
buildings were erected and designed within the
character of the street.
However, Mrs Cade said the committee would not support vehicular access to 
the site from Victoria Ave.
"If the buildings are demolished the committee would like, at the very 
least, to see the area blocked off in an attractive
manner in
the interim to avoid the rather unsightly view to the area behind," she 
said.
Mainstreet's business promotion committee, she said, agreed the buildings 
were an eyesore, especially for those
directly opposite.
But businesses represented at the committee meetings believed there was no 
issue of inadequate parking since The
Warehouse relocated.
Mrs Cade said the committee had discussed the matter on numerous occasions 
and. in August, requested it no
longer form part of the agenda.
Mainstreet's executive committee had been concerned for a long time at 
vacant sites, particularly, those requiring
major work to make them attractive to tenants.

Positive feeling about visitor campaign

By Mandy Gillies

International visitor numbers to Wanganui are down despite New Zealand 
tourism having its best winter on record.
But a new marketing campaign launched this week is aimed at attracting 
tourists and their valuable dollar to
Wanganui.
According to Statistics NZ. international visitor arrivals for the year 
to July increased by 11 percent to 1,709,582.
However, Wanganui experienced a decrease by 22 percent to January 
although there was a slight upturn to April with
an increase of 5 percent.
Domestic visitor numbers to Wanganui increased by 18 percent.
In a bid to increase the region's share of international tourists and 
their valuable dollar a new marketing campaign was
launched this week.
"Destination River Region" combines Wanganui, Manawatu, Horowhenua, 
Tararua and the Rangitikei into a
marketable region to sell to international tourists and travel agents.
Chairman of Destination Wanganui Rory Smith said he was pleased with the 
new campaign and believed operators
were feeling confident about the future.
"We still have a few details to iron out but overall the feeling was 
pretty positive."
He said they could not estimate how much the campaign would increase 
numbers but he believed it was a step in the
right direction.
Tourism operators had been aligning themselves in cluster groups for 
marketing purposes but the new campaign
would push this further, Mr Smith said.
River Region Chief Executive officer and Palmerston North City councillor 
Kelvin Speirs presented the new strategy in
Wanganui at a meeting of tourism operators and councillors.
Mr Speirs said it is up to individual operators to work hard at pushing 
Wanganui's point of difference.
"It is about making tourists stay and extracting those dollars."
"You need to send a tourist who has spent money with you on to another 
operator in the area so that everyone reaps
the benefits."

FASHION FUNDS: Smirnoff NZ representative Simone McGill (left) studies some 
of Wanganui Polytechnic's fashion school designs with lecturer Sally Jane De Salazar 
yesterday. For the third year in a row the school has received a $1000 cheque from 
Smirnoff for producing the winning designer of the Smirnoff International Fashion 
Awards. Jonelle Hanrahan took out the top award for a second time. Ms McGill said 
the designs coming out of the school were "absolutely awesome." The students' work 
was modern and trendy which aligned itself with the image of Smirnoff, she said. Ms 
De Salazar said the money would go toward the school fashion show which is to be 
held in November at the Royal Wanganui Ppera House.

Tainui in court

HAMILTON  The row over the sacking of Tainui's executive Tekaumaarua will 
go back to court today, with Te Arikinui
Dame Te Atairangikaahu among the defendants.
The hearing, to decide whether the executive was wrongly sacked, will be 
before Justice Hammond in the High Court
at Hamilton.
Defendants' spokesman John Te Maru yesterday said the executive had refused 
to mediate with Dame Te Ata and
the tribe. It would be the first time Dame Te Ata has been taken to court.
Tainui's 183-member parliament Te Kauhanganui voted to sack Tekaumaarua on 
August 12. But the executive won an
interim injunction from Justice Hammond after it claimed the sacking was 
unconstitutional.
Justice Hammond had asked the defendants, including Dame Te Ata, to resolve 
the dispute internally.
Mr Te Maru yesterday said they had favoured mediation but Tekaumaarua's 
lawyers refused. - PA.

MP behind planned CBD move
By Dave Laurence

Proposals for a central business district shake-up and a fresh marketing plan for 
Wanganui are supported, in principle, by MP Jill Pettis.
"Nothing is constant," she told the Chronicle yesterday. "We need to adapt or die."
She commended the Wanganui District Council for commissioning the preparation of 
a marketing plan, including a logo, and for its move to examine trends and future 
needs in the central business district.
The Whanganui MP, who is back in harness after a  period of ill health, 
expressed enthusiasm for both initiatives.
"I believe it's essential for regional and district councils to review 
their promotional activities from time to time." she
said. "The market changes rapidly."
Mrs Pettis said it was important for individuals to be strong promoters of  Wanganui.
"We need to take responsibility and play a role ourselves. We need to 'talk up' our city 
and our region, not criticise it."
She highlighted Wanganui's outstanding cultural and sporting facilities.
"We have much to be proud of. If we're full of negative comments they'll 
filter through. I don't hear Wellingtonians going round criticising their city.
"I meet a lot of new citizens who have chosen to come to live in Wanganui 
when in many instances they could live anywhere in the world. They can't believe the 
amenities and facilities we have and the public services that are provided, how pretty 
and green it is and the fact everything is available within five minutes."
Asked about the logo's merit, Mrs Pettis said she had a strong personal 
interest in river, mountain and sea.
"I'm not sure whether the logo portrays natural assets as well as it could."
Mrs Pettis said Wanganui's history was import to its identity and made it 
different from many other
cities. "I thought it may have been possible to incorporate some of our history..."
Wanganui's Mainstreet development was widely admired, she said, and for many 
people it provided their first impression of the city.
"So it's timely that we review it and continue to have the best Mainstreet in New 
Zealand."

Warning on fake guns

WELLINGTON - Wellington's armed police boss fears someone will be shot if 
people continue to brandish fake
firearms in public.
The head of the region's armed offenders squad, Inspector Bruce Dunstan, 
said police could either shoot the armed person or mistakenly assume they were 
dealing with an imitation gun and be shot themselves. -PA.





Out in time
Fire engines rushed to a Wanganui East house after an oven fire set alarm 
bells ringing about 7pm yesterday. A
Wanganui Fire Service spokesman said the small fire went out of its own 
accord when firefighters arrived. The
Millward St house was not damaged  and no one was injured.
Road smash
Seven people were rushed to Palmerston North hospital in four ambulances 
after a motor vehicle accident on the Rangitikei line about 4.20pm yesterday. A 
spokesman for the St John Ambulance Service Central District said it was a big 
accident involving young people. An 18 month-old girl and 14-year-old girl were 
seriously injured. A three-week-old baby boy and 15 year-old boy received moderate 
injuries. Details of the other victims were unavailable. The accident was attended by 
Palmerston North police.
Girl dead
An 11-year-old girl is dead after the car she was in veered off the road and crashed 
near Palmerston North yesterday afternoon. Senior Sergeant  Peter Baird said the girl 
died in Palmerston North Hospital's intensive care unit. Police were still trying to 
contact the girl's next-of-kin. The car was driven by a 26-year-old woman and had 
five other passengers, all children under 14.
Reader poll
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Call our voteline 0900 71 72 73 before
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Prison payouts no rough justice, says Pettis

By Dave Laurence

Compensation for former Mangaroa Prison inmates was necessary, despite 
the confusion and consternation felt by
the public, Whanganui MP Jill Pettis said yesterday.
"Every decent human being agrees prisoners shouldn't benefit from crime 
and the prisoners who have just received
compensation have been serious offenders," she said. "They have committed 
crimes the average person finds
abhorrent.
"I do, too. I don't condone crime and I don't defend people who have 
committed acts of violence.
"But where the issue becomes complicated is the fact that every prisoner 
is entitled to basic human rights treatment.
New Zealand is a signatory to the United Nations Committee Against 
Torture. We sign up to a number of international
agreements, from whaling to trade.
"We can not, as a responsible and humane nation, ignore those treaties 
and agreements when we like
otherwise we are no better than those countries we condemn."
 Earlier this month former inmates of the Hawke's
Bay jail, all with Mob ties, received apologies
from the Crown for the way they were treated in custody.
They received compensation and two of the payouts are
understood to have been $90,000 and $75,000.
The beneficiaries claimed they were beaten repeatedly in retaliation 
for attacks on prison officers.
Mrs Pettis said it was not the role of prison officers to determine how 
justice was carried out.
"They are employed to carry out a decision made by other areas of the 
justice system. Unfortunately, the prison
officers broke the law, just as the prisoners originally broke the law, 
resulting in their being in prison.
"There is not, in a decent society, a rule for one and a rule for another 
even though in life it sometimes seems that
way."
She said the Government decided to go ahead with a settlement on advice 
from the Crown Law office.
 "The advice given to the current Government is the same as that given to the National  
government when it was in power. The decision to settle out of court was made as a 
result of that advice.
"However, what I have heard from people locally is
that the Government should have gone to court and fought the possibility 
of compensating the prisoners.
"Politically? Yes, it may have been advantageous. But I personally doubt 
whether the Government would have won
that court case anyway, based on the evidence primarily, and the advice 
which the Government was given - and also
on the basis of human rights and New Zealand being a signatory to the UN 
Committee Against Torture.
"But financially it would have been far more expensive. And, quite likely 
the decision would have been the same. It
could have gone to the Court of Appeal so there's another million 
dollars..."
Mrs Pettis said offending began in 1991 and one of her first calls upon 
election in 1993 was by a prison officer involved
in the Mangaroa event.
"The former National Government avoided
confronting and resolving this issue. They knew the decision was going 
to be very difficult to present to the public.
"They did not have the courage to confront this issue between 1991 and 
the year 2000. That has made us, as a new
Government, angry. It could have been resolved years ago.
Mrs Pettis was asked by the Chronicle why the Government was not more 
hard-nosed in its out of court settlement.
"I believe the Government was as hard-nosed as it possibly could be," she 
said. "The settlement would have, been
based on previous settlements and the amounts would have been measured 
against benchmarks.
"Regardless of the amount of compensation settled on, I fully appreciate 
the anguish and anger the public feels about this. And most certainly I understand 
how victims of crime, and particularly the victims of these offenders, feel."
It came down to a question of whether New Zealand ignored what happened 
or compensated for it.
"I still believe it's the correct decision, even though it's extremely 
difficult to explain."

Court no show prompts arrest warrants

PALMERSTON NORTH - Former New Zealand First candidate Suzanne Bruce and 
her 
partner Barry Jinkinson again
failed to turn up in court in Palmerston North yesterday morning to face 
charges brought by the Inland Revenue.
Arrest warrants which were earlier being
considered for withdrawal, so the couple could enter New Zealand from 
Australia without fear of arrest, are now to
stay in effect.
Yesterday two further arrest warrants
were issued by Palmerston North District Court for unpaid fines.
Yesterday morning an application by their
counsel Colin Carruthers QC for yesterday's defended hearing on 13 GST fraud 
charges amounting to $20,700 to be adjourned was declined by Judge Phillip Connell.
Mr Carruthers said Bruce and Jinkinson were still in Sydney, where they 
have been for several months with their
children.
Warrants for their arrest were issued in April and June at the request of 
the RSPCA when they had failed to appear to
answer charges under the Animal Protection Act.
Mr Carruthers told the judge that Bruce and Jinkinson. had always been 
willing to return to New Zealand and clear the
matters before the court.
However, they would not do so if it involved risk of arrest and possible 
inability to return to their children in Sydney.
An arrangement to lift the warrants of the
port of entry computer system had fallen through, and he could not give his 
clients assurance of free entry, so they
had stayed away,
Judge Connell said Bruce and Jinkinson were in a position of their own 
making, having decided to leave the country
when they knew proceedings were under way.
The court would have been more impressed with expressions of their wish to 
face up to the charges against them if
they had come to court, even at the risk of arrest and "a little discomfort".
As it was, he, said, they were effectively "holding a gun at the head of 
the court".
Judge Connell said he was not comfortable
with the means being arranged to bring the accused into New Zealand - 
simply to remove the arrest warrants from the
port of entry computer system - which he said was an interference with the 
process of the court. The judge declined
to adjourn the hearing of the tax charges, and Mr Carruthers withdrew from 
the case. Formal proof of the tax charges
was proceeding yesterday.
Meanwhile, RSPCA lawyer Phillip Drummond, who is prosecuting animal cruelty 
charges against the couple, told the
court that since the adjournment was denied and the GST charges were 
proceeding, his client would oppose any
withdrawal of the arrest warrants. - PA.

Sports plan to keep kids out of trouble

By Meredith Stuck

A dream to keep Castlecliff kids out of the courts through playing sports
looks set to become a reality.
The Wanganui District Council community services committee said it 
supported a proposal
for more sports fields and community facilities in Castlecliff. It went 
so far as to say it would help acquire land for the
new development.
The Castlecliff  Community
Charitable Trust proposal is for at least four full-size playing fields 
and two softball pitches, changing rooms and toilets. It has been gifted with buildings  
which could be used for sport and community gatherings.
Several sites are being considered, with some privately owned land 
backing on to Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Tupoho in Cross St as the favourite. Council 
officer Mark Daniels noted Cross St location would benefit not only the Tupoho kura, 
but also Te Kura o Kokohuia and Castlecliff School. He said the schools had shown 
they could work together and had given their support to the proposal.
The trust hopes the new sports
grounds will help Castlecliff combat crime and unemployment. It targets 
the high number of juvenile offenders in the
suburb with the philosophy 'in sport, out of court'.
In 1998, 25 percent of the Wanganui Truancy Service's 661 referrals were 
in the Castlecliff area, according to the
trust's report.
Unemployment in the Castlecliff area, which includes Balgownie and 
Mosston, is well above Wanganui's average of
10.55 percent. Balgownie has 31.42 percent unemployment, Mosston 18.45 
percent, Castlecliff North 16.15 percent
and Castlecliff South 13.68 percent.
The report said the Castlecliff area had the highest percentage of 
working aged people with no qualifications in the
Wanganui district. Balgownie has 60.5 percent, Mosston 55.8 percent, 
Castlecliff South 51.1 percent and Castlecliff
North 50.9 percent. The Wanganui average is 38.3 percent.
A council report said Castlecliff North had more family violence and 
burglaries compared with Wanganui averages. For
example, 54 burglaries per 1000 people aged 10-50 were in Castlecliff 
North compared with 52 in Wanganui and 36.7
nationally.

$3.1m must be returned

WELLINGTON- A record $3.1 million court order made yesterday
against a pyramid selling company sends a strong message about the 
illegal schemes, the Commerce Commission says.
 The High Court at Auckland ordered Maximus Intermediaries Ltd to pay 
more than $3.1 million - the highest  ever Fair Trading Act order  - to 12,000 people 
who bought into the scheme.
 Tauranga brother and sister team Kerry Lindsay Paul and Coralee Ngaio 
Judson pleaded guilty to breaching the Fair
Trading Act by promoting a pyramid selling scheme, Maximus.
 Mr Paul and Ms Judson promoted Maximus nationally as a retail discount 
scheme.
It was highly unlikely those who bought into the scheme would see any 
money after other preferential creditors were
paid, Commerce Commission chairman John Belgrave said.
"Do not buy into pyramid schemes. If you do, then not only will you 
almost certainly lose your money, but so will all
the people you might have recruited.
"All pyramid selling schemes must fail. It is mathematically impossible 
for them to work. No matter how a pyramid
selling scheme is set up, most people must lose their money."
The 12,000 had also broken the law but the commission had decided against 
further legal action, Mr Belgrave said.- PA

Surgeon considers fighting suspension

WELLINGTON. - Whangarei surgeon Graham Parry is considering challenging his 
suspension following a complaint from one of
his patients, now dying of cervical cancer.
Mr Parry, an obstetrician/gynaecologist at Whangarei Hospital,
 had his licence to practise suspended on Friday by the Medical Practitioners
 Disciplinary Tribunal until a charge of disgraceful conduct is against him has
been heard in October.
 The hearing relates to his treatment of Paihia woman Colleen Poutsma.
A lawyer acting for Mr Parry, Vicky Hammond, said yesterday there was a 
chance he would challenge the suspension and had three options in doing so.
She said a decision would be made by the end of the week on whether to go 
back to the tribunal, or take the matter
up in the district or high court.
"It depends on what we're challenging and why," Ms Hammond Said.
The tribunal said the suspension was for the health and safety of the women 
who were still his patients.
Until the suspension of Mr Parry's practising licence he had been 
performing ultrasound examinations and surgery at
Whangarei under supervision ordered by the Medical Council of New Zealand. 
It also ordered a review of all case
notes involving Mr Parry's patients from the past two years.-PA

Recreational fishing needs safety net

By Mary Bryan

Fear of a recreational marine fishing ban was one reason for a management 
lobby, Wanganui fishers were told last
night.
Commercial fishermen and iwi (customary) had property rights to marine 
fishing enshrined in law, but there was no
such legal right at present for recreational fishers, Max Heatherington, secretary of the 
New Zealand Recreational Fishing Council, said.
He was speaking at a public meeting called by the Ministry of Fisheries and the 
fishing council to discuss its joint  document, Soundings. About 80 fishers
attended.
Mr Heatherington said already there were signs recreational fishers' 
ability to catch fish was being eroded and that
competition for marine space by different groups was increasing in 
importance.
There had been no public consultation on the giving of property rights 
to commercial fishermen in the 1980s,
however Soundings enabled
the public to have an input into what they wanted marine recreational 
fishing to be like in 2010.
Submissions, he said, were being sought on a number of issues. These 
included whether recreational fishers' stake
in the fisheries resource needed to be more secure and how they could 
have real involvement in the way things were
managed.
Submissions were also needed on how recreational fishers could work more 
effectively with customary and
commercial fishers, environmental groups and government.
And while the question of licences for recreational fishers was included 
on the submission form, neither Government
or the fishing council were pushing for this, Mr Heatherington said.
Submissions close on November 30 and Cabinet is expected to decide on the 
next step by March 30, 2001.
Asked whether the public would be consulted on Cabinet's decision, Mr 
Heatherington replied he was sure they
would, but whether it would be through a select committee or some other 
process he didn't know.

Serious training for Timor-bound troops

By Colin Rowatt

Preparing for East Timor … Privates Jared Adam (left) and Tall McMaster "patrol the 
border" at Linton Camp.

An air of tension pervaded Linton Army Camp near Palmerston North yesterday 
as training intensified for troops
bound for East Timor.
At several locations around the camp the 600 soldiers of the third New 
Zealand Battalion Group (NZBatt3) were
undergoing rigorous mission-specific training in preparation for their 
deployment to East Timor early in November.
They will relieve the second rotation of New Zealand troops almost at the 
end of their six-month tour of duty with the
United Nations peacekeeping force.
Two Wanganui men in NZBatt3, regular force Privates Jared Adam and Taal 
McMaster, admitted to feeling a little
apprehensive about what lies ahead.
They are well aware of the dangers and hardships they face and prospect of 
marching into life-threatening  confrontations with armed militia.
"We are worried, but not scared," Private Adam said.
"Sure we are going into a life and death situation. But that's our job - 
it's what we've been training for."
Included in NZBatt3 are about 100 territorial force soldiers including 22 
from the Wanganui-based WellingtonWest
Coast-Taranaki regiment.
These part-time turned full-time soldiers will take a fully active role 
alongside their regular force counterparts in East
Timor in curtailing the activities of armed militiamen who pose an ongoing 
threat to the peace and stability of strife-
torn East Timor.
Privates Adam and McMaster have no qualms abut working with the 
territorials in and operational situation.
"We've got no worries with those guys. They've all had the same training as 
us and were all well enough trained to go
off and the do the job," Private Adam said.
Ironically, yesterday's training was carried out in thick, steady rain and 
the trudging of soldiers laden down with full kit
and weapons quickly turned the ground to slush.
By the time NZBatt3 deploys to East Timor it will the wet season there so 
conditions at Linton yesterday added a
touch of realism to the training.

Jeff's job secure for Games
By Ada Hill

A Wanganui man's Olympic dreams have been tarnished.
Jeff King, who has been in Sydney for a fortnight after being promised a 
job as a security guard at the Olympic
Games, finally starts work tomorrow.
Yesterday he received the necessary paperwork enabling him to work as a 
security guard during the Olympic Games
and Paralympics.
However, the licence is only temporary to cover the games. To get a full 
licence Mr King has to do more courses.
He said although he finally had work he was still "pretty brassed off"
about the delays.
He has signed a contract for work until the end of November which includes 
the Olympic Games and Paralympics.
"It's pretty good money but I am still not going to make what they had 
promised us we would," he said.
"It will cover my costs and give me a break but it has been a pretty 
stressful couple of weeks."
Mr King was among up to about 300 Kiwis who travelled to Sydney on the 
promise of a security guard's job after
completing a course in New Zealand.
 When the Kiwis arrived in Sydney they were told the paperwork that was 
needed for their licences had not been
completed and would not be ready in time for the Games.
Licences are a legal requirement for security guard work in New South Wales.
A group of 77 Kiwis held a demonstration outside the headquarters of Games 
organiser Socog and as a result they
had do another course before any licences were approved.
Air King said he did not know how many had received their licences out of 
the initial group who went to Sydney.
A lot were doing casual work.
Mr King has been discussing the possibility of legal action against 
Col-Net, the company which ran the New Zealand
training course.
He said he understood a group of the stranded Kiwis were also considering 
legal action.

Missing netball adds fuel to families' feud

 HAMILTON  - It's a quarrel in a
sleepy suburb of Te Awamutu worthy
of television's Neighbours From Hell
programme, and it doesn't look like
ending soon.
Police last month executed a search warrant to look for a missing 
netball. That's right. A netball.
According to one side, the feud started four years ago. Lorne St. woman 
Patti Bakker said what began as an
argument between her two daughters, then eight and 10, and neighbours, 
has escalated into a neighbourhood dispute.
With tidy homes and yards, the Te Awamutu neighbourhood looks peaceful 
enough.
But the dispute now involves parents, lawyers, police and the legal system.
The dispute even spilled into the High Court, and the neighbours face 
hefty legal bills. Ms Bakker reckons her bill is $20,000.
Last month, after a netball went missing from the neighbouring Herberts' 
home, police were called and three Te Awamutu officers executed a search warrant on 
the Bakker home.
Ms Bakker said the search took almost an hour.
The Herberts on Tuesday refused to comment.
When asked why she doesn't just move, Ms Bakker offered the reply often 
given in neighbourhood disputes: "Why don't they move?"
She said her family lives in the town and she would be forced to pay back 
the $20,000 legal bill racked up on legal aid if she sells.
Ms Bakker said people had called her "the neighbour from hell", and said 
her children hadn't been angels.
But she said the dispute had been blown out of proportion.
Archie Kay, who lives across the road, said he had heard about the spat, but treated it 
as a joke. PA.

Top Cat operator serious about pulling service

WELLINGTON - The possibility fast ferry operator Top Cat could be driven 
out of business by a newly-passed bylaw
restricting speeds in the Marlborough Sounds is no idle threat, Fast Cat 
Ferries chief executive Keith Pybus says.
"I don't think we'd be playing games with a $100 million ship and making 
statements if they weren't correct," he told
NZPA.
"We make our judgments based on the issues, and the issue of slowing down a 
fast ferry, it's like slowing down an
aircraft, it doesn't happen. You have to turn them around so you can get a 
certain number of income-earning cycles
within a given framework, and you're also in the marketplace against 
competition."
On Tuesday night, Marlborough District Council passed a bylaw which will 
halve fast ferry speeds to 18 knots
(33kmh) in the Marlborough Sounds. The bylaw comes into force on December 
15.
The alteration to the speed limit would add half an hour to the ship's 
journey - a crucial time difference in an industry
where speed was everything, Mr Pybus said. Currently Top Cat sails 
Wellington-Picton in 1-3/4 hours, compared to
the three-hour journey on conventional ferries operated by Tranz Rail, 
which also runs fast ferry Lynx in summer
months.
"If we lose the edge there, there will be no advantage in travelling on a 
fast ferry at the slight premium we command at
the moment for those sorts of movements, because we'll be so close to the 
conventional ferry that the time saved
won't be relevant."
Much of Top Cat's freight was livestock and other "time sensitive cargo" Mr 
Pybus said.
Another  major issue with the additional half hour was increased wage 
costs, due to the amount of time crews could
be at work.
If Top Cat did continue operations,
fare price rises were a possibility, Mr Pybus said.
"It's one of the options if we're going to continue to operate, which would 
be what everyone would be hoping, to
recover the revenues lost out of such an exercise."
Tranz Rail has already cut its summer service from six to four sailings a 
day, in anticipation of the speed restriction.
Tranz Rail spokeswoman Nicola McFaull said the four sailings may not be 
viable because its revenue would drop by a third as fuel and staffing costs increased 
due to longer crossing times.
"This next season will be quite critical evaluating the viability of a 
seasonal fast ferry going through the Marlborough Sounds."
Tranz Rail would decide next year if it would continue with a fast ferry.
Earlier, Guardians of the Sounds lobby group spokesman  Peter Beech said a 
protest fleet would take to the
Marlborough Sounds if fast ferries continued to travel at top speeds this 
summer.
"This could leave them roaring around endangering our lives and vandalising 
the Sounds. If this happens we will
organise a protest fleet that will slow them down over the Christmas-New 
Year period," Mr Beech said.
Mr Pybus said his company would deal with any protest on the day, with 
public safety being their first priority. - PA.

Concern for teen

Wanganui police are still concerned for the well-being of Tina Kiri Smith, 15, who 
was last seen in Wanganui on Saturday.
She was wearing blue jeans, a black top and brown roman sandals and also has a nose 
stud.
Police believe she is still in Wanganui.
Senior Sergeant Ged Byers said there were no major concerns for her physical safety 
but he would like anyone knowing the whereabouts of Miss Smith to contact the 
nearest police station.

Gandalf held spellbound by Wizard of Christchurch

CHRISTCHURCH- Actor Sir Ian McKellen, who plays the wizard Gandalf in The 
Lord of the Rings, on Monday met the
Wizard of Christchurch and picked up more than a few tips about enchanting 
an audience.
"I was an Ian, too, at one stage," the Wizard said, "but I gave it up".
The long-time orator was a fan of J R R Tolkien's epic tale and looked 
forward enormously to seeing the three movies
of the story, now being filmed around New Zealand.
Conducted outside the Cathedral in a cold drizzle, the conversation between 
the Wizard and the star was rather lop-
sided and ranged far and wide.
Their talk touched on honour, acting, gimmickry, the subjectivity of 
reality, humour and postmodernism, wizards as
sex objects ("hence your hat, perhaps," Sir Ian said), Anglo-Saxon 
mythology and the wizard Merlin, shamen and
priests, agriculture and emasculation, Victorian values, the monarchy, and 
disappearing in puffs of smoke.
Sir Ian was enjoying a rare day off.
He had been at work in Queenstown. On Tuesday he was in Wellington, 
shooting some studio-based segments and,
from yesterday, he and his trailer "home away from home" are based at 
Methven for two weeks.
Work was going "remarkably well, it seems" on New Zealand director Peter 
Jackson's $360 million movie trilogy, Sir Ian said.
"I'm very impressed," he said. "Producing a story in three parts over 16 months, with 
just a two-week break. That's an awful lot of time for things to go wrong, but nothing 
seems to be."
By the time shooting ends Sir Ian will have lived in New Zealand for almost a year. - 
PA

Work permit rules may change

Immigration Minister Lianne Dalziel has ordered a review of recruitment policy.

Rules that allowed a Rotorua farmer to recruit overseas workers when no suitable 
local workers could be found will be addressed as part of a national immigration 
review.
Two farm workers from Slovakia were granted 12-month work permits to work on the 
Kapenga Trust farm, south of Rotorua.
The men were hired after Work and Income New Zealand (Winz) failed to find 
anyone suitable for the positions in Rotorua.
Immigration Minister Lianne Dalziel has ordered that the review pay particular 
attention to the rules that enabled the Rotorua farmer to recruit from overseas without 
first looking in other regions.
Currently, work permits can only be issued if there is no-one available 
in a particular region, but Ms Dalziel wants the
rules changed so industries like farming would be required to undertake a 
nationwide search.
"I find it hard to believe that no-one suitable could be found locally. 
It seems the facts in this case bring the policy into
question," she said.
Training organisations and the national apprenticeship scheme also had a 
responsibility to ensure that there were
workers available nationally.
Current policy was also open to abuse by employers, she said.
Ms Dalziel said a report on the current review of immigration policy was 
expected at the end of December-PA

Frost protection windmills stand still at Riverbank Rd, at least until Monday.

Waiting to see which way the wind blows

By Iain Hyndman Agricultural Editor
The winds of time have caught up with Wanganui horticulturalist Noel 
Cooper, and D-day is Monday.
Mr Cooper has been forced by the Wanganui District Council to apply for 
resource consent to operate frost protection
wind machines at his Riverbank Rd and Papaiti Rd properties.
He has operated the wind machines on at least four occasions since 1997, 
but pressure from neighbours unhappy
about noise from the windmills, prompted the council decision.
Mr Cooper's consent application has attracted 53 submissions within the 
statutory timeframe and 20 submissions
were also received one day after closing
Twenty-one submissions of the 53 valid entries are in support of the 
application, while 28 are opposed.
Senior resource management planner, Shane McGhie said the council's 
regulatory hearings committee would decide
on Monday whether the 20 late submissions would be admissible.
The submissions were late because of a medical emergency affecting the 
person responsible for lodging the
paperwork.
All 20 were in support.
Valid submissions in support argue Mr Cooper's kiwifruit operation 
created jobs and the economic benefits created
proved positive for the community.
They also noted the machines were used infrequently and that other forms 
of frost protection were less attractive in
terms of environmental effects.
While a number of those in support conceded that noise could be 
intrusive, they believed methods identified to reduce
noise emissions would work.
One submitter suggested that consent be granted on a 12-monthly basis 
with renewal dependent on evidence noise
had been reduced.
Submissions against were overwhelming in their claim that noise was the 
major problem, particularly during the timing
of use, which was normally during the night before frosts settled.
The application will be heard at a public hearing in the council chamber at 10am on 
Monday following a site visit around 9am.

Pressure from neighbours unhappy about noise from the windmills, prompted the 
Council decision.

Chronicled today

The go-ahead to take on intermediate students has thrilled two Wanganui Catholic 
primary schools.

Page 3

An American resident of Fiji plunged 2400m into the Pacific Ocean after jumping or 
falling from a small aircraft on Wednesday, police said yesterday.

Page 5

American researchers say a long-term New Zealand study has shown more women are 
bashing men in "domestics" than the other way round.

Page 6

Grit teeth and bear it, postal workers told

By Mandy Gillies

Ron Janes … hard to stand in way of progress.

By Mandy Gillies
Grit your teeth and bear it is the advice for the 33 postal workers 
who will lose their jobs next year.
New Zealand Post announced on Wednesday that it planned to transfer 
all Wanganui's mail processing to Palmerston North.
Wanganui Chamber of Commerce president Ron Janes said the loss of 33 
jobs would have an impact in terms of retail trade but it was pretty 
hard to stand in  the way of technological progress.
"We just have to grit our teeth and bear it. It is all part of 
growing up."
Mr Janes believed the cuts indicated we must turn to our community 
for support when this happened.
"This shows that government jobs are not the panacea but that we 
should look to businesses in the community for jobs."
He said that in New Zealand about 90 percent of jobs are provided by 
small to medium-sized businesses.
"What we have to do is diversify and hopefully those 33 people who 
lost their jobs would be absorbed and more opportunities would be 
created," Mr Janes said.
Enterprise Wanganui chief executive Neal Blackburn said they were 
just trying to get some accurate information about the cuts so the 
true effect could be gauged.
"Obviously when an employer takes a reasonable number of jobs out of 
the town it has an effect.
"We need to find out what can we do to attract an employer that will 
replace the jobs."
*Technology not politics P3

Hospitality at the army camp

Who says there is no such thing as a free lunch?
Twenty motorists marooned on the Desert Rd were treated to something 
to 
eat at the Waiouru Army Camp yesterday
while waiting for the weather to clear.
Constable John Robson of the Waiouru police said the stranded 
travellers 
were evacuated from their cars and taken to
the Waiouru Army Camp where they were provided with lunch until the 
road 
reopened.
 The bad weather also caused a four-car accident on  the Desert 
Rd yesterday morning, leaving one man in Wanganui Hospital.
Constable Robson said the accident happened at 8.30am 25km
north of Waiouru after cars were slipping and sliding in the bad
weather conditions. Two people were treated at the Army Camp
hospital resulting in one man being transferred to Wanganui
Hospital for further care.
The Desert Rd reopened after lunch yesterday.

BEATING THE WEATHER: Wanganui shearer Alan Titter made the best out 
of a 
bad weather situation by collecting
native driftwood on Morgan St beach yesterday. Recent flooding and 
rough 
weather has caused a large build-up of
wood along Wanganui's coastline. The weather should be looking up 
today, 
according to the Met Service. It ought to
be a fine and sunny day. The recent rain has taken Wanganui well past 
the 
30-year monthly average for October of
80mm. To date a total of 103mm of rain has fallen in the city this 
month. 
As far as flooding goes, the Whanganui River was 6m high and dropping 
at Pipiriki at 3pm yesterday. Civil defence alarms are only activated 
when it reaches the 8m mark.


Qualification on the side

AUCKLAND. - Would you like a side order of qualifications with that 
job?
Fast-food chain  McDonald's has become the first private company to 
offer staff a programme of on-the-job training courses recognised 
under the national qualifications framework.
The company's managers and trainee managers can now credit at-work 
training 
toward certificate and diploma
courses recognised by the Qualifications Authority.
Staff can complete a National Certificate in Hospitality Operations - 
a programme approved by the Hospitality Standards Institute - through 
a combination of on-the-job training and classroom study at the 
company's Auckland training centre.
Managers can complete seven of the 12 papers required for a Diploma 
in Business while on the job. They have the option of completing the 
remainder of the diploma in their own time through Auckland 
University of Technology or Open Polytechnic.
McDonald's Glenfield restaurant manager Leanne Hambly said she began 
working for the chain part-time in 1997 to help finance her 
university studies. She moved into a management role and could now 
credit her on-the-job training qualifications toward a business 
decree through AUT.
Qualifications Authority spokesman Bill Lennox said many companies 
provided accredited training courses through work, but McDonald's was 
the first to offer comprehensive programmes across a range of skill 
levels.
'It's fairly unusual for a company to really think about the mix of 
training and qualifications their staff need," he said.
"They (McDonald's) have got a nice blend of industry-specific 
qualifications and general business qualifications."
McDonald's chief executive Alan Dunn said aligning in-house training 
with the official framework added a level of 
quality assurance to the company's training programme.-PA

Suburb inundated

CHRISTCHURCH -The army helped police negotiate waist-deep water and 
fallen trees to rescue a man from his
flooded home in Christchurch yesterday.
The usually picturesque suburb of Beckenham was transformed into 
something akin to a disaster zone by 12 hours of
unrelenting wind and rain.
The Cashmere Stream become a swollen dirty river, the floodwaters 
worsening as the valleys of the Cashmere Hills
channelled still more water to its banks.
Witnesses said the stream spilled on to the road at 7.30am, rising 
steadily to threaten porches and windowsills on
the streets alongside.
Some streets were so deep in water that six army personnel carriers 
were called in to help the police make sure residents were safe.
Even so only one person had to be rescued.
Tim Aitcheson, ironically an employee of a stormwater pipe 
manufacturer, was rescued from his flooded home soon after 3.30pm.
Mr Aitcheson said the stream rose frighteningly quickly.
"I couldn't believe it," he said. "It came up over the road in the 
time it took to have breakfast."
Several doors down, Arthur Collie chose to wait out the flood in the 
comfort of his own home.
Mr Collie said he had lived on the terrace for 28 years and that the 
flooding was the worst he could remember.
However, despite the water lapping at his front door step, Mr Collie 
said the day had been entertaining.
"We've been sitting in the lounge watching the people over the water 
watching us," he said.
"It's hard to say who had the better view." - PA

Polytech to shed workers

By Mandy Gillies

Jobs will go as part of the Wanganui
Polytechnic's recovery plan which aims to
save $1.5 million over the next two years.
 The polytechnic had been faced with
significant financial challenges over the last three years.
 Corporate and operational services senior
 manager Bob Dempsey, said he could not predict the number of jobs 
that would go but confirmed redundancies would happen.
"We are working through the  matter of job losses at the moment and 
meeting with the individual teams.
"We will have identified by Tuesday of next week what positions have 
to go and the timelines for them."
He said this is all part of the robust business plan the Ministry of 
Education and the
Tertiary Ownership Monitoring Unit have been working on with the 
polytechnic.
The $1.5 Million saved would go toward covering their $2 million 
deficit from the previous financial year. Mr Dempsey  said this would 
mean a small deficit for the following financial year but predicted 
they would make a surplus for the 2001-2002 period.
"These savings have all been calculated on the basis of no growth in 
student numbers but we  are positive these numbers will rise."
Mr Dempsey said the polytechnic had a Crown advisor working with them 
on the recovery plan on behalf of the Ministry of Education.
Other areas of focus in the recovery plan include "progamme reviews, 
space utilisation, shared services, capacity, and risk management."

Electrocuted
A 20-year-old man died after climbing over an outer fence at a South 
Auckland power station and electrocuting himself. Wiri police said 
the death was not suspicious, and they were not 
looking for anyone else. The man's body
was found on  Tuesday morning by an employee of a company next to 
Transpower's Otahuhu substation. The man's name would not be 
released.-PA
Profit down
Housing New Zealand's net profit of $78 million for the 1999 year is 
significantly less than budgeted,   mainly because of the 
Government's halt on property sales. In it's annual report released  
yesterday, Housing New Zealand (HNZ)chief executive officer Michael 
Lennon said net  gains on property sales were below budget by $34 
million, resulting from the suspension of sales by the incoming 
Labour-Alliance Government. That variation meant the net
profit after tax was below budget by $23 million and $39 million less 
than the previous year. 
Despite the suspension 1141 properties were still sold during the 
year as the sales had been arranged prior to the election. As at 30 
June 2000, HNZ had 59,462 houses.-PA
Cafe first for NZ
The international Hard Rock Cafe chain will open a large  restaurant, 
retail space and separate bar in Queenstown.
MAC Property Services
property manager Alastair Wood said the Australasian Hard Rock 
franchise operators confirmed the deal
yesterday. Hard Rock has signed up for 550 square metres or about 
half 
the first floor space, in the soon-to-be-completed Beach St casino 
building in the town and 145 square metres of 
the ground floor. It will be the Franchise's first New Zealand 
operation.-PA
Charges denied
The mother and sister of Steven Wallace, who was killed in Waitara 
last 
April, have denied charges of harassing the
wife of  the policeman who fired the fatal shots  In New Plymouth 
District Court yesterday, sickness beneficiary Raewyn Mary Wallace, 
50, and  her daughter, Kelly Anne Wallace, 22, also of Waitara
pleaded not guilty to a total of eight   charges  relating to
allegedly following and harassing the officer's wife. Judge 
Christopher 
Harding remanded the pair on continued bail to
November 28 for a status hearing.-PA
Railway death
An eastern Southland dairy farmer was killed yesterday when his 
farmbike 
and a freight train collided on a private
crossing outside the man's
property. He was Lawrence
Tokaanu Pei, 39, married with six children.-PA
Road smash
One person died and another was trapped in a vehicle last night after 
a crash near Kaikoura. The accident happened 15km north of Kaikoura 
at 7pm. No further details were available.-PA
Still at large
Wanganui police are still looking for Dylan James Morehu. The 21-
year-old Maori male is 165cm tall, of slim build
with black hair and brown eyes. Detective Sergeant Chris Bensemann 
appealed to the public last week for information
on Morehu's movements. Police have a warrant for his arrest.
Inquiries continue
Police investigations into the arson of a Smithfield Rd house on 
September 29 and a London St house on September
27 are continuing. A Wanganui police spokesman yesterday said there
had been no major break-throughs,  however both fires were still 
considered suspicious.

Baby whale dies

A baby minke whale found stranded on a New Plymouth beach on 
Wednesday has died. A member of  the public discovered the animal 
dead on a beach near the lee breakwater 
inside Port Taranaki's harbour yesterday afternoon. - PA
Information sought
Police have asked for public help following the death of a 15 year-
old boy 
outside an Auckland convention centre on
Wednesday night. The dead boy was named as Ian Robert Pearce of
Papatoetoe, South Auckland.
How he died has not been revealed, but after a post-mortem 
examination police said at this stage the death was not
considered suspicious. -PA

Off to jail

Lower Hutt fraudster Anita Faisandier has to surrender herself to 
police today after losing her appeal against conviction. However, 
Justice Gault, delivering the judgment of the Court of Appeal 
yesterday, reduced her jail term from three and a-half years to three 
years.
Faisandier, 45, was  jailed in June on 20 counts of fraud amounting 
to about $833,000. - PA

Report into investments

Consultants have produced a comprehensive report on Wanganui District 
Council investments.
Their report will be tabled at a special meeting of the finance and 
administration committee on Monday.
Finance manager Dave Foster says the report looks at how the council 
can gain maximum value from its investments.
It deals with maximising value, governance structures, optimum 
ownership structure and possible economic development initiatives.
Mr Poster says the brief for the report was to move away from the 
sale or 
retention argument onto maximising
community value in terms of social and economic returns.

Whooping cough sweeps the north

AUCKLAND.- Whooping cough, which can be fatal in infants, is carving 
a 
swathe through the upper North Island.
Auckland medical officer of health Dr Phyllis Taylor said the number 
of 
cases notified to health authorities was only
the tip of the iceberg and many, were going undetected.
Notified cases of whooping cough, or pertussis, peaked at 100 in 
Auckland 
in January, but reached 50 again last
month after hovering at between 20 and 40 a month for most of this 
year.
When the epidemic first appeared last year, it was concentrated on 
the 
North Shore, but had since spread all over the
city, Dr Taylor said.
The spread was alarming as whooping cough could be deadly, 
particularly in 
children aged under one, she said. But
the region had not yet recorded any deaths from the disease.
Waikato medical officer of health Dr Dell Hood said the problem was 
getting 
worse. By mid-September, total
notifications for the year had reached 229 in the region, compared 
with just
11 at the same time last year.
She said the epidemic was affecting all age groups.
In the Bay of Plenty, there had been 82 confirmed cases this year, 
compared 
with just six for the whole of 1999.
Just 15 cases were reported in Northland last year, but 86 have been 
notified already this year.
Whooping cough is a bacterial illness that causes severe coughing 
characterised by a whoop at the beginning of the
cough, and may end in vomiting or breathing problems.
Dr Taylor said the epidemic, which began in the South Island more 
than a 
year ago, would probably last about 18
months.
The last national outbreak was in 1995-96.
She said the disease was highly contagious and there was little 
health 
authorities could do to stop its spread.
Dr Hood said immunisation of babies was essential.
Adults or children who had coughs lasting for more than seven days 
might 
have the illness and should consult a
doctor. - PA

Dr Andrew Ladley speaking in Wanganui last night about creating a 
culture of peace.

Fostering a culture of peace
By Mandy Gillies

A man who has been in the thick of the action on more than one 
occasion 
graced Wanganui with his presence last
night.
Dr Andrew Ladley was the guest speaker at a dinner held by the 
Wanganui 
Branch of the United Nations Association
of New Zealand.
He spent significant time in East Timor last year as a legal adviser 
to 
the United Nations and was one of the staff who
remained in the UN compound when tensions in Dili were high.
Dr Ladley, who spoke about how to achieve a culture of peace , said 
that as part of history we have banded together as groups and gone 
after other people.
But what needed to happen in areas of the world where this occurred 
was to put a face to the opposition.
"It is about common humanity. In places such as East Timor, Rwanda 
and 
Israel, people tended to see nothing wrong
with
their actions. They think their victims do not belong to the human 
group 
that they do.
"In building a culture of peace we need to find ways to enhance 
people's 
identity without dehumanising others."
Dr Ladley won the inaugural Peacebuilder Award of the New Zealand  
National Commission for UNESCO (United Nations Educational, 
Scientific and Cultural Organisation) earlier this year. He is now 
working as a coalition manager for the government.

Immigration department says sorry

Lianne Dalziel … wiped hands of fallout.

WELLINGTON- The Immigration Department has sent a written apology to 
a Filipino family wrongly deported and then flown back to New 
Zealand, Immigration Minister Lianne Dalziel said last night.
She told the Press Association she had not instructed the department 
to send the letter, and had not seen it. "It was their decision, and 
that's fine with me," she said.
Ms Dalziel earlier told Parliament that action against officials who 
misled her over the family's deportation was an "operational matter".
Under fire over the incident again yesterday, Ms Dalziel said she had 
referred the matter to the general manager of
the Immigration Service. Any action would be his decision.
Ms Dalziel on Wednesday attacked immigration officials, saying they 
had "let the country down" with a dawn raid on the family on Tuesday. 
The raid contravened her previous assurances there would be no dawn 
raids with the introduction of tough new laws against overstayers.
Accusing officials of misleading her over the raid, which she 
initially defended, Ms Dalziel on Wednesday refused to
accept responsibility for the incident, in which the Mila family was 
flown 
back to New Zealand at taxpayers' expense after the Immigration 
Service realised they had been mistakenly sent back to the 
Philippines.
The family was taken from their Auckland home between 6.05am and 6. 
10am, 
which Ms
Dalziel said was not acceptable.
She learned of the Filipino family being picked up when an 
immigration 
consultant contacted her about another
matter.
 "In discussions with border and investigations staff about half an 
hour later my office was advised that a family was awaiting removal 
but there was no issue as they did not meet the well settled criteria 
and  that no appeals were outstanding."
It later turned out that two of the Mila family - the mother and a 
child - 
had lodged last-minute appeals against removal
from New Zealand.
"The father and grandmother do not have appeals lodged but New 
Zealand 
Immigration Service decided to return them
(to New Zealand) in order to keep the family together,"
The two appeals had not been picked up by the Immigration Service 
because 
of the huge number lodged around the
introduction of the new laws on October 1. Under those laws, 
overstayers 
face instant deportation but the Government
has agreed to consider work permits for up to 8000 well-settled 
overstayers.
Because of the backlog of appeals, not all of the cases had been 
logged onto the electronic system checked by the Immigration Service, 
Ms Dalziel said.
The service had now been instructed to ensure a manual check of 
appeals before removing any one and no home could be raided between 
9pm and 7am.-PA

Professionals have key role at conference

By Ada Hill

Wanganui health professionals, teachers and students
 will lead a workshop at a sexual health conference in Palmerston 
North 
next week.
The New Zealand Venereological Society's annual conference begins in 
Palmerston North on October 20.
Good Health Wanganui sexual health nurse and conference committee 
member Karen Duxfield said it was exciting to have such a key 
national conference held so close to home.
She said the calibre of speakers and presentations was high and there 
would be  "something for everyone" in the programme.
The Wanganui group will lead a workshop looking at the success of 
Peer 
Health Teams in the city's secondary
schools.
"The local Peer Health Team initiative is a successful programme 
working towards improving the sexual health of our young people," Ms 
Duxfield said.
"It is great to see the work being done locally receiving 
acknowledgement at a national level."

Tepee too engrossing

WELLINGTON.- An art student stranded while building a tepee on an 
island 
off Moa Pt, Wellington, yesterday may
have had to resort to smoke signals if fellow students hadn't raised 
the 
alarm and sparked a helicopter rescue.
Chloe Taylor, 19, a student at the Learning Connection in the city's 
Island Bay suburb, had gone out to a small island
accessible only at low tide earlier yesterday morning and had not 
noticed the tide creeping in until she was surrounded by water.
"I was just working away on my tepee when I noticed the water had 
surrounded the island and I just thought I would wait until low tide 
came again," she said. "I wasn't worried until I saw the others on 
the shore waving and shouting.
"The next thing I know it was getting really stormy and there were 
these huge big waves coming up and then this helicopter came flying 
over.
"Luckily I have some wonderful people looking out for me."
Miss Taylor said she was prepared to stay overnight in her tepee, 
which was standing in the strong winds-PA

Teachers' paper dart exercise questioned

WELLINGTON.- Education Minister Trevor Mallard yesterday admitted 
some 
training to prepare teachers for new
secondary school qualifications was not up to standard, after it was 
revealed one exercise involved making paper
planes.
Act MP Donna Awatere-Huata yesterday released a teacher handbook for 
accounting under the National Certificate of
Educational Achievement that was headed: "Activity - Paper Planes".
It included the instructions:
Construct a plane using the materials provided
Fly the plane from the appointed location.
The handbook added: "You are to be assessed on your ability to 
construct 
and fly a paper plane. The plane must fly
in a straight line."
Explanatory material suggested the exercise "will provide you with 
evidence 
of individual performance".
Ms Awatere-Huata asked Mr Mallard in Parliament yesterday why 
teachers must 
waste half a day on the exercise
when they were supposed to be getting to grips with the introduction 
of the 
new qualifications.
"Can he (the minister) see why training and assessing teachers on 
their 
ability to make and throw a paper dart could
he considered a dumbing down exercise?"
Mr Mallard agreed that was how the exercise could be interpreted.
"I think it's fair to say there have been three or four
examples of the training of the over 10,000 teachers around the 
country 
which are not quite up to the standard which
I think is appropriate for this wonderful new system."
He said teachers had been allocated two days this year and
a further two next year to help them prepare for the introduction of 
the 
national qualification system.
He was satisfied the programme was making progress in its
goal of getting teachers to think about and understand the 
implications of 
the new qualification system.
The National Certificate of Educational Achievement will
be implemented in all New Zealand schools in 2002. It replaces School 
Certificate, Sixth Form Certificate and
University Bursary-PA

Party helps out dope-growing pensioner

TAURANGA. - Libertarianz has leapt to the assistance of Te Puke dope 
dealing pensioner George Edwards to complete his driveway extensions.
Mr Edwards, 74, was sentenced this week in Tauranga District Court to 
a suspended jail sentence after admitting growing and selling 
cannabis to pay for a driveway extension and to plant fruit trees at 
his Housing New Zealand property.
Tauranga's Libertarianz member Russell Watkins yesterday volunteered 
to 
finish off the concrete extension tomorrow,
weather permitting, because Mr Edwards' cannabis income had been 
stopped.
"Not only have Mr Edwards' rights been abused by police and the 
judiciary - whose job it is to protect Mr Edwards - but his 
productive efforts to upgrade the property have also been 
interrupted.
"As believers in voluntary benevolence, I and other freedom fighters 
have decided to give Mr Edwards a well-deserved helping hand to help 
rectify some of that abuse," Mr Watkins said.
Mr Edwards was thrilled with the offer.
"That's very kind of him. The generosity of people is very good. It 
just shows you we have some caring people around."
Housing New Zealand had refused Mr Edwards' request to extend his 
driveway 
to allow him easier and drier access to
his home so he turned to selling drugs to pay for it, making about, 
$1600 
in six months. He said he could not
afford to pay for it otherwise on a pension.
Mr Edwards did the concreting work himself but was
arrested by police in August before it was finished. Six bags of 
concrete were left over, which should be enough to complete it, he 
said.
Housing New Zealand have said the driveway extension
was deemed unnecessary but initially praised Mr Edwards' work until 
realising he had paid for it with an illegal income. Spokesman Tim 
Lawry said yesterday Housing New Zealand staff would discuss the 
driveway with Mr Edwards but it was obviously inappropriate to leave 
it unfinished. He was unaware of the voluntary offer to complete it 
and that would also be discussed.
There were no plans to evict Mr Edwards and his wife.

Accused patient dies

CHRISTCHURCH.- An elderly rest home resident charged with murdering a 
fellow resident in Christchurch has died
just four days after a court hearing to determine if a trial should 
be held.
The resident, granted interim name and gender suppression, was 
charged at 
a special hospital court sitting three
weeks ago with murdering Alicia Doreen Grant, 93, an OBE recipient, 
at 
the Santa Maria rest home on September 4.
Both were being cared for in the rest home's specialist dementia 
unit.
At a Christchurch District Court disability hearing last week, 
counsel 
for the accused, Nigel Hampton, QC, argued his
client was insane at the time of the alleged murder.
An expert testified the resident suffered such severe dementia as to 
be 
incapable of forming an intention to kill.
Consultant psychiatrist Christopher Collins told Judge Murray Abbott 
the 
resident remained
physically powerful but suffered from dementia so advanced they were 
unable to comprehend what they had done or understand court 
proceedings.
Dr Collins said the resident's dementia had been deteriorating since 
1994 and had become worse since admission to
hospital. He said the resident's future care demanded a secure 
environment with staff trained and aware of the
potential for violence.
The resident would be unlikely to be released from hospital unless 
they 
lost their mobility, reducing the risk they
posed to those around them.
Mr Hampton said there was no doubt his client was insane. The only 
question for Judge Abbott to decide, he said,
was if the resident should be detained in a secure hospital as an 
ordinary patient or as a special patient.
Judge Abbott had adjourned the hearing to October 18 for further 
expert 
evidence. The accused was remanded into
hospital care.-PA

AGE NO BARRIER: Philip Marcroft pedalled his way out of Turakina 
yesterday on his way home to Wanganui happy
he had achieved his goal.
The 61-year-old was on the tailend of a cycle trip from Auckland to 
Wanganui to promote positive issues for older
people.
With help from Age Concern and local sponsors, including support 
driver 
Bob Anderson (pictured behind in the Clive
Spencer Motors-sponsored car), Mr Marcroft left Auckland on Monday.
"I've had a lot of support along the way and from people ringing 
talkback 
shows like Banksie on Radio Pacific," he
said.
"I feel if I've shown by my actions that older people can be active, 
then 
I've achieved my goal.
"it's been a heck of a trip and well worth the journey."

Schools thrilled with go-ahead for intermediate

By Meredith Stuck

The go-ahead to take on intermediate students has thrilled two 
Wanganui 
Catholic primary schools.
St Anne's School and St Mary's School got the nod from the Education 
Ministry this week to recapitate or expand
from year six to year eight.
St Mary's principal Arnna Graham Sommerville yesterday said the 
expansion 
meant the River City would offer a
seamless Catholic education from age five to 18. Students could go 
straight from their Catholic primary schools to
Cullinane College, a co-educational Catholic secondary school, which 
will replace Sacred Heart College and St Augustine's College in 2003.
Students in Wanganui East and Aramoho have no Catholic option for the 
intermediate years at present. St Marcellin School in Gonville is the 
only Catholic primary school to go up to year eight.
Ms Graham Sommerville said the distance and cost of travel deterred 
many parents. St Marcellin had been supportive of the recapitation of 
the other two schools, even though it meant it would lose some 
intermediate level students, she said.
The idea to recapitate the primary schools was mooted in 1992. Public 
meetings were held and the issue hotly
debated within Wanganui's Catholic community, she said.
This lead to Dr Jenny Poskitt of Massey University producing a report 
for 
the Bishop on Catholic education options in
Wanganui in 1995. A survey last year showed over 80 percent of St 
Anne's and St Mary's parents supported recapitation.
The news came through on Wednesday and Ms Graham Sommerville said she 
was dancing around the school with excitement.
St Mary's roll would expand from 180 to 215 next year when the year 
seven class opens. Another 25 spaces would
be filled in 2002 when the year eight class opened.
The construction of two new classrooms was scheduled to start next 
week, 
weather permitting. A third room would go
up next year in preparation for the 2002 year eight class.
St Anne's principal Peter Dunlop yesterday said his school roll would 
swell from 190 to 260 as a result of recapitation.
Two new classrooms and a new library would be built. The school would 
open its year seven class next year and year
eight in 2002.

Health dollars stack up well

WELLINGTON. - New Zealand has the 12th highest health spending in the
Organisation for  Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), based 
on GDP, a new health report shows.
The country spent 8.4 percent of its gross domestic product on health 
in 
the 1998/99 year, the Health Ministry's
annual publication Health Expenditure Trends 1980-1999 said.
"In 1998, for the first time in the review period, New Zealand's 
proportion was higher than the OECD
(Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) unweighted 
average, 
though just by 0.1 of a percentage point."
Two years ago, New Zealand was ranked 15th in the OECD, for 96/97 
spending.
Government spending on health in the 98/99 year rose 4.4 percent as a 
proportion of total expenditure, the report
said.
Publicly funded expenditure was up 5 percent, while private spending 
rose 2.3 percent.-PA

Nabbed peeping at police

WELLINGTON.- A man working at Porirua Police College was arrested 
after he was allegedly caught peeping into a females' changing room 
at the college gymnasium earlier this month.
The 42-year-old Titahi Bay man,, employed as a computer worker in the 
college's information technology department, will appear in Porirua 
District Court on October 17, charged with offensive behaviour.
Lower Hutt police Detective Sergeant Neil MacCrea said a female 
trainee constable laid the complaint after spotting a man on October 
2.
The man was arrested and charged the day after the complaint was 
laid. He was in the process of resigning, Mr MacCrea said.

Boy injured after teenagers' party

NELSON.- A seven-year-old Nelson boy underwent two hours of delicate 
surgery after cutting himself on glass left by partying teenagers.
Wakefield School principal Peter Ross said the boy was playing with a 
ball 
at lunchtime on Monday when it rolled
behind the school buildings.
When he went to collect the ball, he stepped on a broken beer bottle.
Mr Ross said the glass was left by teenagers attending a Saturday 
night party at a house near the school.
The boy was taken from Wakefield, 29km south-west of Nelson, to 
Nelson 
Hospital, where surgeons worked for
two hours to try to repair the nerves and tendons at the base of his 
foot.
"He's a brave little man, he didn't even cry until he saw his mum,"
Ross said.
Wakefield Police Senior Constable Pete Carmody said officers were 
disgusted with the teenagers.
He said 70 to 100 teenagers aged between 15 and 18 attended the 
party.
A Wakefield constable tried to close it down before calling for help 
from Richmond and Nelson police. The partygoers left after Police 
arrived, Mr Carmody said. The owner of the house was away at the 
time.

Chopper search

A helicopter was called in to search for Murray Phillips yesterday 
after a 
possible sighting of his body off South
Beach.
Sergeant Phil Pollero of Wanganui's Search and Rescue team said a 
member of 
the public rang, to say they had seen
an object in the water and had some concerns that it may have been Mr 
Phillips.
"Winds up to 25km meant a boat would have been out of its depth so we 
conducted an aerial search," Mr Pollero said.
"However, all we could see were bits of driftwood."
He said the search would continue next week depending on weather 
conditions.

Shipleys to Auckland

WELLINGTON- Opposition leader Jenny Shipley is setting up a base in 
Auckland now that her husband, Burton, has
taken a job in the city.
Mr Shipley starts work on November 13 as manager of corporate 
superannuation with the ASB Bank. He was
previously Westpac Trust's business development manager in 
Wellington.
Mrs Shipley said she would spread her time between Auckland, 
Wellington and 
her Canterbury electorate of Rakaia
as she always had done, but having an Auckland base would make it 
easier. 
They intend renting a home in Auckland
and eventually buying one. Mrs Shipley said she would stand again in 
Rakaia in the next election.

Job losses downside of advance

By Ada Hill
Technology was the main reason for the loss of 33 jobs in Wanganui 
and not 
politics, Whanganui National Party
branch chairman Chester Borrows said yesterday.
He was responding to comments made by Whanganui MP Jill Pettis about 
New Zealand Post moving its mail sorting operation to Palmerston 
North which will result in 33 jobs being lost in Wanganui.
Mr Borrows stood against Mrs Pettis in the 1999 elections.
"You can't stop the advance of technology, nor would anyone want to," 
Mr Borrows said.
"Most advances have a downside and an upside and unfortunately when 
you talk about industry the downside is always the loss of jobs."
Mr Borrows said Mrs Pettis could not blame National for deregulation 
of the state's assets as it was started by the Labour Government.
"Although the current administration has apologised many times for it 
they have to carry the can."
Mr Borrows said his challenge to Mrs Pettis was: "What are her ideas 
for fresh jobs in Wanganui?"
He said her intervention in the transferring of the city's Health 
Benefits' office to Wellington was successful and she could do the 
same with New Zealand Post's move.
"She did it once and could do it again."

Fahey's victim rapt to see him struck off

CHRISTCHURCH.- Morgan Fahey's fall from grace continues with him 
being 
struck off the medical register and
censured in the "strongest terms".
The 68-year-old convicted rapist, who is serving six years' jail 
after 
admitting 13 sex charges against 11 female
patients, should never be able to practice medicine again, the 
Medical 
Practitioners' Disciplinary Tribunal said.
One of Fahey's victims, known as Brenda, said the hearing was the 
most 
important part of the process to her.
"When I was in his surgery (videoing him), I said to him that what I 
wanted 
to see was him struck off the medical
register. This to me was the penultimate.
"Even when he comes out of jail, he's lost that power now. It puts 
him in 
perspective. He's a mere
mortal, like the rest of us."
Delivering the tribunal's decision after a hearing in Christchurch 
yesterday, chairwoman Wendy Brandon said Fahey's 
abuse of patients was "abhorrent to all
medical practitioners".
"He has disgraced himself and bought medical practitioners, and 
general 
practitioners in particular, into disrepute,"
Mrs Brandon said.
The former Christchurch deputy mayor's behaviour was "reprehensible 
and 
dishonourable in the extreme".
The tribunal noted that Fahey still refused to take personal 
responsibility 
for his conduct and looked to others to
disclose his offending earlier, instead of disclosing it himself.
In submissions to the tribunal, Matthew McClelland, on behalf of the 
Complaints Assessment Committee, said the
Fahey case had a
"dramatic and long lasting" impact on the integrity of the medical 
profession.
"The profession has a real concern that patients have or may become 
fearful 
of a doctor's power and avoid medical
care for this reason. There is also a concern that there is a public 
belief 
 that somehow the profession condoned
Fahey's offending, occurring as it did over such a long
period," he said.
The Medical Council was holding workshops aimed at restoring public 
confidence in the profession but it would be a
slow process, Mr McClelland said.
 Fahey's counsel Chris Hodson, QC, said Fahey
 "desperately sorry for letting down his was profession".
Fahey has returned his OBE and been stripped of his fellowship to the 
Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners.
The tribunal also ordered that Fahey pay 75 percent of the costs of 
prosecution.
The first complaint against Fahey was laid with the Medical Council 
in 
August 1998. In April 1999, the Medical
Council received more complaints and, despite Fahey's objections, 
referred 
them to the same Complaints
Assessment Committee which was investigating the first complaint. The 
police laid charges in July 1999.
The committee finished its investigations in November 1999 and 
decided Fahey should face nine charges of disgraceful conduct.
Following his guilty plea, Fahey then faced one comprehensive 
disciplinary charge relating to his convictions. It was
likely the disgraceful conduct charges would be withdrawn, the 
tribunal said. - PA

SLIP SLOP: This chunk of hillside above Georgetti Rd slithered on to 
the 
carriageway after Wednesday's downpour,
necessitating a clearance by front-end loader. Higher up, Shakespeare 
Rd 
remains closed to through traffic while the
Wanganui District Council organises a contract to restore the road 
and 
address severe stormwater problems. The
Shakespeare Rd slippage began 11 months ago.

Travelling Kiwis just wanted to see movie

NELSON.- All Patrick and Patsy McGrath wanted to do see the latest 
Tom Cruise movie but it nearly cost them $17,000.
Their credit card details were copied m a Balinese village, and they 
say their experience serves as a warning to others.
The couple from Todds Valley, northcast of Nelson, were holidaying in 
Bali when they bought tickets to a showing of Cruise's new film 
Magnolia at a bar, using their credit card.
Mr McGrath said the Australian bar owner took their card into a back 
room to swipe it. They later discovered their card details had been 
copied and used against their account m Malaysia. It was not until 
they lot horn(, in June to a 
$17,000 credit card bill that they discovered the fraud.
Photocopies of the Malaysian transactions showed the fraudster's 
signature 
bore no relationship to theirs.
The McGraths could also prove they had not entered Malaysia and had 
returned to New Zealand while the card was still
supposedly in use there.
Mr McGrath said Auckland-based bank officers showed little interest 
in the 
couple's information about the fraud.
That shocked members of the Australian fraud squad, who told them the 
situation was not uncommon in Asia, where a huge number of false 
credit identities compiled from stolen card details were operating.
Mr McGrath said travellers should carry an alternative source of 
finance, not use credit cards in dubious situations and never
lose sight of their card.
Robbie Church, former chapter president of the International 
Association of Financial Crime Investigators, said credit card
fraud was a multi-million-dollar worldwide business.
Initially deterred in the early 1990s after cards' magnetic strips 
were altered to increase security, fraudsters developed a new
way of copying details about five years ago.-PA

Social welfare's $17,000 given away to son

Wanganui District Court

A man who fraudulently claimed almost $17,000 in social welfare 
payments 
gave the whole amount to his son, the
Wanganui District Court was told yesterday.
Patrick Hina, 51, did not personally benefit from the money that he 
had 
been collecting in benefit payments since the
latter half of 1998, counsel David Rimmer said.
Instead he gave the money to his son who had stopped living with Hina 
and 
had moved to Wellington.
"Had the son still been living with his father the entitlement would 
have 
been valid," Mr Rimmer said.
However, Hina acknowledged what he had done was wrong and had 
expressed remorse.
Judge Anthony Walsh told Hina that benefit fraud was a serious crime 
that 
the courts took very seriously.
Any further offending would almost certainly land Hina in jail, he 
said.
He sentenced Hina to six months' periodic detention.
Work and Income New Zealand had already made arrangements to recover 
the 
$17,000.
Another benefit fraudster illegally claimed about $15,000 in benefit 
payments since going on to the domestic
purposes benefit in 1993.
Valincia Keri Solomon, 32, of Waverley, was spared prison or periodic 
detention because such a sentence would
have caused her three young children, aged seven, four and 10 months, 
undue 
hardship, His Honour said.
Instead she received 200 hours' community service.
Solomon continued to claim the benefit despite periods of employment.
She was told by His Honour that he had considered jailing Solomon.
For deliberately driving into a Fitzherbert Ave resident's front 
fence 
while he was drunk Clifford Sommerville, 29, casual
forestry worker, was sentenced to 80 hours' community service.
He was also disqualified from driving for six months and ordered to 
pay 
reparation of $1088 for repairs to the fence.
Sommerville was convicted of willful damage and drunken driving (775: 
1).
A man who was abandoned by his designated driver said that he knew he 
was taking a risk by driving himself.
Mana Rauhina, 44, of Wanganui, said he had arranged for a designated 
driver but that
person met a lady friend and went with her instead.
Rauhina drove the car himself and was travelling at about 100kmh in 
the 
50kmh zone at Putiki Dr when he lost control
of his vehicle and crashed, hitting a tree and a fence.
He pleaded guilty to careless driving and drunken driving (698:1) and 
was 
fined $500 plus $130 costs.
He was also ordered to pay reparation of $1200 and disqualified from 
driving for nine months.
A man who may be suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome after 
serving 
a prison sentence was placed on nine
months' supervision.
Christian Wayne Fowler, 24, unemployed, admitted to stealing a 
Penthouse 
magazine from Whitcoulls.
He was chased by a member of the public and found by police in a yard 
in 
nearby Watt St.
Counsel Mark Bullock said that Fowler had a history of dishonesty 
offending 
and had served a prison sentence for
arson in 1998.
A probation report found that he may be suffering from some form of 
post-traumatic stress syndrome as a result of
having served that time in jail.
Fowler was placed under supervision and would have to attend such 
counselling as deemed fit. He was also to be
referred to the Straight Thinking programme.
Aaron Kairimu, 22, mill hand, was fined $400 plus $260 costs for 
assaulting 
police and disorderly behaviour
For assaulting his former partner, Nathan Hogan, 22, was sentenced to 
four 
months' periodic detention.
Eighteen-year-old Colin Sollit told the court he was considering 
renting a 
house and just wanted an opportunity to
look inside it.
He was facing a charge of being unlawfully inside a building.
Sollit and some friends entered the Tawa St house on October 8 after 
one of 
the friends gained entry through an
unlocked rear door.
The house was not tenanted and nothing was taken.
Sollit was convicted and discharged and ordered to pay $130 costs.
Twenty-four-year-old Nigel Peter Bradey accidentally drove his car 
off 
the road and into a ditch, writing it off and
putting himself in hospital.
Bradey told the court the accident on State Highway One at River 
Downs 
was caused by tiredness and that he had
lost concentration.
He was fined $200 plus $130 costs.
Judge Walsh said he would not disqualify Bradey.
A cheeky thief who attempted to steal a fluorescent police jacket 
told 
the court that he wanted the jacket so that he
could wear it in town.
Delroi Pomare Hohepa Payne, 18, sickness beneficiary, was being taken 
home in a police patrol car after having
been charged for shoplifting.
As he got out of the vehicle he tried to conceal the jacket, valued 
at 
$126, but was seen by a police officer.
Payne said he thought it would have been cool to wear the jacket in 
town.
Counsel Lance Rowe told the court there was "no sophistication" to 
Payne's offending.
"You have got to wonder about someone who would want to wear a police 
jacket in town," Mr Rowe said.
Payne, a former psychiatric patient, also appeared on two charges of 
shoplifting and one of unlawfully interfering with
a motor vehicle.
He was remanded to Upper Hutt for a probation report and sentence on 
November 7.
New Plymouth's central city crime cameras were responsible for the 
arrest 
of 20-year-old Dwayne Robert Grainger, an
agricultural contractor, of Wanganui.
Grainger was caught by the cameras punching a man who had walked past 
Grainger and his associates as they
attempted to block a public footpath.
After his arrest Grainger was found in possession of a cut throat 
razor.
Grainger told police that he forgot that he had the weapon with him 
and that had he remembered he would have used it in the attack.
He later threatened a police officer.
He pleaded guilty to assault, threatening to kill and possession of a 
weapon and also of breaching a domestic
protection order in Wanganui. He was remanded in custody through to 
October 24 for sentencing.

Ballet teachers demand apology

AUCKLAND.- Auckland ballet teachers want a public apology from Marian 
McDermott if her claims of "oppression" in ballet circles is proved 
wrong.
More than 20 Auckland ballet teachers discussed at an emergency 
meeting yesterday the North Shore dance
teacher's report of a formal survey of 40 students.
Ms McDermott said oppressive teaching methods were still used in some 
ballet schools around the country.
The survey respondents said classes were "tormenting" and the 
competition 
so cut-throat that some girls would take
pills
to control their weight. One ballet pupil reported an incident of a 
mother 
pushing her daughter's rival down a flight of stairs.
The teachers gathered in Greenlane yesterday did not accept Ms 
McDermott's findings.
They are considering seeking legal advice about the validity of the 
survey. which last month was presented at
international dance conference in Canada.
"I've been teaching for 49 years and I've never heard of anything 
like 
what's in the survey," said ballet  teacher Valerie
Murray, who criticised the media for highlighting the negative survey 
results.
Many of the teachers said they had not been aware of the study and 
had not 
had an opportunity to take part in the
questionnaire. The group also is seeking information about the study 
and 
how it was conducted.
Ms McDerniott said yesterday she would never apologise.
"I'm not going to back down because I believe this is a big enough 
issue that needs to be addressed. The people I've surveyed are not 
liars." - PA

Surgeon just wants to get back to work

WHANGAREI. - Suspended Whangarei surgeon Graham Parry wants to get 
back to work "for the benefit of the women of Northland".
His lawyer, Chris Hodson QC, on Wednesday asked the Medical 
Practitioners Disciplinary
Tribunal hearing a charge of disgraceful conduct
against the surgeon to lift a suspension preventing
him from practising. 
"His skills are needed in Northland," Mr Hodson said on the third and 
final day of a hearing at Paihia into the charge. Mr Hodson suggested 
Mr Party could continue working under supervision in a Medical 
Council competency programme.
Tribunal chairwoman Wendy Brandon said the tribunal would consider 
the 
request and advise Mr Parry of its decision
in writing.
The tribunal reserved its decision on the charge
of disgraceful conduct relating to his treatment of Paihia woman 
Colleen 
Poutsma, now dying of cervical cancer which
he failed to diagnose. The decision is expected in about a fortnight.
If the charge is found proved, Mr Parry could be struck off the 
medical 
register. If he is found guilty of a lesser offence
he would not be struck off, but would face other penalties including 
censure and fines. While admitting "errors of
judgment" in his treatment of Mrs Poutsma, he has denied disgraceful 
conduct.
Mr Hodson gave the tribunal details of several proven cases of 
disgraceful conduct relating to doctors accused of sex,
drugs and fraud offences.
"If a mistake or mistakes of the nature made by Mr Parry are 
disgraceful, 
what is to be said to those doctors who for
their own salacious desires sexually molest their patients?" he 
asked.-PA

Happiness key to elderly health

WELLINGTON.- The happier the elderly the more likely they are to stay 
out 
of a rest home, a pilot programme
supported by the Health Funding Authority aims to prove.
Run by the Wesley Wellington Mission, the pilot involves finding out 
what 
makes older or mentally ill people happy,
then helping them achieve it.
Rather than hot meals vacuuming and other traditional home support 
services, community workers needed to find out
what really motivated an individual to be alive, Wesley Wellington 
director Shaun Robinson said.
If we are not finding that thing, our
experience is that they will not eat properly
and get lonely, despite the fact that their
carpets are being cleaned," he said.
Motivation could come from daily phone calls, the occasional holiday 
or 
even help getting to a music performance.
"There are a lot of people who have lost the inclination to look 
after 
themselves and are just waiting for the end of their
lives."
Estimates were that the programme would save about $132 a week a 
person, 
based on how much home, social or
rest-home support they would need without it.
The support service had been run by the mission for the past eight 
years 
and already proved that older people
connected with their community and happy were more likely to stay 
self-sufficient, Mr Robinson said.
A new, "smart" approach to caring for the elderly was needed to avoid 
a 
blowout in the
cost of caring for them, as the number of people over 85 soared 50 
percent by 2010, he said.
Now, with the Health Funding Authority's backing, the mission aims to 
accurately measure the programme's
success.
"We want this to be well recognised by the Government that something 
like 
this, properly resourced, can be hugely
cost-effective."
About 120 people in Wellington and Porirua will be involved in the 
year-long project, which was approved by the HFA
last week.
The support service currently offers daily phone calls, visits from 
community workers and hell) with health and welfare
services. - PA

Man missing

WELLINGTON.- A man remained missing last night after a fishing boat 
overturned in South Westland early
yesterday.
The boat, with two brothers aboard, flipped while negotiating the 
Okuru 
River bar about 7.15am. One of the brothers
made it to shore.
Police said a full-scale search failed to find the other man. The 
search will resume today.
Helicopters and other fishing boats began searching yesterday morning 
after police were alerted at 7.28am.
Many residents from the small community of Okuru, 15km south-west of 
Haast, turned out to help.
Most boats using the river mouth fished for crayfish and were around 
seven to 10 metres long. – PA

District meetings

Turakina CWI
The old pioneer spirit came to the fore when, despite  appalling 
weather 
conditions, a full complement of members
turned out for the September meeting
A letter from one of our lone members, Julie Perfect, was read, 
bringing 
us up to date with family and life on a large
station. Dates for coming branch functions were tabled, as were the 
associated jobs accepted by members. Birthday
recipient for September was Mrs G Pardoe.
Motto by G Glasgow 'Work is the greatest thing in the world, so we 
should 
always save some of it for tomorrow".
The coin collection for Barnardos was well supported, as was the 
trading 
table sales. October 16 sees no meeting as
such, as members travel out of town to celebrate our branch's 
birthday.
Afternoon tea concluded the afternoon followed by the quick dash 
through 
the rain and cold back home to dry and
thaw out in front of the fire.
YWCA International Club
Pat Holmes welcomed members to the September meeting.
Jean Shand read about cultivating calmness and learning acceptance.
The guest speaker, Margaret Seabrook, had travelled widely and had 
had 
many interesting experiences as a result.
Unusual problems with her eyesight had prompted a visit to a London 
ophthalmologist. She then hired a mini-van to
go to Scotland, where her grandfather had owned property.
In Liverpool she had met Violet Carson who was later Ena Sharples in 
Coronation Street. Sir Adrian Boult and his wife
were also met in that city.
Denmark, Sweden and Finland were visited and the speaker went on an 
organised tour of Russia. Leningrad and
Moscow then Warsaw were full of interest. In Warsaw there were many 
tributes to to the Polish-born composer
Chopin.
Prague was next, and then Germany. This was before the wall was 
destroyed 
in Berlin, and one could realise its
threat, especially to East Germans wanting to go west.
Mrs Seabrook had travelled in America, using a trailer which opened 
into a tent.
She had also travelled widely in Australia.
Pat Holmes thanked Margaret, for her interesting talk and gave her 
some fruit.
Westmere CWI
 A warm welcome was extended to our members by president Myra 
Bullock. 
The motto was: "Weeds and bad habits
thrive without attention, good habits must be culitvated."
 After our business, our guest was Jean Halley, who brought along an 
exquisite
array of china paintings that she had painted. Jean was presented 
with a 
spray and a home-made loaf.
Our meeting concluded with the serving of afternoon tea.
RSA Women's Section
The Women's Section held a very well attended coffee morning on 
September 
13. The hostesses were Hazel Orr and
Nola Boyd, who were kept busy greeting and seating guests.
A large group from Taupo's RSA
Women's Section visited us and a very happy "exchanging ideas". Talk 
followed through until coffee and tea finished.
President Nola Boyd gave out the club announcements. The 
entertainment 
was a group called Rhythm and Keyes,
a very talented group much appreciated by all as they joined in for a 
sing-along. All old favourites.
The raffles were drawn and Dorothy Murray won the groceries and Betty 
Work the flower plants.  
Next coffee morning will be in October.
National Council of Women NZ
NCWNZ Wanganui branch combined celebrations for Women's Suffrage Day 
in 
September with a dedication of three
park seats given to the city in memory of our late branch life 
member, 
Wynne Costley.
The seats are situated around Queens Park, an area of special 
importance 
to Wynne. More than 50 guests attended,
many wearing white flowers for Suffrage Day. After a short dedication 
by 
the City Missioner, David Day, Kathleen
Mayson, a past president and Wanganui life Member, read her 
delightful 
poem For Wynne. Guests enjoyed afternoon
tea in the Garrison Band's band rotunda and took time to wander 
through the park and see all the seats.
At the September meeting, guests found Diane Hornsby's presentation 
about "Breaking down the stigma surrounding
mental illness" extremely interesting. A group of women who suffer 
from mental illness spoke to members, including one with bipolar 
disorder, who spoke about the symptoms and difficulties 
she faces trying to deal with the condition.
Members discussed the remits for NCWNZ's forthcoming biennial 
conference 
in Auckland.
Pan Pacific and South East Asia Women's Association
Our final speaker on the theme of "The changing role of men and 
women" was Daphne Ballard, funeral director. She
told us that in earlier years the (male) director was a British 
underwriter, liveryman, cabinet-maker, sexton, hardware merchandiser, 
but that the present day director is a composite of his predecessors.
It's only in the past few years that women have played a major role 
in a profession which was male-dominated for so long. Daphne and her 
husband are partners in their firm, taking equal 
parts, and she believes it gives a good balance
and also a choice.
She says women can provide a softer touch and bring a natural, caring 
approach. Working for her qualification at CIT
was a huge learning curve as an adult student, but its completion 
gave her 
a tremendous feeling of achievement.
Daphne gave details of an average day's work, which is very varied. 
As with 
some of our other speakers, she believes
her early life and experience had led her to take up the job.
Our final meeting for the year will be the annual general Meeting in 
October.
Mosston CM
Daphne McClintock, Mosston's delegate at conference, gave a 
comprehensive 
report on the four days of the
conference. Mrs McClintock had items of interest, including a photo 
of the 
conference with the banners prominently
displayed at vantage points within the Town Hall, tabled for the 
members' 
perusal.
The motto, "Make your words soft and sweet because you never know 
when you 
may have to eat them", was given
by Mrs Elaine Henderson. The roll call, "my favourite hobby or 
sport", 
brought forth a real mixed bag of comments.
Competition results
The raffle was won by D McClintock.
Wanganui Town Centre CWI
The motto, "I love everything that's old - old friends, old times, 
old 
books and old wine" was given by Trixie Cundy.
Betty Murphy read an item from Home and Country.
Raffles: Clare Heenan (2) and Nola Gourley.
Reports were given of the arts and crafts circle and the Garden 
Circle . 
Reminder of the A and P Show on November
11-12, entries close end of October.
Competition results, floral
Guest speaker Trish McMillan spoke of her life, from growing up in an 
orphanage, her involvement in CWI from Institute
to Federation and to National A and P Show etc. She was rewarded for 
all her efforts in the Queen's Birthday Honours, when she received 
the MNZM (Member New Zealand Order of Merit) a reward she richly 
deserved. She was congratulated, presented with a spray and
a token of appreciation.
YWCA International Club
Alice Uttley opened the August meeting by reading about the 
appreciation of 
beauty of the world and the realisation of
God's presence all around us.
Judith Brown reported on existing conditions in the hostel and the 
financial position of the YWCA in Wanganui.
Mr J Auret spoke about a fortnight's holiday he and his wife had 
recently 
spent in Bali, Indonesia. From their third floor
hotel room there was a wonderful view of palm trees, bougainvillaea, 
a 
stream with fountains, statues, goldfish and
lotuses.
A ferry trip of two-and-a-half hours went to Lombok Island, where the 
inhabitants are Muslim. Touring the island, Mr
Auret was impressed with the high standard of craftsmanship in 
pottery, 
wood-carving, weaving and carpet-making.
Natural dyes are made from bark. Indonesia consists of 3000 islands, 
which 
makes for great difficulties in
government. Although Suharto is no longer in power, his henchmen, 
including the military, are strongly entrenched, which hinders 
progress.
Brochures, photos, carvings and beautiful materials were admired by 
our interested members.
Mr Auret was thanked for his most enjoyable talk and given some 
golden kiwi fruit.
Ruapehu CWI
A successful and enjoyable "Get
Together Day" was held at Taihape in the Taihape Women's Club. 
President, Joy Scott, welcomed 44 members from
Oroua, Wanganui, Central  King Country, Mangaweka and Raetihi. 
Demonstrations included how to make small boxes from greeting cards, 
a fan made with card and a hanky, varnished boxes decorated with 
crushed eggshell, face cloth novelties as well as a soft ball for a 
baby and fridge magnets. Also, gift baskets for new babies and flower 
pot men.
Discussions on the July conference gave attending members a forum for 
their views.
Afternoon demonstrations included covered coathangers, a peggy square 
doll, paper butterflies, lavender bottles and
pillows and scarf flowers. An angel was
made using a piece of dowelling with a
square of board for a base, polystyrene ball for head, dress and 
wings of 
material. Also, patchwork pot mitts, mirrors
with junk art frames, polystyrene balls decorated -with spices or 
Christmas decorations. Bells were made with beads
threaded together and a picture of a cat embroidered with small 
beads.
A couple of quizzes to test the brain were given during the day. 
Every member would have gone home having learned at least one new 
idea.
Turakina and Kaitoke Mini Show
Despite the weather, Turakina and Kaitoke CWI members turned out in 
force 
for their Annual Mini Show.
There were nearly 400 entries, which made a difficult task for 
judges. 
After lunch and awards presentations the Happy
Wanderers entertained. Members of this little group, tutored by 
Christine 
Sixtus, were a delight to us and a credit to
themselves as they sang and danced their items.
Aramoho CWI
President Doris Brown welcomed 24 members. The motto read by Mrs NI 
Charity: "Choose a job you love and you
will never have to work another day in your life".
Orchid birthday sprays were presented to Frances Churton and Doris 
Thomson. The trading table had a good variety
of knitted toys, jams, marmalade, jelly, baking,
flowers and vegetables.
Edna Sage demonstrated flower arrangements suitable for the dinner 
table, different containers all so lovely. Flowers and ferns were 
gathered from her own garden.
President thanked Edna and gave her a gift. The meeting closed with 
the singing of The Queen and afternoon tea.

Wellington bids for status of NZ's guitar city

Wellington is to become the guitar capital of the country.
In November the third annual awards will be held at the Michael 
Fowler 
Centre, with a concert featuring local and
overseas stars, and culminating in the naming of the 2000 New Zealand 
Guitarist of the Year. The awards were
formerly staged in Auckland.
On the bill of the November 2 concert are seven-time Grammy Award-
winning 
British jazz guitarist Martin Taylor, and Michael Fix, winner of the 
Australian Golden Guitar award in 1999 and 2000.
Gray Bartlett leads the Kiwi contingent, with James Wilkinson and 
Graham 
Wardrop. The five nominees for guitarist of
the year are to be named on Thursday next week.
The award was won last year by Martin Winch, who recorded the highly 
successful Espresso Guitar CDs. Nominees
this year are likely to come from across the guitar spectrum, from 
classical to rock.
The award includes a $4000 Fender guitar package and a trophy. Ahead 
of 
the concert, a guitar expo will be held in
the Michael Fowler Centre foyer, and workshops will be run by Wardrop 
and 
Fix.
Wellington city councillor, musician and guitarmaker Ray Ahipene-
Mercer 
was delighted the show was coming to
town.
"It follows on from the Jazz Festival and it will lift the mana of 
Wellington as the arts and cultural capital of the
country."
Event organiser Phil Sprey said the aim was to permanently establish 
Wellington as the venue for the awards.
Places at the two workshops are limited. Application forms are 
available 
from the Michael Fowler Centre. - PA

Top artists giving New Zealand the swerve

WELLINGTON - The low New Zealand dollar seems to have claimed another 
casualty, tours by overseas entertainers.
Auckland-based music promoter Manolo Echave, of Frontier Touring, 
said yesterday it wasn't financially worthwhile for big-name artists, 
particularly those from United States and Britain, to tour New 
Zealand.
"They won't be coming here," he said,
"It's basically that everybody is a bit hesitant, it's a little bit 
too dicey."
Sir Elton John, who is to tour Australia soon, was one major artist 
considering concerts in New Zealand.
Mr Echave said: "Yes, he was being discussed. There was a possibility 
he was going to be in Wellington. But the risks are now just too 
high."
United States rocker Bruce Springsteen is also believed to be heading 
Down Under, but not to New Zealand.
Smaller acts would still tour but not ones which could fill stadiums 
on their own, Mr Echave said.
Performers rumoured to be coming to New Zealand include British dance 
act Leftfield and US bands Pearl Jam, Limp Bizkit and Destiny's 
Child. - PA

Police hear of the high cost of speed

WELLINGTON- Doctors at Wellington's drug abuse clinic regularly dealt 
with at least 30 addicts of the drug
methamphetamine, the Police Association conference was told 
yesterday.
Geoff Robinson from Capital Coast Health's Drug Rehabilitation 
Clinic, 
said some of his patients used as much as
two grams of the $1.50 a gram substance every day.
Methamphetamine, also known as meth, speed, upper, bennies, lid 
poppers, 
crystal, or crank, was the subject of
yesterday's discussion at the "Talking Crime" conference.
The drug, being manufactured illegally in New Zealand, comes as 
crystals, powder, chunks, and tablets and can be
snorted, injected and smoked.
Seventy percent of the amphetamine products available on the street 
were 
being prescribed by doctors, Dr Robinson
said.
The drug was not physically addictive, but he said many of his 
"customers" were psychologically addicted to the euphoria, increased 
libido and decrease in fatigue caused 
by the drug. However, it also brought about
acute paranoia, depression after use and could lead to heart 
problems, he 
said.
Criminologist Greg Newbold said the methamphetamine trend was sure to 
gain momentum as local manufacturing laboratories took over from 
imported sources.
Speaking from personal experience in the drug
trade and prison system, Dr Newbold charted the fluctuating fashions
in drugs in New Zealand, saying
popularity of a drug was proportional to its accessibility and the 
criminal classification.
The explosion in the abuse of methamphetamine was nowhere near as 
dangerous as a heroin trend in the 1970s, he
said.
Methamphetamine had been known to cause erratic behaviour in heavy 
users. 
Some users, especially those who had
ready access to the source, would take another hit to avoid the 
depression associated with "coming down", he said. That meant
more sleep deprivation, and could damage the heart and brain.
"Willie (James Henry) Wilson who has just been convicted Of murdering 
the 
young woman in Tauranga   (Jo-Anne 
Van Duyvenbooden) was affected  by meth. He was losing it, he was 
spinning out," Newbold said.
Ecstasy was far less harmful as it worked by releasing a natural 
chemical seratonin into the brain and could not become addictive as 
the seratonin levels needed to build up before it could 
be released again.
Importation of Ecstasy was on the increase, he said. Thirty thousand 
trips were imported into Christchurch last November and they were 
gone before Christmas.
But not until it was manufactured in New Zealand
would Ecstasy use become as widespread as it was Europe, he said.-PA  


