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Checkpoint FOR FRIDAY 6 MAY 2011
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1700 to 1707 NEWS
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The Supreme Court has let off a flag-burning peace activist, setting a precedent that could make it harder for police to prosecute protesters. Valerie Morse set fire to the New Zealand flag at an ANZAC Day dawn service in 2007. She has since appealed her conviction and fine for offensive behaviour to the very top court - and today she finally won. CUT
Stephen Clarke of the RSA says veterans were very upset at that dawn service and today's decision will bring it all back. CUT In 2006 the Tuhoe activist Tame Iti was fined for shooting the New Zealand flag on a marae in front of Waitangi tribunal officials. He walked away from the Rotorua District Court with two firearms convictions and a 600 dollar fine. He welcomes today's court ruling. CUT The lower courts had ruled "offensive behaviour" meant what's capable of wounding feelings or arousing anger, but the Supreme Court instead says it is only behaviour that gives rise to a disturbance of public order. Lawyer and lecturer Steven Price joins us now. LIVE
A coroner has found that a police officer whose patrol car hit and killed a Northland boy, had been sending and receiving text messages before the crash and he'd received a text just 23 seconds before the collision. Rawiri Wilson, who was sixteen, died on State Highway One near Kaikohe, in July 2009, when he was struck by a police patrol car driven by Constable Jamie Anderson. The fatal crash happened before the law banning the use of cellphones while driving. Northland's Road Safety Forum won't comment on the officer's driving because the Independent Police Conduct Authority is investigating. But the convenor, Gillian Archer says pedestrians who choose to walk on rural roads at night after drinking - also have to take responsibility for their safety. CUT Our Northland reporter Lois Williams has been reading the coroner's report LIVE
The police have released a statement contradicting the Labour Party's claim that the Prime Minister is responsible for a blow-out in the budget for diplomatic protection. A senior media adviser for the police, Grant Ogilvie, says the police are fully responsible for protecting VIPs and that overall the organisation was within its budget for the 2010 financial year.
Mr Ogilvie says decisions about protection are made on a case-by-case basis and the police will not disclose details. John Key has rejected Labour's accusation he is responsible for an 800 thousand dollar overspend in last year's diplomatic protection budget. CUT
John Key says he's not aware of threats made against him although this morning the Police Minister, Judith Collins, said a person has been charged with threatening Mr Key.
But the police refuse to confirm whether that is the case. Our political editor Brent Edwards has been following the story . LIVE
Petrol prices could start coming down over the weekend or at the latest by Monday after big drops in the price of oil overseas. The price of crude oil has dropped by 10 percent, leading the sharpest sell-off of commodities in two years and sending US crude back under one-hundred dollars a barrel. Energy analyst Ian Twomey says sharp rises and falls have been typical of the market over the last few years. PREREC
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1720 TRAILS AND BUSINESS WITH Patrick O'Meara
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17.30 HEADLINES
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We did it for you - the message the US president carried to the still-scarred city of New York, four days after the killing of Osama bin Laden. In a trip more sombre than triumphant, Barack Obama met with police, firefighters and relatives of those killed in the September the Eleventh attacks.
The ABC's Jane Cowan filed this report. PKG
The police are backing officers heavily criticised in two separate Independent Police Conduct Authority reports into pursuits. One of the pursuits resulted in the death of 23 year old Chase Neary in Picton in February last year. The other, in Auckland, left three teenagers seriously injured in August.
Auckland area commander superintendent George Fraser says the driver in that case, a 15 year old, needs to shoulder some of the blame. CUT Reporter Laura Davis has read both reports and joins us now. LIVE
Genesis offered power at more than 19 thousand dollars a megawatt hour in late March, during a planned power shutdown in the upper North Island, prompting complaints that was four times higher than during power interruptions in the past.
The Electricity Authority says what Genesis did was legal.
But its draft report today says the state-owned electricity company can charge only up to three thousand dollars a megawatt hour. Neither the Electricity Authority nor Genesis would agree to an interview. Labour's energy spokesperson David Parker says not enough's being done to protect consumers. He joins us now. LIVE
Hundreds of people lined Queen Street in central Auckland this afternoon to celebrate the Breakers' historic win in the Australian National Basketball League. The Breakers became the first New Zealand team to take out an Australian sporting competition when they beat the Cairns Taipans last week.
Natalie Mankelow was on the team float. PKG
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17.45 WAATEA
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A major phone company has cut the cost of mobile calls by a third, but is predicting other companies may dig their toes in.
Lower wholesale rates ordered by the Commerce Commission kicked in from today. And the commission is warning it will take further action if companies do not eventually pass these on to their customers. Cherie McQuilkin reports.
PKG
The reaction to news that Australia is looking to Papua New Guinea to help process asylum seekers has been swift and scathing. The Federal Government is planning to recommission the facility on Manus Island, despite repeated pledges that the Howard-era Pacific Solution was dead and buried. Samantha Donovan reports. PKG
The Pakistani military has admitted "shortcomings" for failing to locate Osama bin Laden, who was killed in a US special forces raid on Monday, and has said it will launch an investigation.
So how do the people of Pakistan see the events of the last few days? The BBC's Owen Bennett Jones is in the country's biggest city, Karachi. PKG
To Australia, and calls for jumps racing to be banned in Victoria have reignited after a New Zealand horse jumped over a two metre high fence and galloped into the crowd at a major country race meeting. Simon Lauder reports. PKG
Just how much do you love your pet? A new survey has found that more than a third of animal lovers think their pet is better than their partner at telling them how they feel. Nearly half the women surveyed said their pets were better at expressing their emotions while just 20 percent of men thought the same .
Here's pet care specialist, Shivaun Statham. [STAY-tham) PREREC