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Checkpoint FOR WEDNESDAY 21 DECEMBER 2011
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1700 to 1707 NEWS
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An Auckland District Court judge has told a mother who was systematically abusing her two children that her behaviour amounted to nothing less than torture. The woman, who has name suppression was today sentenced to 7 and half years in prison. Both her 9 year old daughter and 7 year old son were subjected to physical and mental abuse. That included pulling off one of the girl's toe-nails and pouring salt and hot water into the wound. She also used a machete, a broom stick, and a steel pipe on her daughter and kicked her in the genitals while wearing steel-capped boots. Here's Judge Brooke Gibson. CUT The judge also said the abuse can't be blamed on the girl's own behaviour. CUT But, Lorraine Smith who defended the mother in court today says the woman was was dealing with a deeply disturbed child who'd been sexually abused while in Child Youth and Family care. The girl exhibited sexually explicit behaviour, was putting bleach into the family's food including a baby's bottle and tried to burn the house down. I asked Ms Smith what she thought of the judge's torture comment. PREREC
An independent report into the West Auckland girl's abuse says a total of 25 government and other agencies were involved in her life from when she was just four months old, and finds many of them failed her in multiple ways. But the Social Development minister, Paula Bennett, is rejecting claims by Lorraine Smith that her client, the girl's mother, has been failed by the Government. CUT Paula Bennett says the abuse of the girl was horrific and disgusting. She says there is no glaring failure by any single agency among the 25 involved, or the 13 closely involved in the six months leading up to the mother's arrest. CUT The independent report recommends the Government makes 13 changes, including better information sharing and more social workers in schools. Paula Bennett says the Government is already working on some of these, including legislation that will improve information sharing between agencies. The reports author, the former Ombudsman Mel Smith, joins us now. LIVE
A man accused of fleeing the country with more than six million dollars after a bank error in 2009 flew back home this morning and this afternoon he appeared in court charged with theft and money laundering. The 30 year old Hui Gao, who prefers to be known as Leo, was arrested in Hong Kong in September. The officer in charge of the investigation, Detective Inspector Mark Loper, says today is a milestone. We're joined now by our reporter, Leilani Momoisea. Q&A
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1720 TRAILS AND BUSINESS WITH
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The Auckland Council has given protestors who have been camping in the central city for more than two months, 48 hours to pack up and leave. The council won a high court injunction giving them permission to evict those occupying Aotea Square. That order was served on the protestors at 2:30 this afternoon. The Auckland Council hasn't returned our calls but a spokesperson for Occupy Auckland Ben Cooney joins us now. LIVE
A hundred or more families in Nelson and Tasman will not be allowed back in their homes in time for Christmas, and some of them may not be back in before February. Of the homes with red-stickers, 93 have now been reassessed as still unsafe to enter, or fit only for emergency entry following the record floods and slips last week. Geoff Moffett reports. Q&A
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17.30 HEADLINES
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The Labour Party leader, David Shearer, has faced his first test in Parliament since being elected leader. The 50th Parliament was formally opened today, with the Governor-General giving the speech from the throne outlining the Government's programme for the new term of Parliament. Our political reporter, Chris Bramwell attended the ceremony. PKG
Our political editor Brent Edwards joins us now. LIVE
The gap between what the country earns overseas and what it pays to foreigners continued to deteriorate in the September quarter. But economists say it is not yet at a level which will alarm New Zealand's creditors. Our economics correspondent, Nigel Stirling, reports PKG
The United States Congress is ending the year with yet another stalemate over money. In the latest row, House Republicans blocked a two month extension of a tax break and benefits for unemployed Americans. Now they and the White House are blaming each other as they engage in another high stakes political stare-down. The ABC's Craig McMurtrie reports from Washington : PKG
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17.45 MANU KORIHI
Tēnā koutou katoa, good evening,
The Auditor General has found most Kura kaupapa Māori are free of financial problems.
It's been making checks on Māori immersion schools, after the Education Review Office in 2002 found many kura needed to improve aspects of their practices.
The audit has discovered 90 per cent of kura have adequate budgetary controls in place.
But it notes 41 per cent of schools recorded a deficit for the 20-10, 20-11 period.
Officials also report almost a fifth of schools loan money to staff - a practice the Auditor General says is undesirable.
It warns that if advances are not repaid, they could lead to losses for the school and add unnecessary complications to the relationship with the employee.
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A former senior policeman has become the first iwi relationships manager at the Ministry of Economic Development - working for its petroleum and minerals division.
Pieri Munro used to be the district commander for the Wellington region, and set up the force's Māori Pacific and Ethnic Services office.
Gareth Thomas reports:
OIL-MUNRO-VCR
IN PIERI MUNRO SAYS...
OUT...SOC
DUR 38"
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Two and a half months after the container ship Rena grounded on the Astrolabe reef off Tauranga, the dozen families living on Motiti island which is the closest settlement to the ship, continue to feel frustrated.
A kaitiaki on the island John Nuku, says kaimoana which form an important part of the diet, is still off limits.
MOTITI KAIMOANA TP
IN......IT IS A
OUT..CHIPS FROM TOWN
DUR...14"
John Nuku says apart from not having seafood on the menu, life is pretty much back to normal for families on Motiti.
He says most of the rubbish from the Rena which caused a mess around the foreshore of the island, has been cleaned up.
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The leader of a Northland campaign to reduce hardship during Christmas says spending extra money when families can't afford it can lead to bigger social problems - which can be harmful for whānau.
The campaign: "Forget the Bling Bling, Do the Whānau Thing", has been running in Whangārei since 2005 with the purpose of encouraging people to give the gift of their time over buying in to the commercialisation of Christmas.
Liz Moore says every year she sees families being pressured into buying whānau members lots of gifts, when the most important thing is spending quality time with them.
That's Te Manu Korihi news, I'll have a further bulletin in an hour.
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About 30 protestors have gathered inside the foyer of the Christchurch City Council to complain about a 68-thousand dollar pay rise for the council's chief executive. A slim majority of city councillors voted to raise Tony Marryatt's salary by 14 percent to more than half a million dollars a year. Mr Marryatt and the mayor, Bob Parker, are both away on holiday, so it was left to the deputy mayor, Ngaire Button, to address the protest. CUT But the protesters, including Nick Randall, were unimpressed with Ms Button's explanation. CUT Joining us now is the protest organiser, Peter Lynch. LIVE
Thousands of women in Cairo have vented their fury at Egypt's military forces over the severe beating of a female protester. Video footage shows the woman being beaten, kicked and partially stripped as the military men tried to clear the demonstrators from Tahrir square.
Despite the pictures being broadcast around the world there hasn't been a single arrest. The footage prompted an immediate reaction from the American Secretary of State who's worry about the apparent targeting of women in most demonstrations in the square. The ABC's Tanya Nolan has more on this story : PKG
The captain and navigational officer of the container ship Rena, which ran aground off Tauranga, have been charged with wilfully attempting to pervert the course of Justice by altering the ship's documents. Both appeared in the District Court in Tauranga today and continue to have name suppression. Our Bay of Plenty reporter, Lorna Perry was at there
PREREC