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Checkpoint FOR THURSDAY 11 NOVEMBER 2010
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1700 to 1707 NEWS
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Copper spraying is about to begin in the Bay of Plenty kiwifruit orchards worst hit by the bacterial vine disease PSA. The spraying had been delayed because of fears it would strip the leaves off vines. Three orchards are infected with the bacteria and there are more than 75 suspected outbreaks around the country. The Head of Biosecurity at the Ministry of Agriculture is Barry O'Neill - he is with us now. LIVER
Passengers sitting ten centimetres too close to the back of a skydiving plane may have played a crucial part in the fatal crash which killed all nine people on board. The pilot, four skydive instructors and four overseas tourists died when their Skydive New Zealand flight crashed shortly after take-off at Fox Glacier in September. The Transport Accident Investigation Commission has released a draft report which says where the passengers were sitting could have played a part. The aircraft was an old top-dressing plane. Investigator Ian McClelland says the Commissions own calculations show its centre of gravity was 10 centimetres too far to the rear. PRE REC That was Ian McClelland from the Transport Accident Investigation Commission. The Commission says a final report on the crash isn't expected to be released until August next year at the earliest. And later in the programme we'll hear the details of another report released today, into a near collisions between a skydiving plane and an an Air New Zealand flight carrying 34 people.
An Auckland real estate agent has been found guilty of scamming banks of 13 million dollars. Raghu Srinivas Aryasomayajula (ar-ea-sum-ya-jew-la), formerly of Barfoot and Thompson, carried out a series of mortgage frauds in which he used third parties to gain loans from banks. He's been remanded in custody and will be sentenced in February. A co-defendant, Phillip Julian Cavanagh, also from the same firm, was sentenced to two years and five months in jail after pleading guilty to the same fraud charges last year. The real estate agent's Managing Director, Peter Thompson, is on the line. LIVER
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1720 TRAILS AND BUSINESS WITH Teresa Cowie
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Latest figures show house sales in October hit the lowest level for the month since records began nearly 20 years ago. Just over three-thousand homes changed hands, and the Real Estate Institute says there's been no traditional springtime surge in sales. Philip Borkin is an economist with Goldman Sachs. PRE REC
A mayor on a chair in a square. It might sound like a Dr Seuss story but in fact it's the latest move by the country's second most powerful politician to get among his people. Auckland's mayor Len Brown, has held his first session in Aotea Square, where people can pop along, pull up a seat, talk and ask questions. Georgina Ball went along too. PKG
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17.30 HEADLINES
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There have been heated exchanges over the possible influence of the alcohol industry on the National Party, during the debate over the Alcohol Reform Bill. The Government is promoting the Bill as an important step in reducing the harm caused by alcohol abuse. But the Opposition say it does not go far enough, with the Wigram MP, Jim Anderton, implying National may have been influenced by donations from the liquor industry. Our political reporter, Julian Robins, has been listening to the debate. PKG
Thieves have cleaned out a storage shed at a Women's Refuge safe house in Palmerston North taking presents stockpiled for Christmas, food and essential toiletries.
It's suspected former residents of the centre might be behind the crime. The manager of the Palmerston North Women's Refuge, Ang (Ange) Jury says the thieves took the supplies after forcing open the storeroom's window with a coathanger. PRE REC That was Doctor Ang (Ange) Jury and anyone wanting to make donations can call 06 354 5355.
A co-writer of the Hobbit films says actors' unions viewed the production as a big cash cow lumbering down the road. The comments were made by Philippa Boyens at the Screen Production and Development Association Conference today, where producers provided a behind the scenes insight into the industrial dispute. Leilani Momoisea was there: PKG
Amnesty International is calling on the Government and Fonterra to condemn the jailing of a Chinese activist who organised a website for parents of the children poisoned during the melamine milk scandal. Zhao Lianhai has been sentenced to two and half years in prison for the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble, known as inciting social disorder. In 2008 when his son became sick from drinking contaminated milk Zhao set up "Kidney Stone Babies" to provide information for the parents of the 300,000 infants who fell ill. Some 50,000 were hospitalised, and at least six babies died. Fonterra says it has no intention of commenting, and the government has not responded either. Patrick Holmes from Amnesty International is with us now. LIVER
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17.45 WAATEA
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A report into a near collision between a sky-diving plane and an Air New Zealand flight with 34 people on board has found that air traffic controllers were to blame. The Transport Accident Investigation Commission says the near miss happened in August last year. It says a Cessna aircraft was returning to Mercer Aerodrome when it came too close for comfort to an airliner that had just taken off from Auckland International Airport. The pilot of the bigger plane was forced to descend suddenly. The Commission says two controllers based at the main air traffic control centre in Christchurch didn't notice that a warning light and alarm had gone off. Investigator Ian McClelland says the planes were allowed to get too close. PRE REC
Scotland Yard says a printer package bomb from Yemen discovered in a cargo plane last month was timed to detonate over the Eastern coast of the United States. And a senior counter terrorism official says it was set to explode six hours after it was found. CNN's Susan Candiotti has this report. PKG
Russian prisons have long been regarded as some of the world's most brutal penal institutions. But now inmates at the Butyrka BU-tear-ka jail in Moscow will be able to look forward to certain. The BBC's Steve Rosenberg. PKG