Checkpoint FOR THURSDAY 11 FEBRUARY 2010
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1700 to 1707 NEWS
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Police searching for the missing Christchurch woman Vanessa Pickering accept they may be looking for a body although they hope to still find Vanessa Pickering alive. The 27 year old has now been missing for three days The police have been scouring the remote Godley Head Reserve at the entrance to Lyttelton Harbour since yesterday but have so far not found any sign of her. Christchurch reporter Jessica Maddock is covering the story, she joins me now...
LIVE
A state of disaster has been declared for the popular tourist destination of Aitutaki in the Cook Islands, which was battered by Cyclone Pat overnight. It tore roofs off buildings, ripped trees from the ground, toppled power lines and destroyed water tanks - with the mayor describing it as the worst cyclone to hit the island in living memory. It's believed up to 90 percent of homes have been damaged on the small island which is home to about 2-thousand people. The national emergency operations centre says just two people have been injured - and reports that one person has died are incorrect. Our Auckland-based reporter Leilani Momoisea has been covering the story: LIVE
Differences between the Government and its ally the Māori Party seem to be widening over what to do about the Foreshore and Seabed Act. The Prime Minister has confirmed one option would be to rule that no one owns the foreshore and seabed but that proposal has been rejected by the Māori Party co-leader Tariana Turia.
Here's our political editor Brent Edwards. PKG
The cost of filling the shopping trolley rose this month, ending five months of declining prices. Across the board the increase is 2.1 percent, but its the whopping hike in the price of dairy products that consumers are noticing at the checkout. Cherie McQuilkin has more.
PKG
The ink was barely dry on a Law Commission report on illegal drugs, before the Government had moved to rule out any softening of the current law. The latest report from the Commission says that penalties should be more closely based on the harm caused, rather than the blunt and punitive approach being taken now. Our parliamentary chief reporter, Jane Patterson, has more. PKG
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1720 TRAILS AND BUSINESS WITH Teresa Cowie
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The Finance Minister Bill English has been defending the Government's plan to raise GST and dismissing the Labour Party's accusation that it's broken its word on the issue. Labour has dug up a speech by Mr English one year ago that the Government wanted to keep the GST rate as it is. But Mr English says times have changed.
Our political reporter Liz Banas has the story. PKG
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17.30 HEADLINES
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Frustration is growing in the debate over how to revamp Auckland's Queens Wharf in time for next year's Rugby World Cup. The Auckland City Council has unveiled three new cheaper alternatives to the 100 million plan being promoted by the Government - but no one knows who will pay for any of them and a decision is needed soon. Todd Niall reports. PKG
The number of houses sold in January tumbled - sparking fears the economy could shrink again in the first half of this year. The Real Estate Insitute's figures for January were to be officially released tomorrow, but were accidentally published on its website last night.
Economists who spotted them say they show a 26 per cent drop compared to the previous month, and prices have also fallen. Our economics correspondent, Nigel Stirling, has more. PKG
Canada's military are said to be in a 'state of shock 'after the arrest of one of the country's top military commanders for the murders of two women and sexual assault on two others. Colonel Russell Williams, the commander of Canada's largest airbase has been charged with the murder of Jessica Lloyd and Corporal Marie-France Comeau. (Komo) He has also been charged with breaking into the homes of two women and attacking them. The CBC's Mike Crawley says today Canada's chief of defence staff sought to reassure his troops PREREC
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17.45 TRAILS
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WAATEA
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In Australia, the Environment Minister Peter Garrett is fighting to keep his job as he comes under increasing pressure to reveal when he was alerted to safety warnings about an insulation scheme that has been linked to the deaths of four people. Electricians have been warning that houses were being turned into potential electrocution 'death traps' by the faulty installation of foil-covered insulation.
Almost 50,000 homes are now facing a safety audit. The ABC's Susan Mc Donald joins us now from Canberra LIVE
Christchurch City councillors have voted in favour of a bylaw to crack down on the boyracers - taking the city one step closer to becoming the first in New Zealand to ban cruising. The draft bylaw defines cruising as driving repeatedly down the same stretch of road drawing attention to the car's engine, or in a convoy. The Mayor of Christchurch, Bob Parker, says residents support the move, but some councillors don't think it will work. Matthew Peddie reports.
PKG
A Canterbury primary school that received a water bill for almost 20 thousand dollars says there's no way it could have used all of the water it's been billed for. The principal of Methven Primary says the council should have advised him sooner that the school's water meter readings had climbed so much higher than its typical two hundred dollar bill. Ben Robinson reports. PKG