Checkpoint FOR THURS 18 MARCH 2010
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1700 to 1707 NEWS
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An ASB investment banker who stole nearly $18 million dollars, spending it on property, prostitutes and wine, has been jailed for at least four years. Stephen Versalko earlier pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud, which amounts to the largest sum of money ever defrauded in this country by a company employee. Rowan Quinn was at the Auckland District Court for the sentencing. LIVE
The State Services Commissioner says the Government asked him to investigate who leaked secret information from cabinet documents but he would have done his own inquiry anyway. Prime Minister John Key is insisting the Commissioner instigated the hunt but Iain Rennie says he was asked by his Minister Tony Ryall to carry out the probe. The Government wants to track down those responsible for briefing Forest and Bird about mining on conservation land and leaking information to the media about possible state sector mergers .Labour is calling it a witchhunt. Iain Rennie says the investigation will take weeks and may turn up nothing. PRE-REC
Listening to that is Kevin Hackwell from Forest and Bird. LIVE
The money available for income tax cuts is shrinking as the Treasury revises forecasts of how much heavier taxes on property will earn.The Finance Minister Bill English says the latest figures reveal changes to the way property is taxed will earn a lot less money than the Tax Working Group estimated.Here's our political editor Brent Edwards. PKG
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BUSINESS NEWS
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Olympic silver medalist Nick Willis will take to the track in Christchurch tonight with revenge and a record time for the 800 metres in his sights. Willis is determined to turn the tables on two Australians who beat him in a fifteen hundred metres race in Melbourne earlier this month. And he's hoping to close in on Sir Peter Snell's New Zealand record for the 800 metres of 1 minute 44.3 seconds - which was set 48 years ago. Willis, whose best time is just over a second slower says breaking the record is within his grasp - if everything comes together. PREREC
Also competing at the meet is former world discus champion and twice Commonwealth champion Beatrice Faumuina, who'll come up against the current world champion Dani Samuels of Australia.
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17.30 HEADLINES
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Damage reports are slowly trickling in from the cylcone-battered northern islands and the Lau Group in Fiji. A spokesperson for the Health Ministry says they've been told a member of the disaster management team has drowned, which would bring the death toll to two but this has yet to be confirmed.There have also been reports of at least six deaths but both the disaster management team and the health ministry maintain the official toll is still one. The Fiji Red Cross says it's supplying aid to up to 18-thousand evacuees. A New Zealand Hercules is helping distribute relief supplies and carry out aerial surveys. Squadron Leader Kavae Tamariki says they've flown over Taveuni and a couple of other islands in the northern group. CLIP He says there are pockets which look particularly bad - with houses down and crops destroyed. And he says there still aren't a lot of people around. CLIP Navy vessels have been sent from Suva to distribute emergency supplies in the Lomaiviti and Lau Groups, with a third vessel due to arrive in Cikobia about now. Disaster officials say it may not be known for a few days what the full magnitude of the damage is as power and communications remain unstable. UNICEF's Pacific Deputy Executive, Tim Sutton, says getting aid to everyone who needs it is going to be a slow process. PREREC
Returning to our top story.A former ASB bank executive who stole nearly 18 million dollars, spending it on property, prostitutes and wine, has been sentenced to six years in jail. Stephen Versalko had earlier pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud, which amounts to the largest sum of money ever defrauded in this country by a company employee .The Serious Fraud Office's Adam Feeley joins us now: LIVE
The office of the Auditor General is looking into the Whangarei District Council's dealings involving the city's controversial new stadium. The new building at Okara Park is almost complete, and will host two Rugby World Cup games next year. Lois Williams reports: PKG
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WAATEA NEWS
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Fonterra, is stepping up its checks on dairy farmers with many failing to meet targets to reduce pollution of rivers and streams. A Ministry of Agricultre and Forestry report says only 60-percent of farmers are abiding by rules on effluent discharge, the lowest compliance rate recorded.
Fonterra will check every farm annually from now on, with the aim of halving the non-compliance rate in 18 months.Tim Dean from Fonterra is with us now ...LIVE
Television New Zealand staff are facing weeks of uncertainty as they wait for their employer to decide exactly how many jobs it will cut.The state-owned broadcaster is planning to slash 5 million dollars from its news and current affairs budget in a move that unions and commentators say will result in a drop in standards.Georgina Ball reports. PKG
Nearly a quarter of a billion people have escaped from the world's slums - according to a report released by the United Nations. But it's not all good news as the number of slum dwellers globally has actually increased from 775 million to almost 830 million. Anna Tibaijuka is head of the UN's settlement programme known as Habitat: PKG