Heart attack victims are waiting up to two hours for vital drug treatment at Wellington Hospital, and risk further heart damage. This has been confirmed by Capital Coast Health following the release today of an audit criticising treatment delays for heart patients, and calling for greater efforts to control infection within the hospital. PACKAGE FROM Health Correspondant, Rae Lamb.
The Salvation Army has come to the rescue of two Napier teenagers who have been abandoned by their parents. Spokesperson Ashley Watters says the parents sold up their house and left the country leaving the two girls - aged 15 and 17 - without money, food, a home, or any idea where their mother and step-father have gone. INTERVIEW WITH Ashley Watter from the Salvation Army.
The Nelson dairy company, Tasman Milk Products has made sixty people redundant today from its Brightwater factory which is so close. The Company says the Brightwater plant is too small, too old and its product range is too narrow to survive at a time of increasing competition in the dairy industry. LIVE IV WITH Nelson regional reporter Helen Shea.
1715 .30 HEADS:
1.30 BUSINESS NEWS
The Court of Appeal has ruled that marriage between couples of the same sex is barred by the Marriage Act. It has dismissed the appeal of three lesbian couples against a High Court ruling that marriage licences could not be issued to them. LIVE IV WITH Labour MP Judith Tizard
A new approach to the treatment of mental illness is being trialled in Wellington - young people are the focus and the aim is to treat the early symptoms of mental illness before a serious psychosis develops. Another programme will provide specialist care for people with a mental illness who also have a drug and alcohol problem - what's called a dual diagnosis. PACKAGE FROM Karen Gregory-Hunt.
Opposition parties say the government has made a good first step in giving MPs a say on international treaties before they're signed. The Foreign Minister, Don McKinnon, has announced that from next year, the government will table all treaties in parliament before they're signed. LIVE IV WITH Jim Anderton.
The Papua New Guinea island of Bougainville is now in a state of uneasy calm as a multinational monitoring group oversees the truce between the formerly warring parties. There's some optimism the peace process will hold and that reconstruction can take place. PACKAGE FROM Jonathan Schwass.
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There's been a major setback for New Zealand's apple industry in its bid to gain access to Australia. A million dollar survey of Australian orchards and nurseries has failed to find any trace of the bacterial disease fireblight. Australia has used the presence of the disease in New Zealand as a reason for refusing NZ apple imports. PACKAGE FROM Heugh Chappell.
A Coroner's inquest into the death of a woman during child birth at North Shore hospital began in Auckland today. Amale pron AH-MARL Moore died a year ago while her stillborn baby was being induced at North Shore hospital. LIVE IV WITH Lisa Owen.
1.30 SPORTS
The two New Zealand rowers who conquered the Atlantic received a hero's welcome in Hamilton this afternoon. Rob Hamil and Phil Stubbs won the event in 41-days, beating the record by a month. PACKAGE FROM Andrew McRae
1745 .30 HEADS
In Japan more than 500 people, mostly children, were rushed to hospital after feeling sick while watching a popular TV cartoon programme. Those checked out at hospitals ranged in age from 3 to 20, 50 have been hospitalised, and one five year old girl is in a serious condition - breathing only through a respirator. PACKAGE FROM Tanya Katterns
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6.00 MANA NEWS