NEWS with CATRIONA MCLEOD
COUNCIL' OF CHIEFS MAKE OFFER IN FIJI CRISIS
There are signs the Fiji crisis may be nearing a resolution, with the Great council of Chiefs [illegible] meeting. Checkpoint has [illegible] by the office of President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara that the council meeting ended a short time ago after reaching a decision on resolving the hostage crisis. The president's office says a council delegation is now travelling to the hostage scene at parliament and will convey the council's decision to coup plotter George Speight. Speight and his rebels are still holding the prime minister and several MPs at gunpoint. Our reporter Lisa Owen is at parliament - she joins me now. LIVE
Meanwhile, documents obtained by Radio New Zealand show Ratu Mara wants Mr Choudry to resign in favour of an interim government which would run the country for three years until a general election is held. The Council of Chiefs is also understood to be seeking a pardon for George Speight and his associates. There has also been alarming information about the hostages safety. The Foreign Affairs minister Phil Goff joins me now. LIVE
Business news with Catherine Walbridge
BULLER TAKES THE MONEY
The Buller District Council has unanimously accepted the government's120-million economic package for the West Coast. The money is compensation for the ending of native logging on Crown-owned land on the coast. The region's two other district councils and regional council will discuss the economic package at meetings tomorrow afternoon. The mayor of Buller District Council Pat O'Dea joins us now. LIVE
CONJUGAL VISITS COOLOFF
The Government is distancing itself the Corrections Minister's revelation that [illegible] investigating conjugal visits in prisons. Matt Robson says such a policy could cut re-offending, pointing to overseas examples which show it does.
Mr Robson's suggestion has prompted condemnation and praise - our reporter Tony Reid compiled this report. PKG
5.30 NEWS HEADLINES
REDUNDANCIES PREDICTED AT MASSEY UNIVERSITY
Massey University is getting rid of 116 jobs from its campuses because the government's cut funding by 20-million dollars in response to falling student numbers. Most of the positions will go from Massey's Palmerston North campus - Vice Chancellor James McWha says cuts are in the College of Science and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. He says the university has to re-position itself to cut costs and provide courses students want. James McWha joins us now.
Joining us now is Tony Lewis, president of the Association of University Staff at Massey.
HISTORIC VOTE GRANTS CHINA ACCESS:
United States lawmakers have approved a controversial new trade deal with China, with Congress voted to grant Beijing permanent normal trade relations. The move has huge implications for the economies of both nations - as our Washington correspondent Steve Mort explains. PKG
NEW ZEALAND SET TO BENEFIT
New Zealand is set to benefit from the landmark congress vote because it virtually guarantees China will become a member of the World Trade Organisation. The chief Executive of The Forest Industries Council James Griffiths says China is already New Zealand's sixth largest timber market and lower tariffs from WTO membership will boost the industry. PREREC
SEEING CLEARLY ABOUT LAKE TAUPO
Lake Taupo's water clarity is dropping - and the Waikato Regional Council wants to effectively ban further dairy farming nearby and upgrade septic tanks and stormwater systems to stop the quality diminishing further. Environment Waikato [illegible] although water in the country's largest lake is still clean and clear, over the last decade, there's been a worrying increase in the level of nitrogen as result of sewage, farm run-off and fertilisers. Nitrogen-rich water breeds water weeds and algae which could radically affect the whole appearance of the lake. Dr Lex Rennes from the Regional Council says last year 11-hundred tonnes of nitrogen went into the lake. PREREC