HEADLINES & NEWS
Junior doctors begin their strike action in a few hours as they press for salary rises big enough to help pay off student loans and prevent an exodus to better-paying jobs overseas. At eight oclock tomorrow morning, resident doctors in Whangarei hospital walk off the job for a week - they will be followed over the next few days by doctors in Wanganui, Palmerston North and Waikato. The doctors are asking for a 20 percent pay rise but talks have stalled on an offer of 9 percent. Joining me now is Bayden Ewart, the facilitator employed by the hospitals to try and solve the dispute. and the spokesperson for the Resident Doctors' Association, Deborah Sidebotham. live
[illegible] Health Correspondent, Rae Lamb has been looking at this issue she joins me now. live
In breaking news - three Norwegian divers have just managed to open the outer hatch of the sunken Russian submarine Kursk but found it was flooded. The Kursk sank on August 12 and all 118 men aboard are thought to be dead by now. Our Moscow correspondent Anya Ardaygava joins us now. live $$$
BUSINESS NEWS with CLAIRE SILVESTER
The big oil company Shell is asking the Commerce Commission for approval to buy Fletcher Challenge Energy. Fletchers owns key assets in New Zealand and overseas, including the Kupe gas field, a stake in the company which operates the Marsden Point refining company and the Challenge chain of petrol stations. But it is promising to sell those off if the Commerc Commission approves the purchase. What does this mean for consumers - I'm joined now by energy analyst Alan Jenkins. live
[illegible] Real Estate Institute says the cost of renting a house is falling because there is too much rental accommodation in most cities. It blames rising interest rates and a weaker economy for the oversupply. But housing groups say the trend is helping more people to get accommodation as Leigh-Anne Wiig reports. pkge
Returning to our earlier story - three Norwegian divers have just managed to open the outer hatch of the sunken Russian submarine Kursk. Our Moscow correspondent John Line joins us now. live $$$
5.30 NEWS HEADLINES
SPORT with RICHARD CROWLEY
The Government's plan to scrap the Health Funding Authority and replace it with 21 locally elected Dictrict Health Boards is being criticised by the leader of a mental health service. Gerry Walmisley is the chief executive of the Richmond Fellowship which provides community based mental health services - he describes the new model for health funding as "naive and sentimental ". And he warns that It will lead to a burgeoning bureaucracy and prove disasterous for mental health services. I asked Gerry Walmisley to explain the value of the Health Funding Authority. prerec
The Minister of Health Annette King joins me now. live
As the political turmoil continues in Fiji, the country's Human Rights Commission now estimates the unrest has left thousands of people homeless. The commission has established a refugee camp at Lautoka in which five hundred Indo-Fijians are now living. But a spokeswoman for the commission, Dr Shasta Shameem, believes there are thousands of others who have also been driven from their homes. Dr Shameem joins me now. live
A woman accused of two counts of manslaughter over the death of her three year old son is claiming battered women's syndrome as her defence. Tangaroa Matiu died after in January this year - the crown alleges he was beaten because he had soiled himself. His mother Honia Matiu has been charged for failing to stop he [illegible] defacto partner beating the boy and then failing to get medical help. Her partner Geneses Mahanga is charged with the child's murder. Melita Tull was at the High Court in Auckland and explains Honia Matiu's defense. prerec
Floodwaters are begining to ebb in Canterbury and roads are re-opening after the worst flooding in 40 years. The Selwyn district was worst hit by the heavy rain with record levels reached on the Selwyn River and floodwaters breaching a 30-metre stop bank. I'm joined now by Kevin Harmer, a Selwyn District Councillor and a property owner whose land has been badly affected by the rain. live
The country's two main trade union organisations are uniting. The Council of Trade Unions and Trade Union Federation have this afternoon signed an agreement which is the first step to the two organisations amalgamating. The CTU has around 250-thousand members while TUF has around 25-thousand.
I spoke to CTU president Ross Wilson and the president of the TUF, Maxine Gaye I began by asking Maxine Gaye why the two organisations have decided to [illegible] prerec
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