HEADLINES & NEWS
The apple industry's foreign exchange crisis is already hurting growers, with some in the country's main apple producing region putting off winter pruning or considering ripping out their trees. The apple exporter, Enza, is charging growers four-dollars-50 for every carton of apples they produce, to cover foreign exchange losses. Both the Apple and Pear Board, and the Government, are investigating growers' complaints that the charges are unfair. Bryan Crump reports. PKGE
Auckland and Waikato hospitals in the midst of crisis over patient cancer treatment, have been told by the Ministry of Health they will not be getting [illegible] to help send patients to Australia. Chronic staff shortages means waiting times for essential follow-up radiation therapy can be up to five months well outside the recommended four to six week wait. Some Auckland breast cancer patients have had to have radical surgery because their cancer reappeared while they waited for therapy. Waikato District Health Board sent 23 patients to Australia during the financial year ending last month - six are still there completing treatment. But Health Minister Annette King says sending people Across the Tasman is not feasible. AUDIO CUT
Robin Steed is the General Manager for Community Services at Health Waikato. She says it costs 10 to 15 thousand dollars to send a patient to Australia for a six week course of treatment. And while she acknowledges it's becoming increasingly difficult to place people because of staff shortages there, nevertheless she'd like to continue to try. IV
The cross-examination of the head of the public service over the Christine Rankin case has taken on a new political twist today, even though the Employment Court's adjourned till next week. Mrs Rankin is suing the State Services Commissioner Michael Wintringham for more than 800-thousand dollars, [illegible] political interference in his decision not to recommend her for re-appointment as WINZ chief executive. Questions about her treatment have dominated a Parliamentary Select Committee, during its annual scrutiny of the State Services Commission's budget. Our Parliamentary Chief Reporter Kathryn Street was there, and joins us now. IV w DROPINS
BUSINESS NEWS WITH PATRICK O'MEARA
There's concern over the government's response to a select committee report on Northland's Lake Omapere.
Rampant summer weed growth brought the lake near Kaikohe close to ecological collapse. A Māori Affairs Select Committee inquiry - held at the request of the lake's Māori trustees - found that the Conservation Department had failed in its Treaty obligations to Māori. The committee called for urgent action to save the lake but as Lois Williams reports, the government's rejected its findings. PKGE
A joint operation involving the navy and airforce has recovered the body of a yachtie after a boating tragedy in a storm in the middle of the Tasman Sea. The search began this morning after two distress signals from an area 150 kilometres south east of Norfolk Island. The frigate Te Kaha was diverted to the scene after an airforce Orion spotted an object in the sea. To update us on the latest developments, I'm joined by Squadron Leader Jess Cherrington (pronounced Sherring-tin) from the Defence Forces search headquarters in Trentham. LIVE
5.30 NEWS HEADLINES
SPORT with ANDREW GREENWOOD
As night falls, police are warning motorists to be prepared for more treacherous icy road conditions, with temperatures again expected to plunge below freezing overnight. The icy conditions have already caused scores of crashes, with one man being killed early this morning when his car skidded off the road in the Bay of Plenty. In Wellington, motorists have been struggling with the lowest air temperatures recorded in the capital for ten years.
John MacDonald compiled this report. PKGE
[illegible] police are continuing to investigate the murders of Fiji Red Cross director John Scott and his partner Gregory Scrivener, found hacked to death in their home on Sunday morning. A short time ago the police held a media conference - our reporter in Suva Shalen Shandil says the latest lead is a shoe. PREREC
The Heart Foundation is calling on the Pacific Island community to cut down on fatty food consumption to try and lower the high mortality rate from obesity-related diseases. A foundation programme - Pacific Islands Heartbeat - aims to reduce sales of fatty foods in predominantly Pacific areas like South Auckland. Anna-louise Taylor reports. PKGE
Australia and East Timor are signing an agreement today on Timor Sea gas and oil fields, which will earn Dili close to ten billion dollars over the next 20 years. It means East Timor will get 90 percent of oil revenue, while Australia gets ten percent. Australia already had a deal with Timor's former ruler, Indonesia, to split profits 50-50, and Canberra says it has been generous with the new agreement. But the editor of Inside Indonesia, Jerry van Klinken, says East Timor would have got 100 percent of the fields if it had taken the case to [illegible] arbitration - I asked him why it didn't. PREREC
The yachtsman Sir Peter Blake has been appointed New Zealand's first goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme. Sir Peter led the first successful Team New Zealand challenge for the America's Cup in 1995, and headed the Jacques Cousteau Society for two years before setting up his own group to explore and protect the oceans. Sir Peter says the position is a great honour and he'll be acting as a roving ambassador for the environment. PREREC
The United States is celebrating its 225th birthday - and one of the largest national holidays in the world. Our Washington correspondent Judith Smelser reports that Americans everywhere are marking Independence Day with fireworks, barbeques and parties. PKGE
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