HEADLINES & NEWS
A man who was wrongly imprisoned for more than 3 years is to receive nearly 900 thousand dollars in compensation. David Dougherty was wrongfully convicted of the abduction and rape of an 11-year-old girl in 1993. He was subsequently aquitted on retrial in 1997, when it was found that DNA evidence left on the girl's clothing could not have come from him, but belonged to another man. This afternoon Justice Minister Phil Goff announced that Mr Dougherty is to receive 8-hundred-and-68 thousand dollars in compensation. We'll speak to Mr Goff soon, but first we're joined by Mr Doughtery's lawyer, Murray Gibson. LIVER The Justice Minister Phil Goff joins us now. LIVER
Rest home managers are furious about their proposed increase in funding saying it [illegible] not nearly enough and that it's coming from precious geriatric hospital funds instead of new resources. And at the same time some geriatric hospitals may be forced to close and others get rid of medical staff because of their funding drop. The Ministry of Health is planning on reallocating eight million dollars of subsidies from geriatric hospitals to rest homes and both parties are hopping mad. Sally wenley has the details. PKGE
BUSINESS NEWS WITH JOHN DRAPER
A new report shows foreign fee-paying students contributed 7-hundred million dollars to the country's total income last year. The Ministry of Education report predicts the sector could earn one billion dollars within four years - close to one per cent of GDP. Last year, foreign fee-paying students accounted for one-point-three per cent of the total school roll - 50 percent more than the previous year. Tricia Reade is international manager for the Manukau Institute of Technology, which has a thousand overseas students - I asked her if she was surprised by the Ministry's figures. PREREC IV
Diplomats at the United Nations are taking aim at growing illicit trade in [illegible] arms.
Countries are now trying to stem the flow of weapons by drawing up an international plan of action. But as Vicky ford reports, there is strong US opposition to some of proposals. PKGE
5.30 NEWS HEADLINES
SPORT with RICHARD CROWLEY
The police have named a man whose body was found in a Waikato hydro lake yesterday. He was Jason Johnson, aged 32 of no fixed address. The police launched a homicide inquiry after Mr Johnson's body was discovered in a metre of water in Lake Whakamaru. For the latest on the inquiry we're joined by Detective Inspector Graham Bell. LIVER
The Auckland City Council has received more than 70 thousand calls and complaints since last month about the city's new rubbish collection system. The council has halved the size of Auckland city's rubbish bins and it aims to halve the amount of rubbish being poured into Auckland landfills within the next two years. Brad Markham looks at why the bins have been slashed in size. PKGE
An attempt to delay next month's elections in Fiji has failed, with a High Court judge ruling that the president had no option but to dissolve Parliament and re-appoint the Qarase administration. Trustees of the Citizen's Constitutional Forum had challenged President Iloilo's action, saying he was bound to recall Parliament after the Court of Appeal ruled in March that the 1997 Constitution was still in place. Joining us now is our correspondent in Fiji Shalen Shandil LIVER.
Ohakune police and Tranzrail have joined forces in a campaign to stop visitors to the ski resort taking a potentially lethal short-cut across the town's railway station.
Each year dozens of skiers enjoying Ohakune's night life, risk being electrocuted by cutting across the yard where locomotives, attached to 25-thousand-volt live wires are stored. The electric current can jump up to 4-metres, and the risk is higher during winter because of the damp, moist weather. Ohakune police sergeant Mike Hill say three years ago a man was killed [illegible] on top of a train, and last year a teenager almost died doing the same thing. PREC IV
The South Taranaki District Council will spend up to 200-thousand dollars on surveillance cameras in Hawera in an attempt to limit underage drinking in the town. The District's Mayor, Mary Bourke says a recent survey in the Taranaki region has shown 80 percent of licensed premises sold alcohol to young people, without seeking age identification. And she says local businesses are worried about security. PREC REC IV
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