The military build up on Australia's Christmas Island continues, with no solution yet in sight to the refugee crisis which has left more than 450 asylum seekers stranded on a Norwegian cargo ship just off shore.
The ship rescued the people from their sinking boat but despite mounting international pressure, Australia is refusing to let them land on the island. SAS troops have taken control of the ship, despite protests from Norway, a frigate is now steaming towards the island and airforce Hercules continue to land at the island's airport, laden with equipment. The military wont say why so many planes were arriving or what they were needed for.
Australia is under continuing pressure from the United Nations and [illegible] aid organisations to admit the refugees. The UN's High Commissioner for Refugees Mary Robinson says Australia has a fine tradition of helping refugees and should take responsibility for the current situation. CUT But Australia is unwilling to budge. The Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer says his country is one of the most generous whe it comes to taking refugees. CUT East Timor is the latest country to offer its help - New Zealand has also offered Canberra assitance. Meanwhile, Norway's ambassador to Australia, Ove Thorshein (pron: oo-va Torsein) has gone to Christmas Island to see how the refugees are faring. CUT
Meanwhile, Christmas Islanders have staged a rally in protest at being denied access to the water. Gordon Thompson is with the Union of Christmas Island Workers and a local council member - he told me that fishermen and divers have had to stop their work because they arent allowed to leave shore. PREREC
Southland Health is under attack from the family of the young man who killed his mother shortly after being released from the hospital's mental health unit. Mark Burton has now been detained as a special patient under the Mental Health Act after a HIgh Court jury found him NOT guilty of the murder on the grounds [illegible] insanity. His father, Trevor, wrote to the hospital saying his son posed a danger to the family. During the trial psychiatrists gave evidence Burton should not have been released and that his medical files strongly suggested he was a risk to others. Southland Health says it doesn't know in retrospect whether what happened was preventable - but Trevor Burton is in no doubt. CUT Dr Phil Brinded is a forensic psychiatrist who gave evidence during the murder trial. He says mental health professionals have to be extremely good at assessing risk if a policy of releasing patients into community care is going to work. He says the decisions made in Mark Burtons case need to be reviewed. CUT
Tom O'Flynn is the Clinical Director of mental health services at Southland Hospital, and he joins us now. LIVE
BUSINESS NEWS WITH PATRICK O'MEARA
A review of the country's ambulance communications centres has recommended the closure of five centres leaving three in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
The recommendations come from the New Zealand Ambulance Board which has spent a year, and 290-thousand dollars, looking at how ambulance communications might be improved. Ambulance staff were briefed on the recommendations this morning - our reporter John MacDonald compiled this report. PKGE
A parliamentary inquiry looking into updating this country's 46 year old adoption laws has come to nothing, with the MPs involved unable to agree on a set of recommendations for change. The Government Administration Committee has been looking at a Law Comission report on adoption and has heard almost two hundred submissions since it started its inquiry last year. But the committee got bogged down in disagreements, and because there are equal numbers of government and opposition MPs could not reach any decision. Committee chairperson Dianne Yates says there are critical adoption issues that need to be addressed. PREREC
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SPORT with STEPHEN HEWSON
There are fresh hopes this evening of a possible breakthrough in the Middle [illegible] crisis. The Israeli pullout from the West Bank town of Beit Jala appears to have set the stage for possible meetings between Israeli and Palestinian leaders. The US Secretary of State Colin Powell is now involved in a round of telephone diplomacy with both sides and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres could be holding talks as early as next week. Our Washington correspondent Steve Mort has the details. PKGE
To Fiji now - and with only a day to go in the Fijian elections, officials are concerned by the low turnout of voters. The polls opened last week and are due to close tomorrow but earlier today, only 47 percent of registered voters had cast their vote. Our reporter Barbara Dreaver is in Fiji and joins me now. LIVE
New Zealand is being urged to introduce tough new environmental standards if it wants cleaner diesel.
A forum of oil and transport industry leaders met in Auckland today in a bid to fast-track the cleaner fuel's introduction. But as Kirsty Jones reports, a visiting American expert says the only way to ensure the country gets cleaner fuel is to introduce strict regulations. PKGE
[illegible] country's official children's watchdog is lobbying for children to get the surgery that they need. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child states that children with disabilities have a right to special care.
But the Children's Commissioner Roger McLay says recently a nine year old girl suffering from cerebal palsy and curvature of the spine was told she must wait three years for an operation. And he says a three year old with cerebal palsy has been refused an ear operation. Bobby Bryan is an advocate with the Office of the Commissioner for Children and he join us now. LIVE
The Department of Conservation's director general wants zero-tolerance of discrimination after a staff survey revealed widespread racism, sexual discrimination and harrassment. The survey was commissioned by the Department's Director General Hugh Logan last year. Nathan Mills reports. PKGE
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