HEADLINES & NEWS
Air New Zealand is at this moment announcing its long awaited strategy to get the troubled airline back into profit. The company has spent months putting together a plan which is expected to include dropping business class seats from its domestic and trans-Tasman flights. Our Auckland business correspondent Todd Niall is at the news conference. LIVE.
An Auditor-General report into public sector payouts has slated the way severance payments have been handled in the past, saying some have been unlawful and unjustifiably high. And it warns employers against using confidentiality clauses when negotiating such agreements, as secret deals can create the impression employers have something to hide, and eventually harm the reputations of those they are designed to protect. Jane Patterson. PKGE.
Police in Whakatane have launched an investigation into what they're describing [illegible] attempted killing last night - only two days after starting a homicide inquiry into a a fatal stabbing early on Saturday morning. Te Rangi Carroll died in the town centre after a brawl involving rival gang factions. Police say last night's incident involved a number of shots being fired at a man in Whakatane's Churchill Street. The man has gunshot wounds to his leg and is in a satisfactory condition in hospital. Joining us now is the Area Controller Inspector Jim Mansell. LIVE.
BUSINESS NEWS WITH JOHN DRAPER
At the high court in Auckland a Northland couple are on trial for manslaughter of their six month old baby. Roby and Deborah Moorehead are accused of failing to provide the necessaries of life to their son Caleb who died last March. Caleb died from pneumonia after he was removed from Starship Hospital against medical advice. Our reporter Sally Wenley has been at the court and she joins me now. LIVE.
Transit New Zealand says it's working hard to clear the road to areas on the Strath Taieri, inland from Dunedin, which have been isolated by snow. State Highway 87 from Outram to Middlemarch is still closed, along with part of State Highway 85 from Palmerston to Ranfurly. Murray Clark from Transit New Zealand [illegible] the snow has melted in most places, but he says the weather forecast isn't good, with more snow and cold temperatures predicted. He's warning drivers in the south to be careful. CUT. At Clarks Junction Hotel, inland from Dunedin, publican Adrian Bardrick (bar-drick) says they've been snowed in since Sunday and he joins me now. LIVE.
The Secretary of the Council of Trade Unions Paul Goulter has been in today's briefings between Air New Zealand and the unions representing workers with the company. LIVE.
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Air New Zealand has announced major changes to its domestic services -getting rid of its business class service and cutting meals and alcohol from flights. The airline says these measures will work to reduce margins, lower air fares and stimulate the market for its flights. There will also be more frequent flights domestically and to Australia and Fiji. But Air New Zealand is not yet giving out any fiscal projections on how the changes will help the airline will get ahead. Air New Zealand Ralph Norris LIVE.
Pakistan has carried out its third and final missile test in a series begun over the weekend as war tensions between it and India remain at fever pitch. News of the test was broadcast on Pakistani television and comes as the British Foreign Minister Jack Straw visits the country on a peace mission. He's issued a dire warning about where conflict between two nuclear armed nations could lead. Britain is stepping up its efforts to avert an India-Pakistan war. [illegible] Britain has also been embarrassed over its vigorous arms trade with both South Asian nations. The ABC's Matt Peacock PKGE..
CUT.National's leader Bill English launching his party's law and order election policy today. The 500 additional police will cost 100 million dollars to introduce and add 50 million dollars a year to the police budget once implemented. Mr English also announced a tougher stand on sentencing. National would extend the non parole period for murder from a minimum of 10 years to 15. And Mr English says National would reverse Labour's move to reduce the non parole period for non violent crimes from two thirds of the sentence to one third. Dr Gabrielle Maxwell is the Director of the Crime and Justice Research Centre at Victoria University. This was her reaction to National's annoucement. PRE-REC.
A plan to set up a joint Trans-Tasman agency to regulate vitamins, minerals and herbs is being strongly supported by Australian industry and consumers. The agency would evaluate the safety and effectiveness of complementary health products, as well as medicines and medical equipment. The Australian sentiment is in strong contrast to a New Zealand industry lobby group which is worried the regulation will lead to less choice of products at a higher cost. Our Health Correspondent Leigh-Anne Wiig reports. PKGE.
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