HEADLINES & NEWS
The secondary teachers union has formally rejected the government's latest pay offer opening the way for a third term of turmoil in schools, with rolling strike action and a ban on developing the next stage of the new secondary school qualification. The PPTA has told Ministry of Education negotiators there isn't enough money in the deal and it won't be taking the offer to its members. The Education Minister Trevor Mallard says talks will continue over the next two days but there is no more money for teachers, and if the union is not prepared to move on that there will be an impasse. The Minister is describing the latest offer as fair and reasonable - he declined to be interviewed on Checkpoint tonight but joining us now is the PPTA's President Jen McCutcheon. LIVE
[illegible] investigators have uncovered another multi-million dollar paua smuggling ring, with Asian crime gangs using the postal system to send large parcels of the pricey delicacy to Hong Kong. Operation Bond was set up several weeks ago as a result of information from the larger Pacman Operation earlier this year - that discovered Asian tour groups were being used to take paua out of the country in their luggage. Fisheries investigator Harry Hillditch says one person has been arrested in connection with the latest postal smuggling scheme and several more arrests may follow. He says the smugglers are well organised and determined to pillage a natural New Zealand resource in pursuit of big profits. PREREC
Forensic experts have finished their exacting examination of the property near Feilding where a teenage gunman allegedly killed a detective and wounded another on Friday. Detective Constable Duncan Taylor was shot dead in the armed confrontation at a rural house - another officer, Jeanette Park, was wounded and is now in hospital. 17 year old Daniel Luff has been charged with the shootings. Meanwhile, the rural community of Feilding is still coming to grips with the killing - Jill Galloway reports. PKGE
BUSINESS NEWS WITH JOHN DRAPER
Labour has released its ecomomic policy, pledging to achieve four percent growth within the next five years.
The policy has been unveiled by the Finance Minister Michael Cullen - Jane Patterson reports. PKGE
An Auckland man who was struck by lightning and lived to tell the tale is describing his survival as a miracle. The lightning bolt struck Paul Mortimer on the back, burning a hole in his shirt. Mr Mortimer told me he was walking home when he was hit. PREREC
5.30 NEWS HEADLINES
SPORT with STEPHEN HEWSON
The government is offering the Bay of Plenty's Ngati Awa tribe a 42 million dollar Treaty Settlement. The iwi is being offered an apology and more than 42 million dollars in land and cash. The Crown's also agreed to rewrite the history books, to acknowledge that more than 100 thousand hectares of land was wrongfully confiscated last century, for so-called rebellious actions by Māori. The deed of settlement was signed at Parliament today - our Māori Issues Correspondent Gideon Porter was there and joins us now. LIVE WITH DROPINS
The New Zealand navy has been called in to help a British destroyer taking in water in the Tasman Sea after hitting rocks just off Lord Howe Island. The HMS Nottingham, with more than 200 crew on board, struck the rocks yesterday, two nautical miles east of the island.
An Australian navy dive team has been assessing the damage and the New Zealand naval tanker, Endeavour and the frigate Te Mana are due to join the rescue mission. Lord Howe's port operations manager Clive Wilson told me they've been using pumps on the island to stabilise the vessel. PREREC
To the election trail now - and capturing the youth vote is critical for political parties, with official figures showing there are now more than 350-thousand New Zealanders aged between 18 and 24. But statistics also show that those voters' most popular choice is not to vote at all - and the [illegible] for parties is to get younger people motivated and interested. Fiona [illegible] takes a look what influences young people - and the issues they're concerned about. PKGE
New Zealand businesses are being told they can make profits from being socially and enviromentally responsible. The chief executive of the Canterbury Employers' Chamber of Commerce, Peter Townsend, is chairing a conference in Christchurch called Redesigning Resources which is looking at business ethics. Mr Townsend says one example is companies learning that getting products made overseas by very cheap child labour, in the end can cost more in other ways. PREREC
One of New Zealand's smallest ethnic communities, the I-Kiribati (E-Kiri-bas) from the central Pacific, has ended a weekend of independence celebrations. The 33 tiny atolls which make up Kiribati (Kiri-Bas) stretch over three thousand square kilometres of ocean - the highest ratio of sea to land in the world. Our reporter Barbara Dreaver joined the independence celebrations in Hunua just out of Auckland. PKGE
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