1700 to 1707 NEWS
An Airforce Boeing was forced to make an emergency landing at Auckland's Whenuapai airport this afternoon. Emergency services were on alert for about three quarters of an hour as the freight plane with five people on board circled the airport after experiencing problems lowering its nosewheel for landing.
The airforce says the 757 is one of their new planes which was bought second hand last year. Pre-Rec I/V with the pilot Wing Commander Tony Davies.
The long extradition battle to bring a former Wellington Catholic priest back to New Zealand to face sex abuse charges has finally made it to court here.
Alan John Woodcock appeared in Upper Hutt District Court today, accused of committing offences against 10 boys in Upper Hutt and Palmerston North between [illegible] and 1987.
The alleged offending is concentrated on a period in the early 1980s when Woodcock taught at St Patrick's College, Silverstream. I/V Court reporter David Venables.
High winds and heavy rain which hit parts of Hawke's Bay today have caused havoc for householders and motorists and hundreds of people have been without power. The tower at Napier airport recorded winds gusting to over 60 knots or more than a hundred kilometres an hour. Slips and fallen trees caused delays on State Highway two between Napier and Wairoa, and blocked parts of State Highway 50 south west of Hastings and the Napier to Taihape road.
The wind brought down power lines and poles over a widespread area.
The Bay's power lines company Unison has had to bring extra crews in an effort to restore power to households by tonight. Live I/V Unison's Customer Relations Manager Bill Hewitt.
Democrat John Kerry has capped a stunning political comeback with a victory in Iowa's caucuses that has dramatically reshaped the Democratic presidential race. In the first contest of the Democratic race to find a challenger to [illegible] George W. Bush, Senator Kerry led with more than 80 percent of the results in with about 38 percent of the vote, followed by John Edwards with 32 percent, Howard Dean with 18 percent and Richard Gephardt, who's now expected to withdraw from the race. Our correspondent in Washington, Owen Fay, says the win is a huge boost for Senator Kerry who only two weeks ago was lagging in the polls and given up for dead by many analysts.
At its first Cabinet meeting for 2004, the government's decided to give the cyclone ravaged island of Niue five-million-dollars towards rebuilding vital infrastructure. The Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff visited Nuie last week to assess the damage caused by Cyclone Heta and took his recommendation to Cabinet this morning. I/V political reporter, Jane Patterson.
A crackdown on illegal workers in Marlborough has grape-growers worried that they may face an even worse shortage of employees during the upcoming harvest. Three Malaysians are facing migrant smuggling charges in the Blenhiem District Court this week, for allegedly arranging illegal work at local vineyards for Malay nationals. Package by Robyn Cubie.
The booming property market has helped push inflation to one point six percent in the year to the end of December. That's higher than the 1 point 3 percent economists had predicted. I/V economics correspondent Brent Edwards.
And electricity prices will go up even further, with increases of 15 per cent for 70-thousand EmPower customers on Auckland's North Shore next month. Other power retailers are following suit with rises being blamed on increased wholesale electricity costs. The chief executive of the Consumers Institute, David Russell, is questioning the need for the hikes. He says power companies are looking to invest in new forms of generation, but that doesn't warrant the size of the increases being imposed at present. The Energy Minister Pete Hodgson says a report from the Ministry of Economic Development shows the rises are in line with what is needed to build generation. But he says another round of price hikes nationwide this year would cause questions to be asked.
The new Electricity Commission is expected to be in action by June with the power to investigate companies for over-pricing.
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