Checkpoint FOR FRIDAY 23 JULY
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1700 to 1707 NEWS
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It's been revealed that senior doctors warned the Government letting Pharmac take over the supply of drugs to hospitals will be a massive job which could turn into a nightmare. The drug-buying agency has been given the go ahed to buy all hospital medicines, and will eventually manage medical devices as well. Senior doctors are split over the change, and a report released by the Government today shows the extent of their reservations.Our Health Correspondent, Karen Brown, has the report and joins us now. Q AND A
Three former company directors from Hawke's Bay have been jailed for three years, after conspiring to assist overstayers and ship jumpers live and work illegally in New Zealand. A fourth man who worked in the Hastings office of the company Contract Labour Services, has been sentenced to nine months home detention. Heugh Chappell reports. PKG
Air New Zealand has escalated its attack on Auckland International Airport over its deal to buy a stake in Queenstown airport. The national carrier is proposing that it form a consortium with the airlines, Pacific Blue, Qantas and Jetstar, to take a cornerstone holding in the airport. It says it would be better suited to grow the airport's business and improve its infrastructure. Air New Zealand's Australasia general manager Bruce Parton joins us now. LIVE
Fiji's former Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry has appeared in court in Suva charged with tax evasion and money laundering. Mr Chaudhry, the former leader of the Labour Party, has been questioned by police yesterday and today. The Permanent Secretary for Information has denied reports that he was held overnight in a police cell. The news editor of Fiji Commuications Ltd - Vijay Narayan - was at court for Mr Chaudry's appearance. He joins us now: LIVE
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1720 TRAILS AND BUSINESS WITH ANUSHA BRADLEY
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The Australian Prime Minister has announced her election climate policy in front of rowdy protesters in Brisbane. Julia Gillard is promising to recommit to an emissions trading scheme but just like her ousted predecessor has put it on hold for at least two years.
She says consensus on climate change was too important to depend on a fragile agreement between political parties. TP Julia Gillard also promised to set aside more than a billion dollars over the next ten years to connect renewable power sources like wind farms and solar plants to the national grid, and said there would be no more new dirty coal fired power plants. TP Prime Minister Julia Gillard. The ABC's Louise Yaxley joins us now to discuss this further. LIVE
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17.30 HEADLINES
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The Transport Minister, Steven Joyce, is to review the law that allows most disqualified drink drivers to get their licenses back without any assessment or treatment. The Transport Agency says at the moment convicted drink drivers suspended for up to five years, can get back behind the wheel without having to go through drink driving rehabilitation. Leilani Momoisea reports, PKG
North Korea, South Korea and the US are all expected to eyeball each other across the table as they sit down to talks at the ASEAN meeting in Vietnam. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has arrived in Hanoi and is expected to seek regional support for Seoul, ahead of large scale joint naval drills due to begin later this month. ASEAN is the biggest security conference for the Asia / Pacific region, bringing together the foreign ministers from over 20 countries including New Zealand and Australia. The ABC's Linda Mottram is in Hanoi and joins us now. LIVE
Environmentalists and marine farmers are squaring up for a fight as the Government lifts a prohibition on fin fish aquaculture. Up to now only salmon aquaculture has been allowed in addition to mussels and oysters, but Government moves will now allow other fish species to be grown in coastal waters. Environmental groups are sounding alarm bells over possible pollution threates and they're promising to fight the move. Geoff Moffett reports. PKG
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17.45 TRAILS
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WAATEA
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The United Nations Special Rappateur on human rights for indigenous people is urging the Government to review its decision not to vest the ownership of the Urewera National Park to Tuhoe. The Government reassured the public that handing over the land wasn't an option, after its talks with the Iwi in May. The UN's James Anaya is in the country following up on a report written by his predecessor in 2008. The report was particularly damning of the then Labour Government's Foreshore and Seabed Act. Mr Anaya held a news conference in Auckland this afternoon, and joins us now. LIVE
A scientist who has carried out the first ever study of Antarctic octopus venom is investigating how it could be used to help design drugs to treat pain, allergies and cancer. Dr Bryan Fry from the University of Melbourne only discovered last year that all octopuses are venomous. He now wants to work out what makes their venom work in sub-zero temperatures. PRE REC
One of the Russians expelled from Moscow as part the biggest spy swap with the United States since the end of the Cold War has said he wants to return home. Igor Sutyagin was among four Russians exchanged for ten people who'd admitted working as Russian agents in America. The BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes reports from Moscow: VCR
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