Checkpoint FOR MONDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2010
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1700 to 1707 NEWS
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The Prime Minister wants to see international travel perks for MPs scrapped, and their expenses and allowances set by an independent body. This comes as the National MP for Botany, Pansy Wong faces a parliamentary services inquiry, after admitting her husband broke the rules by doing business on a taxpayer subsidised trip to China. Our parliamentary chief reporter, Jane Patterson, joins us now. Q&A
It's likely the Government will put millions of dollars into the fight to contain the kiwifruit vine disease PSA. Latest tests today have confirmed 13 orchards in the Te Puke area have vines affected by the bacterial disease. The Biosecurity Minister David Carter says urgent work is continuing to draw up an appropriate action plan. CUT Mr Carter says that aggressive programme of containment could include the removal and destruction of some vines, but no decisions have been made on the extent of that. So far kiwifruit vines outside that area have not tested positive, but Mr Carter is cautious about how widespread the disease might be. CUT Mr Carter will meet with industry representatives again on Wednesday.
A Te Puke kiwifruit grower battling the vine killing disease PSA has spoken for the first time about the outbreak which threatens the one point four billion dollar industry. Grower Russell West says he first noticed some spotting on leaves in October and sent samples off to a horticulture consultant. CUT Mr West says his staff have since been busy trying to cut out the infected parts of the orchard. CUT Mr West doesn't know what will happen from here, but says it was terrifying finding out what the disease was. CUT Listening to that is the president of the Kiwifruit Growers Association, Peter Ombler. LIVE
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1720 TRAILS AND BUSINESS WITH
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The Community Probation Service says it is treating the convicted double murderer David Tamihere as a high risk offender. After more than two decades behind bars, Tamihere walked out of Spring Hill prison early this morning to an undisclosed address. The 57 year old still denies killing the Swedish backpackers Heidi Paakkonen and Urban Hoglin, in Coromandel in 1989. The Probation Service says it will cost more than 25-thousand dollars a year to monitor him. Its general manager, Katrina Casey, says probation officers will be taking no chances. PRE-REC
September was a big month for furniture and appliance retailers as shoppers spent up on big ticket items before the GST increase. The splurge contributed to a lift in retail spending of zero-point-eight per cent in the three months to the end of September. But, those sectors that experienced a September boom have felt a corresponding bust in the month and a half since. Will Hine reports. PKG
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17.30 HEADLINES
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The Labour Party has released documents showing that two companies are registered at the same address as the National MP Pansy Wong's electorate office in Auckland. Pansy Wong quit the Cabinet after admitting her husband had broken the rules by doing business on a taxpayer subsidised trip to China last year. Records show that the company, Sampan Enterprise Limited, of which her husband Sammy is the sole director and shareholder, is registered at the same Chapel Road address as the Botany MPs electorate office. Another company, Shipley and Wong Limited, is also registered to that address. With us now is the Labour MP, Pete Hodgson who first questioned Ms Wong's travel arrangements. LIVE
The Australian Government is now providing emergency support to Papua New Guinea after the outbreak of cholera on Daru Island, in PNG's Western Province. The disease first hit on PNG's north coast in August last year, and has spread to several parts of the country, infecting 9000 thousand people and killing about 80. The infection surfaced in Daru, which is one of the closest towns to Australia, three weeks ago, and local health authorities are struggling to cope. The ABC's Liam Fox has been in Daru. LIVE
Living in an overcrowded house is a key risk factor for acute rheumatic fever - a third world disease that is rampant in New Zealand and getting worse. It's especially rife amongst Māori and Pacific Islanders - and starts with a throat infection that left untreated can cause chronic rheumatic heart disease. The study published in the Paediatric Infectious Diseases Journal was carried out by Dr Richard Jaine from Otago University's public health department. He says the link between overcrowding and rheumatic fever has been talked about for a long time but never proved. PRE-REC
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17.45 WAATEA
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A Far North tour operator has been arrested and charged with trespass, for allegedly using a beach road over Māori land. The arrest follows months of dispute between Greg Hall of TuaTua Tours, and the Kohanga Trust, which owns land at Shipwreck Bay at the south end of Ninety Mile Beach. Our reporter, Lois Williams, has been covering the story. She joins us now. Q&A
The three West Coast mayors have revealed plans for a buddy system for GPs willing to fill the region's long standing shortage. Doctors recruited will be paired with a local person to break them into interests such as fishing and hunting. On the line to explain the plan is the Grey District mayor Tony Kokshoorn. LIVE
The next few days could be critical in deciding the future of one of the world's most colourful political leaders, the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Last week he lost his first votes in Parliament, today four government ministers are expected to resign and in the coming days, he's likely to face at least two crucial votes of confidence. As Mark Duff reports from Milan, the once sure-footed Prime Minister seems to have lost his touch. PKG
Prince William - second-in-line to the British throne - has paid a surprise visit to British troops on active duty in Afghanistan. The prince, who himself serves in the Royal Air Force, laid a Remembrance Day wreath at a memorial service at Camp Bastion, in Afghanistan's Helmand Province. The BBC's, Paul Wood, watched as the prince greeted some old comrades. PKG