Checkpoint FOR MONDAY 7 MARCH 2011
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1700 to 1707 NEWS
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The Prime Minister, John Key, has just announced that a national memorial service to mark the Christchurch earthquake will be held in the city on Friday March the 18th.TP Mr Key also wants flags on Government buildings to be raised from half mast at 12.51 tomorrow, exactly two weeks after the earthquake.Our political editor, Brent Edwards, is with me now.Q AND A
There's been a major setback to getting power on to 99 per cent of customers outside Christchurch's central business district.The power company Orion says overnight the only major cable it had been able to reconnect from the Brighton zone substation failed again. The company's chief executive - Roger Sutton - joins us now:LIVE
Business confidence has tumbled to a two-year low blamed mainly on the Christchurch earthquake.The BNZ's monthly confidence survey, which polled 456 respondents last week, found a net 20 per cent expect the economy to get worse in the coming year.The result is a complete turnaround from early last month, when 22 percent expected the economy to improve. The bank's chief economist, Tony Alexander, joins us now.LIVE
The police say post-mortems on the 166 known victims of the quake will be completed in the next few days, but they say it could be years before all victims are formally identified.Our reporter Jessica Maddock was at the latest media briefing.Q AND A
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1720 TRAILS AND BUSINESS WITH Naomi Mitchell
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A covert British SAS mission to Libya has ended up a debacle, with the unit caught, detained and told to go home.It's understood the small group of commandos were escorting British diplomats who were trying to contact leaders of the anti-Gaddafi forces.The ABC's London correspondent, Rachel Brown, reports.PKG
Rocky, the thirty tonne boulder, that became an online sensation, has raised 60-thousand dollars in a Trade Me auction.The rock crashed through Phil Johnson's garage and into his house in Heathcote Valley during the Christchurch quake and the money raised will go towards the earthquake appeal.The winning bid was 50-thousand dollars from N Z Ski, but the next highest bidder still donated their ten-thousand dollar bid to the fund.James Coddington is the chief executive of N Z Ski, he's on the line now along with Rocky's former owner Phil Johnson. DBL LIVERS
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17.30 HEADLINES
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The police say post-mortems on the 166 known victims of the quake will be completed in the next few days, but they say it could be years before all victims are formally identified.Acting chief Coroner Gordon Matenga joins us now:LIVE
The Christchurch earthquake looks to have dashed hopes of a pickup in household spending this year.Now the economy must rely on exports to provide any growth. Luckily, New Zealand's two top export markets - Australia and China - have been among the world's fastest growing in the past couple of years. Our economics correspondent, Nigel Stirling, looks at prospects for those two key markets for New Zealand exporters in 2011. PKG And the second part of Nigel's series (tomorrow) looks at prospects for New Zealand's third biggest export market, the United States.
The Inland Revenue Department isn't confident that embattled Wellington property developer, Terry Serepisos, will get the loan he says he's negotiated to sort out his financial problems.The Department was in court today arguing that five Serepisos companies, including the one that owns the Phoenix football team, should be put into liquidation.IRD is owed three and a half million dollars - our reporter, Catherine Hutton was at the High Court in Wellington.PRE REC
Samoa's long-standing government has been returned to power but with a reduced majority, thought to be the result of voter anger over its mismanagement of tsunami relief funds.A large chunk of the comfortable majority held by the ruling Human Rights Protection Party was seized by the strong opposition Tautua (TOE-too-uh) Samoa Party.Three key ministers lost their seats.Radio New Zealand International's Megan Whelan filed this report from Apia. PKG
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17.45 WAATEA
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Five schools reopened in Christchurch today but at one of them only half the pupils turned up.Governors Bay School is close to Lyttelton, the epicentre of last month's earthquake.Lots of students and their families have left town to stay with friends and family in other parts of the country.Conan Young visited the primary school today and spoke to parents, pupils and their teachers.PKG
More now from today's post cabinet news conference where the Prime Minister announced that a national memorial service to mark the Christchurch earthquake will be held in the city on Friday March the 18th.TP
Aucklanders have taken to their ovens, baking and selling sweet treats to raise money for the people of Christchurch. A group of volunteers sold about 2-thousand cakes in the central city today, collecting more than 8-thousand dollars for the Red Cross earthquake appeal. Claire Martin filed this report. PKG
The former French president Jacques Chirac will go on trial in Paris later today, charged with misusing public funds while he was mayor of the city. Mr Chirac is accused of using public money to pay friends and allies between 1977 and 1995, but he's always denied any wrong doing.From Paris, Christian Fraser reports. PKG