Checkpoint FOR WEDNESDAY 18 MAY 2011
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1700 to 1707 NEWS
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Customs has seized a huge amount of a rare drug they say is a dangerous, Class A hallucinogen. They found 18 kilograms of the drug DMT or dimethyltryptamine at a house in Blenheim.
DMT's used by South American shamans in their rituals and has triggered recent warnings in British tabloid press about its trafficking there. But Customs here know little about it, including how much this seizure's worth or who is being supplied. Shane Panettiere is their manager of investigations. PREREC
Telstra Clear says the companies building the ultra-fast broadband network could still charge high prices for broadband despite a move to manage the roll-out. The Government has backtracked on a plan that would have stopped the Commerce Commission from policing any anti-competitive behaviour. The commission will now be able to control wholesale broadband prices over the next eight and a half years. Natalie Mankelow compiled this report beginning with the campaign against a regulatory holiday. PKG
Dan Carter, has re-signed with the New Zealand Rugby Union for the next four years. He will continue playing for the Crusaders until the end of the 2015 season, and has the option of taking a playing or non-playing sabbatical as part of his contract. The first-five has had numerous offers for overseas clubs after this year's World Cup, some of them involving significant sums of money, but he says the lure of the All Black Jersey was too strong. PREREC
The defection of Fiji's Lieutenant Colonel Ratu Tevita Mara to Tonga is another sign of the tensions at play within the region, as well as inside Fiji itself according to New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister.
Murray McCully made the comments in Washington during a visit with America's Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Fiji has sent an extradition request for Colonel Mara to Tonga, who has been charged with sedition, but the Colonel fears he won't be given a fair trial. Mr McCully says a close eye is being kept on the situation.
CUT And Hillary Clinton was singing from the same songsheet.
CUT Our correspondent in Washington is Daniel Ryntjes. PREREC
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1720 TRAILS AND BUSINESS WITH
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The Labour Party stepped up its attacks today on the National-led Government over its policies and the high cost of living, on the eve of its third budget. Here's our political reporter Liz Banas. PKG
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17.30 HEADLINES
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Trimble Navigation's says it's determined to stay in Christchurch despite its main building being gutted by a blaze which also injured three fire-fighters. They were hurt when part of the second storey floor in the Addington building collapsed and there are suggestions it may have been weakened by earthquake damage. Corrine Haines is the managing director of Trimble Navigation and she's with us now.
LIVE
More now on Dan Carter's decision to stay playing in New Zealand for the next four years. He's one of the world's most sought-after rugby players. But Carter says he turned down some significant offers from overseas clubs because he wants to continue playing for the All Blacks. As part of his contract, the 29-year-old can also take a playing or non-playing sabbatical, like he did with French club Perpignan in 2008. The chief executive of the NZRU, Steve Tew, joins us now. LIVE
Former Auckland mayor and Cabinet Minister John Banks has confirmed he'll run for Act in the Epsom seat at Novembers election. He'll need the party's nod, but that's all but certain in the seat which the party's deposed leader Rodney Hide held to save Act from annihilation at the last election. Mr Banks joins us now. LIVE
Between April and June 1994, an estimated 800-thousand Rwandans were murdered in the space of 100 days and today, two of the most senior men responsible have been found guilty of genocide crimes. Army chief, Augustine Bizi-mun-gu, has been given 30 years in jail. The head of the paramilitary police was also found guilty but released as he had already served eleven years in jail. The ABC's Simon Santo reports. PKG
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17.45 WAATEA
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The Government's taking a step towards opening up ACC to competition by splitting off its disputes resolution service.
The service, which itself has been expanding as more and more claimants challenge accident compensation rulings, is to be turned into an independent Crown Entity. The ACC Minister Nick Smith says the Government is also working on the detailed reforms needed to allow private insurers to compete against ACC and to extend the accredited employers scheme. CUT Helen Kelly who heads up the council of trade unions was a speaker earlier today at an ACC conference addressing the arguments around privatisation. She joins us now. LIVE
The Moriori community is shocked and saddened after an ancient Moriori tree carving, aged between two-hundred and five-hundred years old, was vandalised at a Historic Reserve on the Chatham Islands. The carving, of a human figure, has been slashed, possibly with a machete. The chair of the Hokotehi (ho-k-tea-he) Moriori Trust, Shirley King, says the rakau momori tree carvings in the reserve are extremely significant for all of New Zealand. PREREC