Checkpoint FOR FRIDAY 9 JUNE 2011
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1700 to 1707 NEWS
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The family of 72 year old man killed by a driver in the grip of a manic depressive episode say they want answers from mental health services. Cornelis Klein has admitted he caused the car smash which instantly killed Roden Plimmer on the North Shore in February last year. He's been found NOT guilty of manslaughter because of insanity and is now a special patient at Auckland's Mason Clinic.Mr Plimmer's son-in-law Scott Graham says Mr Klein was not getting a high enough dose of his medication lithium. And he says the family want someone held accountable. PKG
Dr Ian Goodwin is a forensic psychiatrist who assessed Mr Klein and recommended he be made a special patient. He says he was last treated at a psychiatric hospital in 2008 and then discharged into the care of GP the following year. PREREC
The country's busiest emergency department says it's running out of time to prepare for a huge influx of drunk patients during the Rugby World Cup. Auckland City Hospital expects up to two-hundred and seventy (270) patients a day during the tournament - (180) fifty percent more than on a regular Saturday night. But it's having to cope without any extra funding for it. Cushla Norman reports: PKG
Syria's pressing ahead with its ruthless and violent crackdown on dissidents apparently oblivious to mounting international pressure. Refugees now in their thousands are fleeing across the border into Turkey which has called on its neighbour to heed the demands of its citizens. A draft United Nations resolution condemns the repression and demands humanitarian access. The ABC's Michael Vincent reports PKG
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1720 TRAILS AND BUSINESS WITH
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Some people who can't afford pay-television or a set-top box will be offered a subsidy, so they're not left with only static on their screens. The Government today announced exactly when New Zealand television will go digital, when old analogue TV sets will no longer work. Jessica Horne has more. PKG
A group of scientists have discovered what appears to be part of the world-famous White Terraces in Lake Rotomahana near Rotorua. The cascading Pink and White Terraces were considered the eighth wonder of the world, but were thought to have been destroyed by the eruption of Mount Tarawera 125 years ago. About 200 members of the local iwi spent part of today on the mountain to commemorate the anniversary of its eruption. A section of the Pink Terraces was discovered earlier this year but the projects leader, Cornel de Ronde (core-NELL de ROND), of GNS Science, says they only realised they'd also found the White Terraces weeks after the mapping was finished. PREREC
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17.30 HEADLINES
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The cash-strapped Christchurch City Council is proposing bumping up rates by more than seven percent. The council's costs have risen, and its income has dropped as a result of February's earthquake. It plans to impose an earthquake levy to help fund this. One of the big ticket items it faces is propping up its ailing events management company. Our reporter, Bridget Mills, has been at today's council meeting where the draft annual plan has been discussed at length, and she joins us now Q&A
The debate over how many US troops should be withdrawn from Afghanistan next month as part of Barack Obama's promised withdrawal continues to rage in America. In an apparent break with his predecessor the incoming Defence Secretary Leon Panetta today backed a significant pullout.
The ABC's Jane Cowan reports from Washington : PKG
Provincial local bodies could be stripped of their ability to issue building consents. The government is considering changes to the Building Act so that consents are issued from only a few main centres or even just one central hub. Ben Robinson reports. PKG
A former Fiji army commander now living in Australia is defending inviting a high ranking army fugitive to a democracy forum this weekend despite the man's recent close links to the current military regime. Colonel Tevita Mara fled to Tonga last month after being charged with plotting to overthrow Commodore Frank Baimimarama. Colonel Mara wants to come to New Zealand but a Fijian pro-democracy group here is opposed saying he's recently been the commander of a division that's been carrying out torture, rape and murder. Former Colonel Jone Baledrokadroka was sacked by the Commodore before the 2006 coup - he says he's aware some people are sceptical about Tevita Mara's new found fondness for democracy.
PREREC
Auckland's mayor appears to have ended years of conflict over where a new terminal for the multi-million dollar cruise ship industry will go, only to face new criticism for blocking off part of the waterfront to the public. Len Brown says Queens Wharf will be the new terminal base for the next 10 to 15 years, making the announcement before it's gone out for consultation or to the council. Eileen Cameron reports. PKG
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17.45 WAATEA
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Two uncrewed spacecraft launched in the 1970's are now approaching the edge of our solar system. The Voyager craft have gone where no human made objects have been before and now they are about to travel beyond the reach of the Sun.
The BBC's David Shuckman reports from NASA's control room in California : PKG
While Libya's opposition has been promised more than a-billion dollars in aid, their fighters on the ground claim that they are poised to make a push further west towards Tripoli. They hope a make an advance west of Misrata, a city which has seen some of the fiercest battle since the conflict began. The BBC's David Loyn sent this report from Misrata: . VCR