Checkpoint FOR TUESDAY 20 DECEMBER 2011
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1700 to 1707 NEWS
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The owners of the worst quake damaged homes in Canterbury may have to wait up to four years for their houses to be fixed. There are around one hundred thousand homes which will cost more than ten thousand dollars to repair. And today the Earthquake Commission announced they won't all be fixed until 2015. Rachel Graham reports. PKG
The small community of Cable Bay north of Nelson is opening up again tomorrow after being cut off by slips triggered by last week's floods. It will be the first time in six days that local people are able to get in and out,. And in Nelson itself, some people have been allowed back into their flood hit homes, though only very briefly. Our reporter in Nelson Geoff Moffett joins us now. Q&A
The Labour Party is urging the Prime Minister to properly investigate the handling of the controversy involving a school adviser on national standards, who had been stood down from a previous job. John Key says he will look into the way his former Education Minister, Anne Tolley, has dealt with the matter. Here's our political editor Brent Edwards. Q&A
The world is waiting to see if the transfer of power from North Korea's Kim Jong Il to his son will be a smooth transition. The elder Kim had ruled since 1994 leading the country through a devastating famine while frustrating the US and other global powers with on-off talks on nuclear weapons. His death has not only unsettled the United States but also North Korea's neighbours, South Korea and Japan which have put their armed forces on full alert. And there are few clues as to whether Kim Jong Un will maintain his father's hardline stance. The BBC's John Sudworth in the South Korean capital Seoul and sent this report: PKG
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1720 TRAILS AND BUSINESS WITH
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A judge has described the Auckland fund manager, Peter Huljich, as negligent or reckless before fining him more than one hundred thousand dollars for misleading Kiwisaver investors. Huljich, and his company Huljich Wealth Management, published graphs which appeared to show their kiwisaver fund was outperforming others, when it was actually Huljich's own money that was propping it up. Natalie Mankelow was in court for their sentencing. PKG
An initial investigation says a helicopter crash on Auckland's waterfront was caused by a supervisor tightening a cable which then hit the rotor blades. The chopper plummeted to the ground while trying to put up a large metal Christmas tree last month, but the pilot escaped without injuries. A Civil Aviation Authority spokesperson, Emma Peel, says a rigging supervisor jumped up and grabbed a cable from the bottom of the helicopter to try unhook it. PREREC
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17.30 HEADLINES
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It's been revealed that the man accused of sending a forged email to an inquiry into a triple air fatality was a Civil Aviation Authority safety investigation manager at the time. Peter Kirker, who is 52, has been charged with forgery and attempting to pervert the course of justice and his name suppression lapsed today. He resigned from Civil Aviation a few days ago. His lawyer appeared today as the inquest resumed into the mid-air crash near Paraparaumu that killed two men in a helicopter and one in a plane in 2008. Our Court reporter Ann Marie May was there and she joins us now. Q&A
The Green and Mana parties are calling for the wording of the oath used when MPs are sworn in, to be changed. The 50th Parliament was formally opened today, and MPs were sworn in, reading either an oath or declaration of allegiance to the Queen. MPs then re-elected the National Party list MP, Doctor Lockwood Smith, as Speaker. Our political reporter Clare Pasley was there. PKG
The Law Society is warning there'll be more car boot lawyers not fewer as a result of the new fixed fees announced today for criminal legal aid. The society's President Jonathan Temm says the rates are so low that good senior lawyers are unlikely to want to continue doing legal aid. He says the Ministry of Justice hasn't listened and the new system is not sustainable. PREREC
With us now is the Ministry of Justice's Acting Deputy Secretary of the Legal Services Group, Stuart White. LIVE
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17.45 MANU KORIHI
Tēnā koutou katoa,
The Department of Corrections has carried out a review and rewrite of its Māori Therapeutic Programme - which has been running for six years.
The scheme teaches inmates how to alter their thoughts, attitudes and behaviour that led to their offending.
Corrections says the programme is now designed, developed and delivered entirely by Māori providers that supply the service in jails.
A Department executive, Neil Campbell, says the scheme is packaged from a Māori point of view, as opposed to a strictly western model.
He says the programme gets prisoners to open up and examine their crimes.
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Neil Campbell.
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Northland's Ngāpuhi people are making progress in talks on who should represent them in settling their massive Treaty claim.
The board created by the Ngāpuhi rūnanga to negotiate a settlement ran into opposition earlier this year, from a number of hapū who said it did not fairly represent the iwi.
A Ngāti Hine spokesperson, Pita Tipene, says the working party set up to resolve the issues, Te Roopu Wha-iti, has met three times since September and the talks have been productive.
He says the working group hopes to report its proposals to Ngāpuhi at the end of January, and discuss them with the Minister of Treaty Settlements, Chris Finlayson, around Waitangi Day.
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Niwa says it's surprised that the results of a survey conducted in two regions found Māori didn't rely heavily on traditional food sources.
The organisation started the study, Risk Assessment of Contaminants in Traditional Food Sources about four years ago.
Data was collected from parts of the Bay of Plenty and South Canterbury.
The project manager, Dr Ngaire Phillips, says in Canterbury members of Te Rūnanga o Arowhenua and checked levels of contaminates such as heavy metals or pesticides in kai - including trout, eel and flounder.
Doctor Phillips says the results show there's no greater risk of developing cancer through gathering and eating wild kai in the two regions scientists examined.
She says the big revelation was that not many Māori were gathering food traditionally.
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Dr Ngaire Phillips of Niwa.
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The Māori language Commission is celebrating its 25th anniversary next year with the theme Arohatia Te Reo, or cherish the language.
Te Taura Whiri i te Reo hopes the new brand will provide a means by which people of all walks of life can demonstrate their love and regard for the language.
The Commission's Chief Executive, Glenis Philip-Barbara, says the success of this year's theme of manaakitanga, or hospitality, and the feedback about its appropriateness especially while hosting the Rugby World Cup was a factor in selecting Arohatia Te Reo as a theme for next year.
That's Te Manu Korihi news, I'll have a further bulletin in an hour.
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To Papua New Guinea now where the country's political stalemate appears to be over after the governor-general switched allegiances and recognised Peter O'Neill as prime minister. But his rival Sir Michael Somare continues to maintain he's still the legitimate leader. With the latest the ABC's Liam Fox is on the line now from Port Moresby. LIVE
Christmas Day appears to be dangerous for many New Zealanders with people falling foul of things from pogo sticks through to the traditional festive ham. ACC says it accepted claims for numerous ham-related injuries including carving mishaps and muscle strain. Last year there was 3-thousand and 40 injury claims for Christmas Day injures, which has so far cost nearly 2 million dollars. Stephanie Melville from ACC is with us now. LIVE