Checkpoint FOR TUESDAY 7 FEBRUARY 2012
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1700 to 1707 NEWS
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Households' electricity bills are expected to rise by up to ten per cent this year, because of upgrades to the national grid. Power retailers say they're having to pass on hikes by the grid's operator, Transpower, as well as being hit by other financial pressures. And it won't end there, with Transpower saying it'll raise its grid charges still further. Olivia Wix reports.
PKG
The Syrian government has mounted its bloodiest attack yet as it tries to crush any signs of rebellion. The city of Homs has been pounded by a heavy and sustained assault with hundreds of shells and mortars being fired into populated areas. Activists say 50 people have been killed in the latest bombardment. The BBC's Paul Wood has managed to get into Homs from where he sent this report. PKG
New Zealand is to formally express its dismay to the Syrian government about the bloodshed. The Foreign Affairs Minister, Murray McCully has denounced the killings by Syrian government forces as reprehensible and deserving of the strongest condemnation. Mr McCully is with us now. LIVE
Already under pressure from the Māori Party, the Government's come under sustained attack from the Opposition today over State asset sales. Parliament resumed for the year, with MPs from Labour, the Greens, New Zealand First and Mana all taking aim at the planned sell-off of minority stakes in four state-owned energy companies. Our political reporter, Julian Robins, listened to the debate. PKG
Listening to that is our Political Editor Brent Edwards. LIVE
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1720 TRAILS AND BUSINESS WITH Sharon Brettkelly
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The lawyer for an Auckland father jailed for three years for his part in the abuse of his nine-year-old daughter says the man wants his children back. The parents, who have name suppression to protect the identity of their child, are now both behind bars for carrying out what the authorities have called systematic and horrific abuse against the girl. The case prompted the Government to commission an independent report into child abuse. Sam Morrah reports. PKG
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17.30 HEADLINES
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In the the last hour the Māori Council has filed its claim for New Zealand water resources which could lead to everyone having to pay for their water . The claim was presented to the offices of the Waitangi Tribunal by the council solicitor Donna Hall and the secretary of the Māori Council Tata Parata. The council has asked for an urgent hearing, saying the Government's plan to partially privatise electricity companies could undermine its case. Meanwhile the Māori Council confirms that if it wins its case, people could have to pay for the water they use . Eric Frykberg reports. PKG
To Australia now, where a dirt levee is holding back record floodwaters threatening the southern Queensland town of St George. And in several other towns, hundreds of people are stranded and could be cut off by the flooding for up to two months. The ABC's Kerrin Binnie is in St George and he joins us now. LIVE
The Government has ruled out intervening in the Kapiti Coast District Council, despite the demands of hundreds of protestors. About 300 Kapiti ratepayers picketed the council's offices in Paraparaumu this morning. They want a Crown observer brought in, and for the chief executive, Patrick Doughety, to hand back his 44-thousand-dollar, 18 percent pay rise. This follows protests in Christchurch which led to the chief executive there eventually having to reconsider his 68-thousand dollar pay rise. The Government did appoint a Crown observer at the Christchurch City Council - but the Local Government Minister, Nick Smith, says he won't do the same in Kapiti. CUT Nick Smith says he plans to introduce a package of reforms to help councils cut their costs - but he's not saying when that will happen. A protestor and a former Kapiti regional councillor, Chris Turver, joins us now. LIVE
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17.45 MANU KORIHI
Kia ora Mary, huri noa te motu whānui tēnā koutou katoa,
The editor of a regional newspaper has apologised to a Taranaki language lecturer, for reporting that he compared the colonisation of New Zealand to the extermination of six million Jews.
Te Reo o Taranaki tutor, Keri Ōpai, was part of the Radio New Zealand panel discussion about Waitangi Day at Puke Ariki museum in New Plymouth over the weekend.
He said he was comparing the plight of his Parihaka ancestors to a holocaust because their houses were burnt down by the colonial troops in the 1880s - and many innocent people were killed, including mothers and their babies.
Mr Ōpai says although the Taranaki Daily News has now apologised over the fabrications it made, the damage has already been done.
HOLOCAUST-APOLOGY-TP
IN:........WHAT I WAS TALKING...
OUT:...ABOUT THE HOLOCAUST.
DUR:..16"
Keri Ōpai.
The Taranaki Daily News says it has since retracted the Jewish comparison to the Holocaust it made, and published an apology.
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The future ownership of New Zealand's only privately owned Māori meeting house, is uncertain.
Te Tiki a Tamamutu built near Taupō more than a hundred and 40 years ago, was put out to tender in October last year.
Heugh Chappell reports:
WHARE OWNERSHIP VCR
IN.......THE WHARE WHAKAIRO
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The Corrections Department says the first rehabilitation and re-integration unit for Māori prisoners, is achieving everything the department hoped it would.
Te Whare Oranga Ake which is located just outside the main wire of Hawke's Bay Regional prison south west of Hastings, opened in late July last year.
The unit is designed to give inmates the skills to cope with everyday life outside jail.
The Department's Rehabilitation and Re-Integration Manager, Alison Thom, says after a few teething problems, the partnership between inmates, a Māori community provider and prison services is now working really well.
She says over the past two months the programmes being run have really started to have a positive impact on inmates.
Alison Thom says her goal is to take the methods of re-integration at the whare which are proving successful, and apply them in all prisons.
That's Te Manu Korihi news I'll have a further bulletin in an hour.
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Rescuers in the Philippines are digging through rubble with shovels and their bare hands for dozens of people missing after a powerful earthquake. Aftershocks are still rattling the central island provinces of Negros and Cebu following the 6-point-8-magnitude quake. Our correspondent in the Philippines is Girlie Linao. LIVE
Papua New Guinea's Transport Minister says he foresaw last Thursday's ferry disaster given the state of the country's vessels and the complacent attitude towards safety. Francis Awesa (ah-waysa) wants Australian help to carry out an independent investigation into the sinking which has left six people dead and more than a hundred missing. 246 people were rescued. He says he's getting rid of the system where shipping companies sit on the maritime boards which allocate operating licences and oversee safety. Mr Awesa says the ferry was overloaded and carrying at least 40 more people than it should have been. PREREC
Countries from Albania to Australia are marking 200 years since the famous English novelist Charles Dickens was born. And in London itself there'll be a ceremony at his grave in Westminster Abbey, led by the Prince of Wales. The BBC's Vincent Dowd examines his legacy : PKG