Checkpoint FOR THURSDAY 16 AUGUST 2012
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1700 to 1707 NEWS
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The fishing company Sanford may pull out of using its American port now it's been found guilty by a US jury of dumping oily waste into the waters off American Samoa and falsifying log books. It could be fined up to three million US dollars, and will be sentenced in November. Sanford's managing director Eric Barratt says the company hasn't decided yet whether to appeal or not. PREREC
The pilot of the skydiving plane that crashed killing nine people at Fox Glacier had a history of illegal stunts, according to the CAA. Alan Daley of the Civil Aviation Authority told an inquest this afternoon that this showed a lack of professionalism on the part of the pilot, Chaminda Senadhira. The inquest's also been told that the designer in charge of modifying the topdressing plane, David McGill, did not include instructions in the flight manual for carrying passengers in it. Our reporter Conan Young is covering the hearing in Greymouth. LIVE
An experienced skydiver whose parachute failed to open properly above Motueka this afternoon has been badly injured. The Taupō man, who is 35, is in a stable condition in Nelson Hospital, with possible damage to his back. He was jumping as part of the Good Vibes skydiving festival this week, when two to three thousand jumps will be made by visiting sports skydivers. But this one went wrong. Stuart Bean, who runs Skydive Abel Tazman which hosts the festival, explains how. PREREC
Parliament's Speaker Lockwood Smith has given the Social Development Minister a severe telling off as she tried to answer questions on poverty this afternoon. Paula Bennett faced trenchant criticism from Labour MPs over her record on reducing poverty and her behaviour did not impress Dr Smith. Here's our political editor Brent Edwards. PKG
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1720 TRAILS AND BUSINESS WITH Kate Gudsell
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A new survey has found just under half of all pensioners cannot afford retirement. More than 500 people over the age of 65 were questioned last month by Westpac Bank and Massey University for the Financial Education and Research Centre. Olivia Wix reports. PKG
British authorities are threatening to raid the Ecuadorian embassy in London if the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange isn't handed over. Ecuador says it wants to give the Mr Assange asylum, but Britain is refusing to provide him with safe passage, meaning he will be arrested as soon as he leaves the embassy. The ABC's Simon Santow has this report PKG
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17.30 HEADLINES
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The government has moved to reduce the death toll in the commercial fishing industry which has an injury rate double that of mining. And commercial fishermen say they're on-board with the new action plan. Kelly Spring was at the launch. PKG
A case involving serious allegations of sexual and physical abuse has been brought to an end by the trial judge, who ruled evidence from the children involved was too unreliable to go before the jury. The children's parents and another man had been before the High Court in Wellington for almost two weeks on multiple charges of abusing eight children.
A fourth accused was discharged last week due to lack of evidence. Our Court reporter Ann Marie May has been following the trial. PREREC
The High Court has ruled America's Federal Bureau of Investigation must let the MegaUpload founder, Kim Dotcom, see evidence to be used against him in his extradition case. Justice Winkelmann has just released her ruling on a request by the Crown, representing the FBI, for a review of an earlier court order to disclose evidence in the case. This ruling comes on the same day Mr Dotcom is in court, seeking to have his assets unfrozen so he can pay for his 2-point-7 million dollar legal bill. Bridget Mills is covering the case LIVE
New Zealand researchers say they've proved babies don't have a moral compass - a finding that casts doubt on a landmark 2007 Yale study which suggested infants could distinguish between 'goodies and baddies'. The American study provided the first evidence that 6 and 10 month olds could assess people's behaviour, appearing to show preference for someone who helped rather than hindered. Now, Otago University researchers say those findings may simply have been a result of babies' being drawn to attention-grabbing events. To explain, Dr Damian Scarf from Otago University is on the line now. LIVE
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17.45 MANU KORIHI
Ngā mihi Susie, e te marea tēnā koutou katoa,
The MP for the Māori electorate of Te Tai Hauāuru, Tariana Turia, is backing a local kaumātua who says a serial rapist will need help, when he settles in Whanganui.
Stewart Murray Wilson is being paroled in the city, causing some public outrage.
But Tariana Turia agrees with a local kaumātua, John Maihi, who believes the offender will need support.
BEAST-SUPPORT-TP
IN:.......I'M NOT SURPRISED...
OUT:...THERE AT HOME.
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Tariana Turia.
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There are hopes an annual report card on Māori success and failure in school will make the education sector work harder to support rangatahi.
The Auditor General has announced 5-years of checks on how well the education system is responding to Māori students.
The inquiry is supported by a Māori Advisory Group, which says for too long and for too many Māori, experiencing success at school has been an elusive imperative.
A member of the group Lorraine Kerr, welcomes yearly reviews - if they help improve Māori students achieve in class.
She says everyone needs to see the bigger picture, because Māori pupils are going to be the nation's workforce - so they need to do well in school.
Lorraine Kerr - of Ngāti Awa - is also the President of the School Trustees Association.
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A Bay of Plenty township school board charged with setting up a new area school has appointed a new principal for its Murupara Area School, which is due to open in January.
Murupara Primary School and Rangitahi College are to merge and become an area School, partly due to falling enrolment numbers.
Mandy Bird, the current principal of Murupara Primary, has been appointed as the principal of the new Murupara Area School.
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Chile's envoy to New Zealand says an epic waka voyage from Aotearoa to Easter Island, or Rapanui will bring the two countries even closer - despite being separated by the vast Pacific Ocean.
Two double hulled canoes carrying a crew of 24 will set sail from Auckland tomorrow morning - guided only by the moon the stars and the tides to complete the last leg of the Polynesian triangle.
Rapanui is a territory of Chile, governed from the mainland.
The Chilean Ambassador to New Zealand, Isauro Torres, says he's delighted about the Waka Tapu expedition because New Zealand and Chile will become even more united.
CHILE RAPANUI TP
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OUT:...ARE BOTH COUNTRIES.
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The Chilean Ambassador to New Zealand, Isauro Torres.
That's Te Manu Korihi news, I'll have a further bulletin in an hour.
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The Duke of Edinburgh has spent a night in hospital after being treated for a bladder infection. It's the third time in the past nine months ninety-one year old Prince Philip has been admitted to hospital. The BBC's Nicholas Witchell has more: PKG
A kiwi dad has been hailed a hero after saving his young from rising floodwaters, but here's the twist, in this case kiwi refers to the bird. As water began to flood Matt's enclosure, he raced to save his egg by piling leaves underneath it, and therefore raising it above the waterline. The North Island brown kiwi has been incubating an egg at Christchurch's Willowbank Wildlife Reserve for the past two weeks, assisted by his partner, Kamo. Willowbank's Head Keeper, Shaun Horan joins us now. LIVE
The National Party MP, Maggie Barry, is facing accusations her cross-party group on palliative care is simply being used as a front to oppose euthanasia. At least one MP is angry that the group's first meeting today was used to oppose a Labour Party member’s bill on assisted dying. Here's our political reporter, Tim Graham. PKG