Checkpoint FOR TUESDAY 18 DECEMBER 2012
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1700 to 1707 NEWS
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Emergency Services are tonight at the scene of two deadly car crashes in Tokoroa, which have killed seven people. Three of those are believed to be young children. Our reporter Olivia Wix has been following developments. IV
The National-led Government is hiking the petrol tax over the next three years. Without that its books could have been worse off by hundreds of millions of dollars. It says increasing the petrol tax by nine cents per litre over the next three years will help the public finances get back to surplus by 2014-15. That, together with a Cabinet decision not to cut ACC levies, will add more than four hundred million dollars to the Government's coffers. If that money was not available the half-yearly economic and fiscal update out today could not have forecast a tiny 66 million dollar surplus in 2014-15. Here's the Finance Minister, Bill English. IV
Listening to that is our political editor Brent Edwards IV
The Supreme Court has come down on the side of the Pākehā wife of a Māori man whose Tūhoe family snatched his body away from her to bury in the Bay of Plenty. The five year legal battle over the burial of James Takamore has ended with common law trumping Māori protocol. It will now be up to Christchurch woman Denise Clarke where she buries her husband, though a last-ditch attempt will be made to get her and the Takamore families to agree. Mr Takamore's sister Josephine who filed the Supreme Court appeal, says it will be a collective family decision what to do next and she won't say if they'll let her brother's body go. Neither she nor her lawyer would come on Checkpoint. Gary Knight is the lawyer for Denise Clark. I asked him what her reaction is to the Supreme Court decision. IV
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1720 TRAILS AND BUSINESS WITH Sharon Brettkelly
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Fijians living in the Rewa delta just east of Suva are being told to evacuate to higher ground before it gets dark after the river reached a critical level in the wake of Cyclone Evan. The Rewa delta includes the large town of Nausori. The Cyclone is moving south away from Fiji leaving behind hundreds of damaged houses and about 8-thousand people holed up in evacuation centres. There are no reports of serious injuries or fatalities. But roofs have been blown off, power lines are down, and many people still have their water and phones cut off, especially in the west around Lautoka and Nadi, though the main road to Suva has been cleared. Taxi driver Daniel Paul lives in Lautoka - we spoke to him yesterday as 200 kilometre per hour winds battered his home - today he is taking stock. IV
A fraudster who stole more than three million dollars from his victims, including former casino executives, and the president of the National Party, has been sentenced to eight years in jail. Most of the money was lost in a bogus bid to buy Sky City Casino. Our reporter Mani Dunlop was at the sentencing. PKG
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17. 30 HEADLINES
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The latest now from Tokoroa on the two deadly car crashes which have killed seven people. Inspector Steve Bullock is with us now IV
The Ombudsman's office is accusing the Ministry of Education of telling the Christchurch City Council to hide information about school closures and it will now investigate how the ministry deals with official information. It says schools and their communities should not have to ferret out details and the Ministry's behaviour indicates a fundamental misunderstanding of the Act and inflexible policies. And it says the Ministry might not be alone. The Ombudsman David McGee is with us now. IV
Six year old Jack Pinto has been buried in Connecticut wearing his favourite football jersey. He is one of the 20 children and six adults murdered in the Sandy Hook elementary school massacre. Also laid to rest today was six year old Noah Pozner. They were the first in what will be a week of memorial services and burials. The BBC's Zoe Conway is in Newtown and has the latest. CUT And the horror of the events has re-opened the debate about gun control in the US. President Obama has signalled change is needed, although the New York mayor Michael Bloomberg is taking a harder line. CUT But others insist on the right to carry weapons and even say teachers themselves should be armed - David Sweets is a teacher at a school in Texas where this happens. CUT President Obama has now met with three of his cabinet members to discuss how the law might change. More from the BBC's Mark Mardell in Connecticut. CUT
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17. 45 MANU KORIHI
Tēnā koutou katoa, good evening,
The Māori Council solicitor, Donna Hall, predicts its bid to debate Māori water rights in the Supreme Court could cost at least a quarter of a million dollars.
The Supreme Court's granted the Council and the Waikato River and Dams Claims Trust, a two-day hearing at the end of January.
The Council and the Trust lost their fight over Māori water rights in the High Court last week.
They want the government to delay its plan to sell shareholdings in some state owned assets including Mighty River Power, until Māori interests in water are resolved.
The Māori Council Solicitor, Donna Hall, says it plans on asking iwi for financial help to fund its case in the Supreme Court.
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The Māori Council Solicitor, Donna Hall.
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The Supreme Court's dismissed a claim that it was lawful for a family to take a relatives body from his wife and children in Christchurch, to bury in Bay of Plenty.
After James Takamore died in August 2007, his family from the North Island made a claim before the funeral to take his body.
They buried him at a Tūhoe family cemetery near Ōpōtiki.
After a five year legal battle, the Supreme Court has ruled against an appeal by Mr Takamore's sister, Josephine Takamore, that her family's actions were lawful.
It says Mr Takamore's widow, Denise Clarke, can now bury her late husband at a place of her choosing, but outstanding issues should be taken back to the High Court for resolution.
Josephine Takamore says it will be a collective family decision about what to do next, and she won't say if they'll let her brother's body go.
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Ngāti Kahungunu is reviewing its 21 year plan to revitalise the speaking of Te Reo Māori from Wairarapa to Northern Hawke's Bay.
Te Reo Director, Jeremy Tatere McLeod, says it's the first major review of progress since the tribe launched a strategic revitalisation plan in 2006.
He says there was a surprisingly good turnout at hui held yesterday in Napier and Wairoa, given how busy people are the week before Christmas.
Mr McLeod says many in Ngāti Kahungunu are "hui-ed" out, after what's been a huge year of discussions over partial state asset sales and Māori rights to water.
He says further hui are planned for early next year, to ensure Ngāti Kahungunu in all rohe can take part in the review.
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Three Taranaki iwi are to sign agreements with the Crown which will take them significantly closer towards finalising a Treaty settlement.
Representatives from Ngā Ruahine, Taranaki and Te Ātiawa are expected to sign provisional agreements with the Minister of Treaty Settlements, Chris Finlayson, on Saturday.
Juliet Larkin reports:
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That's Te Manu Korihi news, I'll have a further bulletin in an hour.
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The police say Sina Solomona, whose body was found near the back door to her house in the early hours of Saturday morning, died a violent death. The Ashburton woman shared the house with her three year old daughter, and seven other adults. The police say Ms Solomona appears to have known her killer. Detective Senior Sergeant John Rae is investigating the case . IV
Rowing, rugby sevens, and equestrian win gold in the latest round of high performance sports funding announced today while swimming has lost out. The Chief Executive of High Performance Sport, Alex Baumann (bow-man), is with us now. IV
Hundreds of mourners have paid their respects at a memorial service for the nurse who took a hoax call at the London hospital treating the Duchess of Cambridge. Jacintha Saldanha was found hanged three days after the call from two Australian radio presenters. The service was in her home town in India. Sanjoy Majumder is there for the BBC : PKG