Checkpoint FOR MONDAY 11 FEBRUARY 2013
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1700 to 1707 NEWS
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The pressure on house prices that's pushed them far above their previous peak in Auckland and Christchurch is now spreading to other centres. That's despite the Government and the Reserve Bank signalling their intent to reign them in. The latest January figures show that nationally the average price at 462 thousand dollars is now 2 point 6 percent above the high of the housing bubble in 2007. However in most places, if you sell now you'll still make a significant loss on those 2007 values. The research director for QV dot co dot nz Jonno Ingerson is with us now. IV
About half of Mainzeal Property's more than 400 staff have been made redundant and the other 200 or so's future remains up in the air. The receiver, Price-Waterhouse-Coopers, says any pay out to those made redundant will depend on what assets it can recover from the stricken building firm. Colin McCloy of PWC says they had to take urgent action, with the axe falling across a range of workers. IV
New Zealand could end up sending asylum seekers to the controversial Australian-run detention centres in Nauru, Papua New Guinea or on the Australian mainland. After meeting with the Australian Prime Minister at the weekend, John Key has announced a new deal under which New Zealand will take 150 asylum seekers from Australia detention centres. And Mr Key says if boatpeople start to make it to New Zealand, one option would be to make use of Australia's centres, where those people could be held and processed as potential refugees. He says New Zealand can't rule out the possibility that they'll eventually make it here in significant numbers. CUT Our parliamentary chief reporter, Jane Patterson was at the Prime Minister's post-cabinet news conference ...IV
An American whistle-blower who exposed Ponzi billionaire Bernie Madoff is talking with New Zealand's fraud police about adopting a US scheme that pays white-collar crime tipsters. Harry Markopolos (pron: MAR-co-po-lus) repeatedly warned US authorities about Madoff's multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme before the New Yorker's arrest in 2008. The Serious Fraud Office has been hearing from Mr Markopolos about the Investor Protection Fund which holds over half a billion dollars for whistle-blowers whose tips lead to prosecutions in the US. Simon McArley is the Acting Director of the SFO. CUT Simon McArley says over the last 18 months prosecutors here have dealt with several Ponzi schemes. Harry Markopolos was instrumental in getting the US Securities and Exchange Commission to set up its whistle-blower scheme two years ago. He’s with us now. IV
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1720 TRAILS AND BUSINESS WITH Kate Gudsell
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17.30 HEADLINES
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The TAB wants written assurances from Sonny Bill Williams' manager before it again offers bets on how many rounds one of his boxing matches will go for. The agency has refunded about four thousand dollars to angry punters after the advertised 12 round fight in Queensland suddenly changed to a ten round match. It’s the third time a Williams bout has been cut short and the TAB doesn't want it to happen again. Its spokesperson is Mark Stafford. IV
The outgoing commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan says the western backed government is on the road to winning the war against the Taliban. General John Allen handed over control of international forces to his successor General Joseph Dunford in Kabul. As General Allen departs the White House still won't confirm how many troops will remain in the country after the withdrawal late next year and many analysts don't share his optimism over the future of the country. The ABC's South Asia correspondent Michael Edwards sent his report from Kabul. PKG
A court has heard how the heads of a former finance company were involved in a cover up involving millions of dollars of investors' money after the purchase of a luxury apartment development from sports star, Matthew Ridge. The former director of Dominion and North South Finance, Robert Whale, the former Dominion Finance Chief Executive, Paul Cropp and another person whose name is suppressed, have denied charges of theft by a person in a special relationship. When the two companies and its parent, Dominion Finance Group, collapsed in 2008, they owed 400 million dollars to six-thousand investors. Our reporter, Briony Sowden, has been covering the trial at the High Court in Auckland. IV
CUT The Hamilton singer, Kimbra, has won big at the Grammys, along with the Australian musician, Gotye. Their hit duet, Somebody That I Used To Know, took out the most-coveted Record of the Year award, as well as the award for Best Pop Duo or Group Performance. The song has topped the singles chart in 18 countries, since its Australian release in July 2011.Kimbra's dad, Ken Johnson, is with us now. IV
Some of the biggest names in the film world gathered at the Royal Opera House in London today for the sixty-sixth British Film and Television Awards or Baftas. Ben Affleck was named best director for his Iran-hostage drama 'Argo' which was also named best film. The BBC's Colin Patterson reports. PKG
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17.45 MANU KORIHI
He aituā, he aituā, he aituā, kua hinga he tōtara nō te wao nui ā tāne,
The Police and Māoridom are mourning the death of Northland iwi liaison officer, Paddy Whiu.
Sergeant Whiu died at his home in Northland on Sunday morning, following a short illness.
He was 62 years old and was of Ngāpuhi and Whanganui iwi descent.
Sergeant Whiu served the New Zealand police for 41 years.
He wasn't at Waitangi this year - an absence highlighted in prayers offered for him at the dawn service on Waitangi Day.
Sergeant Whiu was in charge of liaising with the Māori wardens at the celebrations for the last two years.
The Māori Council's deputy chair for Māori Wardens, Des Ratima, says Paddy Whiu had a big heart and his support for the wardens will be sorely missed.
OBIT-WHIUDES-TP
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OUT: ...TO BE AROUND.
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Des Ratima of the Māori Council.
Meanwhile, the Labour List MP, Shane Jones, says Paddy Whiu was the first Māori person in the police to become an iwi liaison officer.
He says he also brought Māori and the police closer together.
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Shane Jones of the Labour Party.
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An iwi education think-tank says if every mainstream school's given the option to teach the Māori language, the economy will benefit.
Ngā Kaikōkiri Mātauranga wants Te Reo Māori lessons to be made available in all English medium schools from years one to 13.
A spokesperson, Awanui Black, says it doesn't mean people will be forced to learn Māori.
He says studies show if Māori are given the opportunity to learn their language, they do better in education and will have more successful careers.
Awanui Black says the vast majority of Māori students attend English medium schools and almost half of all Māori boys at these schools leave with no qualifications.
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A training centre set up to get more tāngata whenua into farming has taken on its first students.
Eight people have so far signed up for lessons on a South Taranaki dairy farm owned by Te Rua o Te Moko.
It sits on blocks of customary land in Normanby - collectively controlled by eleven hundred owners.
The teaching project's a collaboration between the farm and Land Based Training - and students will leave with a Level 3 National Certificate in Agriculture.
A director with the company and a Māori land block owner, Doug Brooks, says it's a new life for some of the students.
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Doug Brooks says the training will give the students the skills to run Māori-owned farms.
That's Te Manu Korihi news, I'll have a further bulletin in an hour.
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Parliament's new speaker, David Carter, is at the centre of controversy after refusing to allow a visiting West Papua political activist to speak at Parliament. Benny Wenda, who is on his first overseas tour after having his name removed from an Interpol wanted list, is due in Wellington tomorrow to talk about how indigenous Papuans are faring in the troubled region governed by Indonesia. Our political reporter, Demelza Leslie, explains. IV
Now to Egypt, where the Muslim Brotherhood movement has rejected calls for the President to step down and enter into a power-sharing government. Aleem Maqbool reports from the capital Cairo :PKG