Checkpoint FOR THURSDAY 11 APRIL 2013
****************************
1700 to 1707 NEWS
****************************
A jury in a murder trial has been told DNA found under the fingernails of a dead 13 year old girl, closely resembles that of the man accused of killing her. Jeremy McLaughlin has denied murdering Jade Bayliss whose body was discovered by firefighters during a blaze at her home in November 2011. Today, the crown prosecutor told the High Court in Christchurch that Jade had been strangled and was found with socks stuffed in her mouth. Our reporter Lauren Baker has been in court today and is with us now.
IV
A former chief inspector of coal mines wants the Labour Department prosecuted for its failings over the Pike River disaster. An independent report says systemic failures at the Department may have contributed to the death of 29 men in the mine in 2010. It says the Health and Safety Act introduced in 1992 which put the onus on companies to keep staff safe should have been backed up with regulation and detailed codes of practice but that never happened. No approved code of practice for mining was ever put in place. The report also says the Department was not firm enough with the Pike River Coal mining company and in one case failed to issue a prohibition notice when it should have. The Green Party MP Kevin Hague tried to prosecute the department in 2011 over Pike River but gave up - he says it was too difficult and too expensive - we'll hear from him later. Former inspector Harry Bell, who left in disgust when the new act came in, says people should be held to account.
IV
The Minister of Labour, Simon Bridges, says individuals should NOT be held accountable for the Pike River mine disaster.
CUT
And the Minister of Labour back in 1992 denies the law changes he made were at fault. Sir William Birch, who was a National MP, says the high hazards unit set up after the disaster is being run perfectly well under the 1992 legislation. He says codes of practice are an operational matter for the department, and there was NOT any failing by lawmakers.
IV
The lawyer for serial rapist Stewart Murray Wilson has argued an extended supervision order against him should be overturned because few of his crimes were against children. The Court of Appeal hearing today came just hours after the Parole Board ruled Wilson must serve out the remainder of his sentence, after being recalled to prison for phoning a woman in breach of his release conditions. Our reporter Cushla Norman was at the hearing
PKG
***********************
1720 TRAILS AND BUSINESS WITH Kate Gudsell
************************
Research published today reveals that a very small number of doctors are responsible for half of all complaints by patients. The study also says it's possible to predict which doctors will attract complaints, and more should be done to improve their performance. Our Health Correspondent, Karen Brown, reports.
PKG
A High Court jury has heard a recorded police interview in which a Christchurch man admits he snapped and repeatedly beat a 15-year old boy who his then girlfriend had befriended. Gavin Gosnell is charged with murdering Hayden Miles in August 2011, cutting up his body and burying it in cemeteries around the city. Katy Gossett is at the High Court.
IV
***********************
17. 30 HEADLINES
***********************
Syria's government is repeatedly carrying out indiscriminate and sometimes deliberate attacks on civilians, amounting to war crimes. That's according to the most comprehensive report so far of attacks by military aircraft against rebel-held parts of the country. The survey was carried out by investigators from Human Rights Watch which has documented attacks at fifty different sites where civilians were killed. Jim Muir is the BBC's correspondent in the region and has this report from Beirut :
PKG
The former chief inspector of coal mines wants the Labour Department prosecuted for its failings over the Pike River tragedy. But a Green Party MP who tried to mount such a prosecution says it's too hard and too costly. An independent report says systemic failures at the Department may have contributed to the death of 29 men in the mine in 2010. It says law changes in 1992 which put the onus on companies to keep staff safe should have been backed up with regulation and detailed codes of practice but were not. Kevin Hague is with us now.
IV
To Washington now where the stage is being set for one the biggest battles yet on gun control laws yet. A breakthrough deal has been struck by two influential senators that would mean tighter background checks for gun buyers. It boosts the odds for the gun-control bill soon to be debated by the Senate and comes as a tearful Michelle Obama made this plea to Chicago community leaders.
CUT
The agreement was reached by one Democrat and one Republican senator - a move our Washington correspondent Simon Marks says is interesting.
IV
***************
17. 45 MANU KORIHI
The government has written to Ngāpuhi spelling out its intention to call for feedback on a Deed of Mandate for an iwi group still struggling to unify the tribe.
Earlier this year, the Treaty Negotiations and Māori Affairs Ministers, confirmed the Crown's support of Te Rōpū o Tūhoronuku proposed amendments to a Deed of Mandate.
Eru Rerekura reports.
IN TUHORONUKU AND ANOTHER
OUT THIS IS ERU REREKURA
DUR 1:02
====
Trainee carpenters in Te Tairāwhiti are repairing and refurbishing Ngāti Porou marae and descendants houses.
Rangatahi or young people are learning at Eastern Institute of Technology, boosted by scholarships from the iwi.
The Chair of Ngāti Porou, Apirana Mahuika, says the tribe is looking to get youngsters into other trades.
POROU-CARP-TP
IN WE HAVE SEVEN. . .
OUT. . . IN ELECTRICAL ACTIVITY
DUR 29
Apirana Mahuika of Ngāti Porou.
=====
The Federation of Māori Authorities says the recent Waka Tapu voyage to Rapanui or Easter Island late last year gave tangata whenua there hope and inspiration about trade and exchange with their Māori cousins.
Te Aurere and Ngahiraka Mai Tawhiti left Auckland in September last year for a return journey to the island to complete the last leg of the Polynesian triangle.
Traci Houpapa who was in Rapanui in March says the waka expedition also reminded the Easter Islanders of their early relationship with Māori, and started conversations about on-going cultural exchanges, and confirmed an ancient prophesy.
FOMA-TRADE-TP
IN: THEIR STORIES AND. . .
OUT: . . . EXPORT AND EXCHANGE.
DUR: 33"
The FOMA Chairperson, Traci Houpapa.
****************
The Privacy Commissioner says anyone who suspects the GCSB may have illegal spied on them can ask to see their file. The legality of 56 operations covering 88 people is in question and the Inspector General of Intelligence and Security is looking further into the cases. The Commissioner Marie Shroff says if someone's request isn't met she can look into it.
CUT
One of those first accused in the Urewera raids case, Valerie Morse, says she has written to the GCSB for her file but doubts she will get it. And she says the Privacy Commissioner and the Ombudsman have a record of not trying very hard to challenge the GCSB or SIS blocking any release on the grounds of national security. One of Ms Morse's co-accused Omar Hamed, who also had the Urewera charges against him dropped, says he too will be asking the GCSB to give him his file. And former Green MP Keith Locke is another, though he's writing to the Prime Minister. He's with us now.
IV
Aucklanders might have a new tourist attraction at some point, in the form of gently erupting volcanoes. Scientists have discovered that Rangitoto erupted nearly continuously for a thousand years finishing in the 16th century with two big explosions. They'd previously thought those two eruptions were the birth of the island. The lead researcher Dr Phil Shane says the new findings came from analysis of volcanic debris on the bed of Lake Pupuke on Auckland's North Shore.
IV
Researchers have gained a remarkable insight into some of the oldest dinosaur embryos ever found. The fossilised remains of the creatures were unearthed in South West China - and date back 190- million years. The BBC's science reporter Rebecca Morelle has more
PKG