Checkpoint is a drive-time news and current affairs programme on Radio New Zealand National. It broadcasts nationwide every weekday evening for two hours and covers the day’s major national and international stories, as well as business, sport and Māori news. This recording covers the first hour. The following rundown is supplied from the broadcaster’s news system:
Checkpoint FOR FRIDAY 19 JULY 2013
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1700 to 1707 NEWS
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Within hours of another death of a forestry worker, critics have poured cold water over the Government's attempt to make the industry safer. The death toll so far this year is six, the latest a 45-year-old man who was killed by a falling log in the Kinleith forest near Tokoroa early this morning. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment is sending out its nine forestry inspectors to every logging site in the country over the next three months promising they'll shut down dangerous operations. A Gisborne community leader who's been pushing for an independent inquiry into the industry doubts whether the ministry will achieve much and the father of a worker killed two years ago says much more needs to be done. We'll hear from them soon. The Ministry's Health and Safety Operations manager, is Ona de Rooy.
PREREC
Roger Callow's son Ken worked as a tree feller and was crushed by a rotten tree in the Wharerata forest south of Gisborne, two years ago
PREREC
A sharp jolt rocked Wellington and the top of the South Island today, sending people scrambling for safety. The five-point-seven magnitude earthquake was centred just eight kilometres deep, in Cook Strait, between Blenheim and the capital. It was followed by multiple aftershocks including a four-point-five magnitude quake this afternoon, that one was sixteen kilometres deep, and struck near Seddon. Amelia Langford reports.
PKG
More than 50 textile workers are expected to lose their jobs at the Canterbury Spinners factory in Dannevirke. The employees were told this morning, and the redundancies are to be made by September. The company, which is owned by Godfrey Hurst, sent much of its production work to the Dannevirke mill after the Canterbury earthquake destroyed its factory in Christchurch. Godfrey Hurst has refused to be interviewed on Checkpoint. The First Union general secretary, Robert Reid, says the Union is negotiating the redundancy packages with the company. He's with us now.
LIVE
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1720 TRAILS AND BUSINESS
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The Employers and Manufacturers Association says it's unhelpful for unions to air the country's dirty laundry over workplace law on the global stage. The Council of Trade Unions is threatening to go to the International Labour Organisation to complain about employment legislation before parliament. Newly-released documents show the Government is aware the Employment Relations Amendment Bill could breach international labour standards. Here's our political reporter, Craig McCulloch.
PKG
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17. 30 HEADLINES
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A weaker Australian jobs market and improving New Zealand economy is attracting more and more people to look for work on this side of the Tasman. Official figures show net migration hit a four year high in June. Our economics correspondent, Patrick O'Meara, explains.
PREREC
It's created history by becoming the biggest American city to go bankrupt with up to 20 billion dollars of debt, but Detroit locals are now wondering what happens next. The city has one of the highest murder rates in the US, more than a third of its citizens live in poverty and at last count Detroit had close to eighty-thousand abandoned buildings. The city's emergency manger says nothing will change for the ordinary person, with bankruptcy simply a tool to renew services for the city. The ABC's US correspondent Michael Vincent reports :
PKG
Parts of the Anglican cardboard cathedral in Christchurch have been damaged by rain, and will need to be replaced. The cathedral, which is costing about 7 million dollars, is now expected to be open by mid-August. Rachel Graham reports.
PKG
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17. 45 MANU KORIHI
Kia ora mai good evening,
The Kōhanga Reo movement has confirmed its chief executive isn't returning to her post. [movement strictly using this term - please don't change]
An internal audit took place in April.
Rosemary Rangitauira reports:
KOHANGA-BLACK-VCR
IN DETAILS ABOUT THE INTERNAL
OUT . . . THIS IS ROSEMARY RANGITAUIRA
DUR 54"
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An Auckland tribal trust has started actioning orders made by the High Court.
Ngāi Tai ki Tamaki, which is charged with negotiating the tribe's treaty claim, was ordered by the court in March, to make changes, such as removing trustees and holding a fresh election by August.
Court action was sparked by the trust being torn apart by disagreements, and being unable to work constructively.
The trust's website shows that a special general hui to elect new trustees will take place at Umupuia Marae in Maraetai, Auckland on September the 1st.
The tribe is seeking to elect 11 trustees.
Nominations for new trustees as well as voting registrations for tribal members are open until next Monday [July 22], and can be found on the Ngāi Tai ki Tamaki website.
If more than 11 trustee nominations are received a vote will be held.
Te Puni Kōkiri, the Ministry of Māori Development has appointed an independent person to chair the hui, and an Election New Zealand Returning Officer to conduct the voting process if required.
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A National Library oral Māori historian advisor is encouraging tangata whenua to take advantage of its wānanga as a way of preserving their tribal stories.
The Oral History centre is a branch of the Alexander Turnbull Library, which has collected thousands of recordings including interviews about New Zealand's history since the late 19th century until now.
The centre also provides workshops, in which advisors teach people how to collect oral history through mediums such as video and audio recordings.
A Māori advisor says they teach people who are interested how to connect with people they interview, where to get funding and how to ensure quality recordings.
Taina Tangaere McGregor is encouraging Māori to take part in their workshops and delve into a variety of tribal stories such as kōrero about their Marae and hapū.
She says they could consider any topic, such as local history or local kura because the stories need to be told for future generations.
That's Te Manu Korihi news I'll have a final bulletin in an hour.
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The international community is strongly criticising the five-year prison sentence imposed on a Russian opposition activist. Alexei Navalny (nah-vell-neigh) has been convicted of embezzlement at a trial many believe was politically motivated. He had publicly called President Putin's United Russia Party the party of crooks and thieves The EU says the conviction raises serious questions about the rule of law in Russia. And there's growing speculation a planned meeting between Presidents Putin and Obama will be scrapped. The ABC's Katie Haman hay-muhn reports on events in Moscow :
LIVE
Sir Owen Glenn is reconsidering his position on his independent inquiry into child abuse and domestic violence saying his work has been considerably deflected by a torrent of nasty publicity. The inquiry's director Ruth Herbert and at least 13 of the inquiry's 25 Think Tank members have resigned. Its been revealed Sir Owen was accused of physically abusing his personal assistant in Hawaii in 2002. The Chair of the Inquiry board, Bill Wilson, says the allegations, which Sir Owen denies, were scare-mongering, unfounded and destructive. He's with us now.
LIVE
A family-run power company launched today in Dunedin is being hailed as a way to bring down the city's electricity prices. Payless Energy has gone public after being granted full market access. And already other companies are dropping their prices to match. Here's our Otago reporter, Ian Telfer.
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Presenter: Mary Wilson
Editor: Maree Corbett
Deputy editor: Rachel Askew
Producers: Mei Yeoh