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 MONDAY 22 JULY 2013
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1700 to 1707 NEWS
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Scores of engineers and contractors are out checking the safety of buildings shut down by yesterday's 6 point 5 earthquake. Thousands of workers in the capital have stayed home, with many key buildings and the Westpac stadium closed until they can be given the all-clear. 12 hundred (1200) BNZ staff have been told it may take a week to get back into their near-new multi-storey block on the waterfront where a photo showed trashed offices on the fifth floor, though the building's owner, Centreport, says it's been deemed structurally safe. In Marlborough, workers hurried out of one of Blenheim's few high-rises, the Porse building, mid-morning after yet another plus-four aftershock. Beth Tester, runs the local Medical Centre on the fourth floor.
CUT
The chief building officer for Wellington City Council is Richard Toner.
PREREC
We're joined now by Wellington's acting Regional Manager for Civil Defence Rian Van Schalkwyk
LIVE
The chair of Centreport which owns the four year old BNZ building on Wellington's wharf says while it looks like mayhem inside, it has now been cleared as structurally safe. Warren Larsen was watching the wharf from the window of his Roseneath home when the quake hit.
PREREC
The Prime Minister says the Government will top up the natural disaster fund if necessary, to cover claims to the Earthquake Commission from yesterday's earthquake. John Key was briefed on the 6-point-5 magnitude earthquake by local government leaders and civil defence officials in Wellington this morning. Here's our political reporter, Clare Pasley.
PKG
The independent MP, Peter Dunne, will give the Government the one vote it needs to pass the GCSB legislation - allowing the agency to spy on New Zealanders. Under the bill, the GCSB would have clear legal authority to assist the police, the Security Intelligence Service and the defence force. Mr Dunne is with us now
LIVE
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1720 TRAILS AND BUSINESS
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17. 30 HEADLINES
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Activist groups in Syria say a family of at least thirteen people, mainly women and children, has been killed by regime forces and militia in a coastal village in the north-west of the country.
The killings reportedly came after deadly clashes in nearby Banias. The BBC's Ane-Marie Tomchak reports
PKG
Two men have been found guilty murdering a Canterbury dairy farm worker. The trial of Thuvan Prawesh Sawal and Viraj Alahakoon in the High Court in Christchurch has lasted five weeks. Both men, who are Sri Lankan, denied murdering another Sri Lankan man, Sameera Battelage, who was 28, then burning his house down to disguise the crime. Nicola Grigg has been in court and joins us now.
LIVE
In Seddon, people are counting the cost of damage from the quake which hit off shore, east of the small Marlborough town. Power has now been fully restored , but some houses are still without window panes and are littered with broken crockery and glassware. Alison Hossain reports from Seddon.
PKG
The High Court in Christchurch has today heard that red zoning property is really the compulsory acquisition of the land, despite the government's claim it is voluntary. Some land owners have taken the Earthquake Recovery Minister, and the CEO of the Earthquake Recovery Authority, to the High Court to fight the decision to red zone their properties. Rachel Graham has been in at court
LIVE
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17. 45 MANU KORIHI
Kia ora, good evening,
Iwi at the top of the South Island say they've weathered yesterday's major earthquake extremely well.
The six-point-five magnitude quake, centred near Seddon was widely felt across the Wellington and Nelson areas.
The Chair of Ngāti Tama ki te Tau Ihu, Fred Te Miha, says the iwi's learnt a lot since the Canterbury earthquakes in 2011 and was well prepared.
His whanaunga, Glenice Paine, of Te Ātiawa o Te Waka-ā-Māui, says her marae is in good shape and it didn't have to implement its emergency plan.
She says Te Ātiawa also learnt a lot from the Canterbury quakes, which has encouraged descendants to be well-prepared.
QUAKE-ATIAWA-TP
IN THAT'S SOMETHING WE. . .
OUT . . . WHAT COULD HAPPEN.
DUR 16"
Glenice Paine Of Te Ātiawa o Te Waka ā Māui.
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Meanwhile, a tribal elder in Porirua wants his tribe to work on a kaumātua safety plan.
Ngāti Toa has four marae in the lower North Island and top of the South Island.
The chair of the Ngāti Toa Rangatira Rūnanga, Taku Pārai, says the recent seismic activity is a timely reminder for people to be prepared.
He says he plans on raising the matter of tribal preparedness at the iwi's next hui later this week.
Mr Pārai says the tribe needs to ensure it has an emergency plan, and a strategy to help its elders.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Wellington's Pipitea Marae, says other than a burst cooper pipe, which has now been repaired, there was little damage.
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Child Youth and Family has signed an agreement with Ngāti Porou that aims to better the lives of its nearly 200 tamariki in state care.
Both have stamped their mark on a Memorandum of Understanding today in Gisborne.
The MOU intends to help reduce child abuse and neglect on the East Coast - partly by developing a joint strategy which outlines shared aspirations by both iwi and Child Youth and Family.
Ngāpuhi was the first tribe to sign an MOU with Child Youth and Family last year in August.
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The Tauranga City Council has set aside 30-thousand dollars for iwi and hapū to put pen to paper about how they want to develop land in their tribal areas.
Local tribes have until mid-August to apply for the management fund to help them document their aspirations for future land use proposals, including papakāinga or extended family homestead development.
The council says the fund also fosters better relationships with iwi and hapū, and builds capacity for them to become more proactive.
Its kaiārahi Māori or Māori advisor, Keren Paekau, says it's the first time the council's offered the fund so it's not sure what to expect.
FUND-TAURANGA-TP
IN THIS COUNCIL CURRENTLY. . .
OUT . . . THOSE PLANS TOGETHER.
DUR 20"
Keren Paekau of the Tauranga City Council.
That's Te Manu Korihi news, I'll have a further bulletin in an hour.
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To Japan now, where Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is telling voters that his election victory on Sunday will put an end to the country's political volatility. But some are suspicious that his decisive win will see him focus on pursuing his nationalist agenda rather than difficult economic reforms. To tell us more, the ABC's Mark Willacy is on the line from Tokyo.
LIVE
Two seals have been shot dead near Kaikōura. The Department of Conservation says the female seal and an 11 month old pup were shot in the head at a seal lookout near State Highway 1. DoC's South Marlborough Area Manager, David Hayes, wants anyone who may have information about the killings to contact DoC or the Police.
PREREC
A riot by asylum seekers at an Australian run detention centre in Nauru has caused nearly 70 million dollars in damage and left up to 150 people in police custody. (US 55mill) The police commissioner has also been suspended - although the exact reasons for that decision are not yet known. It follows Australia's new immigration policy not to allow would-be refugees who arrive by boat to settle there. Beverley Tse has more.
PKG
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Presenter: Liz Banas
Editor: Maree Corbett
Deputy editor: Phil Pennington
Producers: Rachel Askew, Mei Yeoh