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 20 JANUARY 2014
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1700 to 1707 NEWS
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A six-point-three magnitude earthquake has shaken the lower North Island, damaging buildings and roads in Wairarapa and Manawatu, sending boulders tumbling at Castlepoint, and rocking buildings in Wellington. So far there are no reports of injury. The quake at 3:52pm was centered 10 kilometres northwest of Castlepoint on the coast east from Masterton. It's been followed by several aftershocks. Objects fell from shelves across the region though the quake is not large enough to have triggered a tsunami warning. Commuter trains in the capital are suspended, and KiwiRail has also stopped all trains south of Napier and Marton.
Nerridy Kerrison was at home just outside of Eketahuna with her children when the earthquake hit. As I spoke to Nerridy, there was an aftershock:
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Radio New Zealand journalist Caitlin Cherry is on holiday in Castlepoint.
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Joining us now is Patty Driver from Civil Defence at the Tararua District Council.
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Caroline Little is the GNS duty seismologist.
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Port Taranaki remains evacuated as a drum of chemicals is leaking on board a boat docked there. The leak is thought to be toxic and fumes have been seen coming from the Panama-registered Poavosa Wisdom. The Port's chief executive is Roy Weaver.
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1720 TRAILS AND BUSINESS with Jenny Ruth
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The prosecution says the widow of the skipper of the Easy Rider which sank off Stewart Island always knew her partner did not hold a valid skipper's certificate but did nothing. Gloria Davis is facing three charges under both the Maritime and Health and Safety Acts. 8 people died when the boat sank on a mutton birding trip in March 2012. One person survived. Our reporter Steve Wilde has been in the Invercargill District Court and he joins me now.
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The New Zealand-funded legal system in Nauru is in disarray after its Government threw out the country's only magistrate and chief justice. Yesterday, President Baron Waqa fired the country's only magistrate, Peter Law, whose salary is paid by the New Zealand Govenment. And a second Australian, the Chief justice Geoffrey Eames was barred from returning to Nauru. Peter Law says it's a political move designed to influence two cases due before the courts today. The country's Justice Minister had declared two Australian businessmen were illegal immigrants, but Mr Law imposed an injunction to stop them being expelled from Nauru. Mr Law, who's worked in Nauru for three years but has been expelled to Brisbane, says the President's actions are clearly in contempt of court.
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17. 30 HEADLINES
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The toll is being taken of roads, buildings and people's nerves after this afternoon's strong earthquake across central New Zealand. Diane Smith lives in Eketahuna - and was home by herself when she felt the earthquake - I spoke to her just a few minutes after:
CUT
Diane Smith in Eketuhuna speaking just after this afternoon's earthquake. Dr Stuart Weinstein from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii says the probability of a tsunami is low.
CUT
Dr Stuart Weinstein of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre. Joining us now is head of Civil Defence in Palmerston North, Stuart Davies
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Sarah Henderson is at Castlepoint.
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More now on the New Zealand-funded legal system in Nauru being in disarray after its Government threw out the country's only magistrate and chief justice. Yesterday, President Baron Waqa fired Peter Law, whose salary is paid by the New Zealand Govenment. And a second Australian, the Chief justice Geoffrey Eames was barred from returning to Nauru. Peter Law says it's a political move designed to influence two cases due before the courts today. The country's Justice Minister had declared two Australian businessmen were illegal immigrants, but Mr Law imposed an injunction to stop them being expelled from Nauru. New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister, Murray McCully, says the Government needs to get more details on what's happening in Nauru.
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A two-year girl knocked over in the driveway of her south Auckland home today has been transferred to Starship Hospital in a critical condition. Neighbours in Mangere have told Radio New Zealand they heard screams of "I'm sorry, I'm sorry" before emergency services arrived at the house. Joanna MacKenzie reports.
PKG
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17. 45 MANU KORIHI with Eru Rerekura
Ngā mihi o te tau hou pākehā , mokori anō kia rere ngā mihi ki ngā hau e whā, nau mai whakatau mai - tēnā koutou katoa,
Iwi at the top of the South Island are working tirelessly to help the Department of Conservation re-float hundreds of whales that've stranded at Fairwell Spit.
Ngāti Tama ki te Tau Ihu are part of huge efforts to save the marine mammals, and are also working to dispose their carcasses in a culturally sensitive way.
An iwi spokesperson, Jo Westrupp, says Ngāti Tama, who is a kaitiaki or guardian in the area, has been involved with the salvation effort since the first significant stranding late last year.
She says a kaumatua who lives in Tākaka, John Ward-Holmes, goes out to the spit each time local people report any whale strandings.
Ms Westrupp says Mr Ward-Holmes is also supported by other tribal members including those in the close knit community of Tākaka and Golden Bay.
She also says karakia or prayers have been said for the whales swimming out and for those that've died on the beach.
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The Māori Party has kicked off the process to find a replacement for Pita Sharples to stand in Tāmaki Makaurau.
Party officials held a hui last night to discuss how the electorate will conduct its selection process for a new candidate.
Dr Sharples, who's had the seat since 2005, won't stand at this year's general election.
Last year, the party resolved to allow electorates to form their own selection process, however it has to be approved by a national panel before getting the green light.
That could take some time - it's expected names won't be put into the hat for several weeks.
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The Te Rarawa tribe says it would be suspect if the Government was to refuse funding iwi-led monitoring of oil exploration in Northland.
The Norwegian company, Statoil, is to undertake offshore oil exploration in the area.
Te Runanga o Te Rarawa is putting a proposal together to establish a monitoring regime of Statoil's activities, led by iwi representatives.
The chair of the runanga, Haami Piripi, says the government should resource tangata whenua to monitor these activities.
RARAWA-SUSPECT-TP
IN IF THE GOVERNMENT. . .
OUT . . . MONITORING REGIME.
DUR 15"
Haami Piripi says people can't rely solely on Statoil's internal monitoring systems.
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The University of Victoria has a new face heading the School of Maori studies.
The Associate Professor, Rawinia Higgins, has replaced the long-serving Peter Adds, who has taught at the university for nearly thirty years.
The Wellington university says it is part of regular rotation which happens at all of its schools.
Rawinia Higgins is also a senior lecturer at the school, Te Kawa a Maui, and is involved in research projects around te reo Maori.
That's Te Manu Korihi news, I'll have another bulletin in an hour.
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Forty-six whales are still milling around off Farewell Spit after strandings over recent days. Over a hundred volunteers turned up to help get the whales off the spit this morning, but now the pilot whales are further out to sea. German tourist Yana Stank (PRON SCH-TANK) who'd been holidaying in Picton was among those who dropped everything to come and help. CUT Carl Melinda, from the whale protection group Project Jonah, watched as the whales were finally (CHECK) refloated around lunchtime when tide came in.
CUT
Our reporter Alison Hossain has been at Puponga on Farewell Spit and is with us now.
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The Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych has agreed to negotiate with pro-EU protesters and opposition leaders after violent clashes in the capital Kiev. He said a cross-party commission would be set up on Monday to try to resolve the deepening crisis. Earlier, a group of protesters - trying to reach parliament - clashed with police. Dozens of people were injured. An Interior ministry spokesperson warned people against protesting.
CUT
The BBC's Daniel Sandford reports from the Kiev protests.
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Returning to the lower North Island quake, which has cut power to thousands of homes. Dean Stephenson of the lines company Powerco is with us now.
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1800 NEWS
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The toll is being taken of roads, homes and other buildings after this afternoon's strong earthquake across central New Zealand. The 6-point-3 magnitude earthquake struck just before 4pm centered 10 kilometres north west of Castlepoint. Some rail services are suspended, and power is off to more than 5 and a half thousand customers. The head of Civil Defence in Palmerston North is Stuart Davies
CUT
Brian Smith lives in Eketahuna.
CUT
For the latest on the roads we cross to Mark Owen from the New Zealand Transport Agency.
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12 year old Joe Pick of Wellington is on holiday at Castlepoint.
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And news just to hand the quake's magnitude has been revised down to 6. 2
New Zealand has once again been named one of the most unafforable places in the world to buy a house, with the average house worth five and a half times the median household income. The annual Demographia survey of nine nations, ranks this country as second only to Hong Kong and equal to Australia for house buying expense. Here's our housing reporter Cushla Norman:
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Police and internet safety watchdogs say online predators are frequently using a technique known as 'sextortion' as a way of eliciting explicit images from children. Predators make contact with young people via social networks - and blackmail their victims into sending explicit images of themselves by threatening to pass on the material to the child's friends and family. The internet safety watchdog Netsafe says many victims and their families are reluctant to go to the police. And, if they do - prosecution is unlikely if the predator is based abroad, as they often are. The executive Director Martin Cocker is with us now:
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1820 BUSINESS UPDATE
Despite parts of the economy firing strongly, the jobs market, although improving, remains subdued. Westpac's latest survey on employment confidence shows it rose slightly in the December quarter to just over 103 points (103. 4). A reading above 100 points indicates more optimists than pessimists and the outcome is the second-highest reading in the past two years. An economist at Westpac, Michael Gordon, says for those in work, expectations of pay rises have been subdued and has actually been trending lower in recent years.
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To the US, where the President has said smoking marijuana is no more dangerous than drinking alcohol, but it's still a bad idea. Barack Obama's comments to the New Yorker magazine come as two states have legalised the drug. And he also went on to say that "middle class kids don't get locked up for smoking pot, and poor kids do". Our correspondent in Washington is Lorna Shaddick.
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French tennis star, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, will be seeking revenge when he faces four time winner of the Australian Open, Roger Federer, later tonight. Tsonga lost a five-set quarter-final to Federer at last year's Australian Open. But first with a round up of today's matches, our tennis correspondent in Melbourne is Dave Worsley.
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1830 HEADLINES
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The legal system in Nauru which New Zealand helps fund is in turmoil after the Government threw out the country's only magistrate and chief justice. Peter Law, an Australian whose salary is paid by the New Zealand Govenment, was expelled to Brisbane and the Chief justice Geoffrey Eames, also an Australian, has been barred from returning to Nauru. The country's Justice Minister had declared two businessmen, one Australian and one fijian, were illegal immigrants, but Mr Law imposed an injunction to stop them being expelled from Nauru. New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister, Murray McCully, says it doesn't look too flash on the surface but he needs to get more details on what's happening in Nauru. Sally Round reports for Radio New Zealand International.
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A witness to a fatal air crash south of Auckland says it was calm when the glider spiralled out of control. The police and the Civil Aviation Authority are investigating after the crash into trees at Drury yesterday afternoon. Teenager Daniel Hunter was at home with friends when one of them saw the glider start to fall.
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A raging fire in southern Norway has ripped through a world heritage village which is famous for its historic wooden buildings. The fire began in a house in Laerdalsoyri (LAY-duhls-ooh-ree ) village, in the Laerdal (LAY-dahl) distict. Fanned by strong winds, the fire quickly spread - gripping the frames of the traditional wooden buildings. More than twenty buildings were completely destroyed and many people have received hospital treatment. Jonathan Josephs reports from Norway.
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An American doctor who's researched sand tunnel collapses says such deaths are not freak accidents, as many people think. Brad Maron studied US media reports of children digging tunnels which fell in on them - and there were 31 deaths out of 52 cases. A 7 year old boy died on Pataua South beach near Whangarei yesterday, when he put his head in a hole he'd dug, and couldn't be rescued in time. Brad Maron says he's continuing to look at tunnel collapses and in about 60 percent of the cases people have been killed.
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MANU KORIHI NEWS 2 with Eru Rerekura
Kia ora mai ano,
Iwi at the top of the South Island are working tirelessly to help the Department of Conservation re-float hundreds of whales that have stranded at Fairwell Spit.
Ngati Tama ki te Tau Ihu are part of huge efforts to save the marine mammals, and are also working to dispose their carcasses in a culturally sensitive way.
An iwi spokesperson, Jo Westrupp, says Ngati Tama, who is a kaitiaki or guardian in the area, has been involved with the salvation effort since the first significant stranding late last year.
WHALES-IWI-TP
IN: TAKAKA GOLDEN BAY...
OUT: ...BEACH THIS MORNING.
DUR: 20"
Jo Westrupp says karakia or prayers have been said for the whales swimming out and for those that have died on the beach.
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The Maori Party has kicked off the process to find a replacement for Pita Sharples to stand in Tamaki Makaurau.
Party officials held a hui last night to discuss how the electorate will conduct its selection process for a new candidate.
Dr Sharples, who's had the seat since 2005, won't stand at this year's general election.
Last year, the party resolved to allow electorates to form their own selection process, however it has to be approved by a national panel before getting the green light.
That could take some time - it's expected names won't be put into the hat for several weeks.
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The Te Rarawa tribe says it would be suspect if the Government was to refuse funding iwi-led monitoring of oil exploration in Northland.
The Norwegian company, Statoil, is to undertake offshore oil exploration in the area.
Te Runanga o Te Rarawa is putting a proposal together to establish a monitoring regime of Statoil's activities, led by iwi representatives.
The chair of the runanga, Haami Piripi, says the government should resource tangata whenua to monitor these activities, and it would be very suspect if it doesn't.
He says exploration can't be granted wholesale without the research and understanding that can be gained from a hands-on monitoring regime.
Haami Piripi says people can't rely solely on Statoil's internal monitoring systems.
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The University of Victoria has a new face heading the School of Maori studies.
The Associate Professor, Rawinia Higgins, has replaced the long-serving Peter Adds, who has taught at the university for nearly thirty years.
The Wellington university says it is part of regular rotation which happens at all of its schools.
Rawinia Higgins is also a senior lecturer at the school, Te Kawa a Maui, and is involved in research projects around te reo Maori.
Remember you can download our bulletins as a podcast, or read the stories online on the Radio New Zealand website.
And that's Te Manu Korihi news, po marie.
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A rural company in Hastings has come to the aid of an apple grower beset by vandals who've cut down thousands of his trees. Kulwant (cool-want) Singh estimates the attack will cost him close to 350-thousand dollars and says his insurance company has told him he's not covered for vandalism. Our rural reporter Benedict Collins has more.
PKG
The regional government of Catalonia in Spain says it will press ahead with a planned referendum on independence later this year, despite threats from the national government in Madrid to veto it. The government in Catalonia says it has majority support for its independence plans and by denying Catalonians the right to choose, the Spanish government could push more people into the pro-independence camp. The BBC's Alan Little reports from Barcelona.
PKG
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Presenter: Liz Banas
Editor: Phil Pennington
Deputy editor: Susie Ferguson
Producers: Meg Fowler, Mei Yeoh