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 17 JULY 2015
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1700 to 1707 NEWS
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The teacher cleared this afternoon of indecently touching nine girls in his classroom could still face professional disciplinary action. After two days of deliberating, a jury has returned unanimous verdicts of not guilty to all 18 charges of doing an indecent act on a young person. The man, aged in his 50s, has permanent name suppression and hugged his lawyer as he left the dock. Our Auckland Court reporter Edward Gay was there. i/v
A prison officers' union says both Corrections and the company that runs Mt Eden Remand prison knew at least 18 months ago about gang organised fights between inmates. Union official Bevan Hanlon says he told the Corrections chief executive Ray Smith at a meeting more than a year ago what was going on and that triggered an investigation at the Serco run prison. Videos showing prisoners fighting have been filmed on smartphones and uploaded online. Mr Hanlon says inmates who have no chance of winning are forced to take part and are too scared to say no. He says Ray Smith knows all about it. i/v
b/a Bevan Hanlon from the Corrections Association. The Corrections Department and Serco won't be interviewed on Checkpoint. But in a statement Corrections says it did start investigating the fight club claims although it won't say when. The inquiry stopped because of a lack of evidence but now that the videos have come to light the Department hopes to be able to finish the investigation.
A judge says a former financial advisor robbed his clients of their golden years after he stole 3 million dollars of investors' funds. Andrew Hrothgar Robinson was sentenced to six years' jail in the Auckland High Court after he pleaded guilty to five charges laid by the Serious Fraud Office of theft by a person in special relationship and one of dishonestly using a document. Justice Muir said his activities amounted to a Ponzi scheme. CUT Justice Muir said Robinson grossly betrayed his investors who trusted him because he was an approved financial advisor. CUT Justice Muir. Sharon Brett-Kelly was at the Auckland High Court to hear how Robinson hid his fraud for two years: i/v
Dairy farmers say bank credit is drying up faster than Fonterra's milk payout and accuse banks of tough tactics. Farm mortgagee sales are climbing, and some in the industry are calling for mandatory debt negotiation, which would force banks to talk with farmers before they become insolvent. Whole milk powder prices plummeted for the ninth consecutive time in this week's global dairy trade auction. Ruth Hill reports. PKG
Workers have walked off the job at a car dealership over claims of racial abuse and unsafe working conditions. The twenty-five workers, who groom cars for the 2Cheap Cars in East Tamaki, say they had had enough of racial slurs from their employer. Today they protested outside their building . Tiana Barns reports. PKG
Investigators are looking into whether a man who shot dead four US marines in the state of Tennessee was inspired by Islamic State. The suspected gunman was shot dead by police and the FBI have named him as 24-year-old Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez (you-sif abdula-z-ees) He's believed to have been born in Kuwait, but has lived in the US for several years. The BBC's Tom Bateman reports. PKG
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17.30 HEADLINES
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17.35 BUSINESS
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A former senior Labour party official Shane Te Pou is demanding an apology from Andrew Little over the leaked list of Auckland house buyers with Chinese sounding surnames. Labour used the data from Barfoot and Thompson as evidence foreign investors were pumping up prices and putting homes out of the reach of ordinary New Zealanders. Shane Te Pou's wife is of Chinese descent and her name appears on the list for a property the family bought between February and April this year. Mr Te Pou says Labour's made a big mistake. i/v
German chancellor Angela Merkel has been mocked online for stroking the back of a Palestinian girl after she reduced her to tears by telling her there is no room for everyone in the country and "some will have to go back home." The awkward exchange has underlined Europe's vexed attitude to migrants. In the video broadcast on public television, the Palestinian girl told Ms Merkel that her family had been informed they would have to return to a camp in Lebanon. The ABC's Bill Burtles has more. i/v
An English woman has been forced to raise her baby without its father on the other side of the planet after a Kerikeri garden centre unjustifiably dismissed her. Rozalind Jones had to abandon her dream of living in New Zealand and return to England after she was made redundant by Palmco Garden Limited in November 2014. Now the Employment Relations Authority has ruled she was unjustifiably dismissed. Our reporter, Michael Allan, has been reading the decision. i/v
The All Blacks begin their Rugby Championship campaign against Argentina in Christchurch tonight - a game they're expected to win. The New Zealanders will be wanting to put on a strong performance after the less-than-convincing win against Samoa last week, and with both Richie McCaw and Daniel Carter playing their final test match in front of their home crowd. Carter says the All Blacks are not underestimating Argentina's ability heading into tonight's clash. CUT An Argentinian rugby reporter, Frankie Deges, says the Pumas are the clear underdogs, but if they play an intelligent game they could give the All Blacks a real fight. i/v
Two Nauru opposition MPs who've been in custody for the last month have been released on bail. Sprent Dabwido and Squire Jeremiah are fighting criminal charges for criticising the government in a protest outside parliament in June. Eight other men facing similar charges have also been released on bail. Another Nauru MP, Roland Kun, who's had his passport siezed and cannot return home to his family in Wellington, will appear before the court on Monday. Peter Law was the Resident Magistrate on Nauru from November 2011 until January last year He's been following the case closely . i/v
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17.45 MANU KORIHI with Eru Rerekura
An iwi in Northland is warning that a council decision to dump its contract with a waste mangament company will have dire consquences for the rohe;A ceremony to show support for Hawaiians fighting to stop the world's largest telescope from being built on ancestral land will be held in Auckland tomorrow;10 indigenous fashion designers from around the globe will be showcasing their garments at a special runway project in Taranaki this weekend.
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New research suggests polar bears are unable to adapt their behaviour to cope with the loss of food in a warmer Arctic. Scientists had believed that the animals would enter a type of "walking hibernation" when deprived of prey. Here's BBC's Matt McGrath PKG
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Presenter: Mary Wilson, Jim Mora
Editor: Maree Corbett
Deputy editor: Denise Garland
Producers: Mei Heron, Michael Allan, Duncan Snelling