*** Checkpoint FOR MON 5 OCT 2009
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1700 to 1707 NEWS
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Helicopters with heat seeking equipment and armed offenders squads are on the hunt for a gunman who's been on the run in Hawkes Bay since yesterday afternoon.An area of about 3-thousand hectares near Dannevirke remains cordoned off and residents have been told to stay inside their homes.The man is believed to be 46 year old David Bourke of Wanganui.The pursuit began when he fled from police after failing a breath test. The gunman crashed his car and escaped on foot - and then shot and wounded a farm worker.A body was discovered in his abandoned car - and the police are now treating it as a homicide.Brady Wells was one of the first people to see the gunman, as he walked across a paddock on the farm where he was working yesterday afternoon. CUT
And Nick Lourie (rhymes with COWry) , who owns a farm inside the cordon says the gunman walked into a shed where one of his workers was milking the cows. Mr Lourie says the worker fled, but was only allowed to go back onto the farm to tend to the animals around 10 this morning.
CUT Nick Lourie there.For the latest - the Police Central Districts Commander Superintendent Russell Gibson joins us now LIVE
Our reporter Heugh Chappell is also on edge of the police cordon just north of Norsewood - he joins us now.LIVE
The New Zealand Transport Agency says a 'freak weather occurance' - not poor planning - caused hundreds of people to be left stranded in their cars in freezing conditions overnight.The Civil Defence was forced to declare a state of emergency after snow up to a metre high trapped more than 500 people on State Highway 5 between Napier and Taupo. But Chris Cotton who spent more than 12 hours waiting to be rescued after his car became stuck 60 kilometres from Taupo says he begs to differ CUTThe mayor of Taupo, Rick Cooper, says he can't believe his authority wasn't warned the snow storm would be so severe.CUTDave Bates, Operations Manager from the New Zealand Transport Agency, says they were simply overwhelmed with the conditionsCUTDave Bates, Operations Manager from the New Zealand Transport Agency PRE-REC
Metservice weather ambassador Bob McDavitt agrees the weather was very unusual for this time of year and says we could see a repeat on Friday PRE-REC
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1720 TRAILS AND BUSINESS WITH Naomi Mitchell
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Relief aid work in both the Samoas stopped today as national church services took place to remember the victims of the tsunami. 135 people died in Samoa and eight are missing after the tsunami, which may have claimed the lives of nearly 190 people in total in Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga.105 New Zealand personnel are now in Samoa, including medical experts, engineers, and navy divers.Also today the parents of two New Zealand sisters killed have visited the area where the women were staying.24 year old Rebecca and 22 year old Petria Martin were holidaying in Lalomanu and were unable to get to higher ground before the waves hit.Here's their father - Kerry Martin. CUTKerry Martin.Our reporter Leilani Momoisea is in Apia, and joins us now:LIVE
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17.30 HEADLINES
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The country's biggest privately-owned dairy farming enterprise has been put into receivership, following reports that the operation owes about 200-million dollars.The owners - the Crafar family - had already placed all of their 22 central North Island farms on the market.All of the properties are also under investigation by the Ministry of Agriculture, following allegations of animal cruelty.With more on this we're joined by our rural reporter Kevin Ikin.
The government's celebrating a slow down in unemployment - but the past month still saw 15-hundred new unemployment beneficiaries. (60,660 up from 59,151)
And the number of people on the benefit has almost tripled since the same month last year. (2008: 23,273)Social Development Minister Paula Bennett is still celebrating - saying the rise in the number of people needing the benefit has eased significantly over the past month. She's also launched the Ministry of Social Development's latest Auckland Regional Plan. She joins us now. LIVE
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17.45 TRAILS
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WAATEA
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Back to our lead story -It appears Hawke's Bay farmers are now being allowed back inside a police cordon on a case by case basis.Farmers have been trapped outside the cordon near Dannevirke - away from their stock- while police hunt a gunman who has been on the run since yesterday.David Hunt is one of those farmers who has just been allowed back onto his farm - he joins us nowLIVE
The New Zealand government has pledged further financial assistance to help rebuild the areas devastated by the Pacific tsunami. The Prime Minister, John Key, held a press conference this afternoon.Our political reporter, Chris Bramwell, was there.LIVE
Dairy prices have helped New Zealand's commodity exports post their largest monthly rise on world markets in 22 years. But other industries played their part with seven out of the10 commodities tracked by ANZ's monthly price index, recording increases. While returns, when converted into New Zealand dollars remained subdued, they were strong enough to climb from their lowest point in three years.Our Economics Correspondent, Nigel Stirling, joins us now to talk about the figures. LIVE