0600 NEWS/SPORTS/WEATHER
0609 NZ NEWSPAPERS
0611 MāORI NEWS
0616 NEWS STORY: PRISON ESCAPE - Corrections Dept under attack for failing to address security problems at Paremoremo. Dept report on June prison escape says physical and procedural weaknesses at Paremoremo contributed to escape. Comment from prison manager Bret Bestic, Labour's Justice spokesperson Phil Goff, John Slater of Penal Officers' Assn, and Paremoremo village resident Margaret Miles. (Mary-Jane Aggett)
0620 RURAL NEWS illegible shaping up to be election issue. Alliance and Labour leaders increasingly targetting rural communities and National embarking on tour of provinces as mid-November deadline plans draws nearer. Massey Univ agribusiness expert Prof Bill Bailey says PM Jenny Shipley's speech to pipfruit growers this wee may indicate govt considering slowing down reform process. (Catherine Harris) WOOL PRICES for most types lift at DN sales but downward trend continues. Strongest demand comes from Western Europe, with buyers from China, Japan, Australia and local mills also in bidding. (Kevin Ikin) VEGETABLE EXPORTS at risk because of rocketing air freight charges, according to Vegetable Growers' Fedn. VegFed says rates for 1998-99 have risen from 25 to 100%. (Kevin Ikin) DAIRY BOARD RATING - board says its rating from Moody's is under review and expects to hear results within fortnight. (Catherine Harris) CHINA -FORESTRY TECHNOLOGY -president of Chinese Academy of Forestry, Madame Jiang Zehui, visiting NZ. She's expressed particular interest in forestry technology, which has become more important in wake of China's recent major floods.
0625 SPORTS STORY illegible - live i/v with correspondent John McBeth. (John Hart retaining job as All Black coach; National Provincial Championship)
0630 NEWS/WEATHER
0635 NEWS STORY: AUSTRALIA - ELECTION - latest batch of opinion polls suggest Labor is holding slim lead over Liberals. Polls also indicate support for One Nation Party is falling away although Pauline Hanson is still pulling crowds. (Zandra Sharpe)
0639 INTERNATIONAL PAPERS
0642 MANA NEWS FISHERIES ALLOCATION - urban groups plan to take Te Ohu Kaimoana back to court over plan for allocation. MāORI COMMISSIONS - Māori Affairs minister Tau Henare looks some preliminary recommendatoins from his four commissions.
0651 BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL NEWS: GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT figures due out today. Average forecast is for GDP to shirnk by
0.4% in June quarter, second consecutive quarter of negative growth and hence fulfilment of official definition of recession. (Gyles Beckford) CREDIT RATING - MOODY'S downgrades NZ's rating one notch to AA2. Key concern remains size of current account deficit and prospect of gradual improvement. Head of review team, Yves LeMay, holds little prospect for early review of country's rating. (Gyles Beckford) FINANCE/MARKET MARKET REVIEW U.S. - FUND COLLAPSE - American banks rush to contain fallout from near collapse ailing long Term Capital Management. Federal Reserve moves to bring together LTCM's creditor banks to pump more money into fund and essentially take it over. HOUSING MARKET - ASB says housing market and economy facing standoff between sloweer world growth and low investor confidence and sharply lower interest rates and exchange rate. Economist Rozanna Wozniak predicts floating mortgage rates will continue to fall but whether they flow on to boost housing market and economy depends on investor confidence. (Clare Sziranyi) MERGER ABANDONED - Powerco and CentralPower frustrated at having to abandon plans to merge. They had planned to join generation and retailing businesses with Trustpower into company called National Power but Powerco chair Barry upson says tax laws have made deal unworkable; govt denies it's to blame for merger being abandones. Enterprise and Commerce minister Max Bradford says companies new what govt's plans were when they went into discussions. (q). (Clare Sziranyi) AMP ASSET MANAGEMENT wants to sell WN's Queen's Wharf retail centre, with view to it being turned into cinema complex. Head of Property James Darkins says some operators have already expressed interest. (Gyles Beckford) BUSINESS BRIEFS
0700 INTRO/NEWS PRISON ESCAPE - report detailing security lapses which allowed 4 dangerous inmates to escape from Paremoremo describes as indictment of prison management and govt funding. Comment from Brett Bestic, prison manager, John Slater, Penal Officers' Assn, Paremoremo village resident Margaret Miles and Labour's Justice spokesman Phil Goff. Live i/v with Mr Goff; live i/v with Corrections minister Nick Smith. GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT - figures for 3 months to June expected to show further decline and NZ to formally go into recession. Comment from Nick Bennenbroek from Bankers Trust, NZIER head Alexander Sundakov, ANZ Bank economist Bernard Hodgetts, Finance minister Bill Birch, and Yves LeMay of Moody's credit rating agency. (Eric Frykberg) SEARCH WARRANTS - High Court in WN to release decision today on whether search warrants used to raid homes of Sir Graham Latimer and Shane Jones and lawyer Donna Hall. Raids were part of inquiry into alleged leak of documents from Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission. Live i/v with Donna Hall; live i/v with Supt Gerry Cunneen, WN Metropolitan Police District manager.
0730 NEWS/WEATHER/SPORTS NZ PAPERS FINANCE UPDATE POVERTY SPECIAL part 4: live i/v with Health minister Bill English and Education minister Wyatt Creech in response to points made in series. KOSOVO - NATO moves closer to using force to stop Serb offensive against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, following UN resolution. Live i/v with NATO spokesman Nicholas Firorenza.
0800 NEWS/WEATHER PRISON ESCAPE - prison officers say it should not have taken breakout by 4 dangerous inmates to get action taken on inadequate security at Paremoremo. I/v with Penal Officers' Assn national organiser John Slater. (Mng Rpt) TAUPO MILL - Wood Industries Union says whole of Taupo will be hit hard by mothballing of Carter Holt Harvey mill. I/v with union secretary Jim Jones and Taupo mayor Joan Williamson. DEREGULATION - pipfruit growers in Nelson expected to stage protest today against govt's proposal to deregulate producer boards, with target being PM Jenny Shipley. Rural reporter Catherine Harris backgrounds their anger and looks at whether producer boards' fate may become election issue. Comment from Food and Fibre minister John Luxton, Alliance leader Jim Anderton, Labour MP Jim Sutton, Prof Bill Bailey and Prof Wayne Cartwright. INTERNATIONAL PAPERS GERMANY - BOMB THREAT - police say they've received information about plan for bomb attack on US consulater in Hamburg. Live i/v with correspondent Geoff Rodoreda. AUSTRALIA - ELECTION - polls put Labour slightly ahead of Liberals, with One Nation Party support falling away. Live i/v with correspondent Michelle Grattan.
0830 NEWS/SPORTS HOSPITAL STRIKE - Palmerston North Hospitals cancels elective surgery because of week-long strike by X-ray workers. MidCentral Health says emergencies will still be covered. (Jill Galloway) TRANSPLANTED HAND - international team of surgeons in France attach hand of dead man to wrist of former NZer Clint Hallan in 14 hour operation, must now wait to see how well hand will function. Rejection is key issue - live i/v with Prof Stephen Munn, AK Hospital liver transplant unit. AUCKLAND - BRITOMART project beginning to dominate campaigning in local body elections. Whether or not country's biggest urban development plan actually goes ahead becomes defining issue. Comment from local body historian Graham Bush, mayor Les mills, John Olsen of Auckland Now and Peter Cross, Britomart investment. (Todd Niall) RNZ INTERNATIONAL celebrates 50 years of shortwave radio broadcasts to Pacific. Audio of PM Peter Fraser, broadcaster Ian Johnstone, Cook Islands PM Sir Geoffrey Henry, and Foreign Affairs minister Don Mckinnon. (Bruce Hill) FRIDAY FEEDBACK OZ SPOT - live i/v with correspondent Donna Demaio.