0600 NEWS/WEATHER
0609 NZ NEWSPAPERS
0611 NEWS STORY GENETIC ENGINEERING - scientists concerned any moratorium on field trials for duration of Royal Commission of Inquiry could put NZ behind in global race to develop the technology. Cabinet today expected to consider membership and terms of reference of inquiry. Voluntary moratorium likely to be implemented. (Veronika Meduna);Associate Environment minister Phillida Bunkle says Alliance has had to back down on demand for complete ban on field trials. (Clare Sziranyi)
0620 RURAL NEWS APPLE GLUT - ENZA says it welcomes chance to explain to Parliament's primary production committee why it's proposing to turn about 3-quarters of million cartons of export quality Braeburn apples into juice. Committee concerned at ENZA's apparent inability to market the export apple crop. (Kevin Ikin) CHICKEN IMPORTS - sale of US chicken in N still some way off even if US suppliers can meet conditions MAF proposes in revised risk analysis of chicken meat imports. US govt pushing for access and some local businesses want to buy American chicken meat because it;'s cheaper. MAF proposing strict conditions to keep out poultry diseases, Infectious Bursal Disease and Newcastle Disease. Stuart MacDiarmid, biosecurity authority, says MAF would have to monitor import levels very closely because of strong link between risk level and volume of trade. (Kevin Ikin) DAIRY MERGERS - SMALL COMPANIES remind larger counterparts their talents must not be lost in any future industry amalgamations. Ian Robb, chair of Westland Dairy Co-op, says small companies want to make sure they wouldn't simply be swallowed up in amalgamations of big companies. (Diana Leufkens) BUTTER AWARD - Kiwi Dairy Products scoops awards for flavoured butter at world champion cheese contest in Wisconsin. Kiwi wins gold with butter designed for Russian market under Doyaruska brand name and wins silver and bronze with illegible-flavoured butters produced for MIddle East market. (Kevin Ikin)
0625 SPORTS STORY RUGBY - SUPER 12 - live i/v with commentator John McBeth re weekend's games.
0630 NEWS/WEATHER
0635 NEWS STORY CONSTITUTIONAL CONFERENCE - place of Treaty of Waitangi dominates discussions at weekend conference on constitutional change. I/v with Dr Cheryl Saunders, Australian constitutional lawyer who was involved in providing impartial information to public in lead-up to recent referendum. (Al Morrison) INTERNATIONAL PAPERS MANA NEWS
0650 BUSINESS NEWS AIR NEW ZEALAND snubs Qantas. Managing director Jim McCrea says tie-up with Qantas would not be in long term interests of Air NZ as it would require airline to get rid of stake in Ansett Australia to satisfy competition rules. (Catherine Walbridge) COMPETITION LAWS - chair of Commerce Commission, John Belgrave, doubts there will be flood of merger and takeover applications before laws are tightened. (Catherine Walbridge) LION NATHAN brewing groups looking at making more acquisitions outside Australasia, is also spending more than $120 million to increase beer market share in Victoria by buying about 40 hotels which will sell its beer. Chief exec Gordon Cairns denies company planning to shift more of its operations from NZ to Australia. (Catherine Walbridge) FINANCE/MARKETS WEEK AHEAD N.Z. WEBSITE - NZ companies operating in US take to internet to boost export opportunities. NZinUSA.com run out of Trade Development Board's New York officer, backers hope it will become strong marketing tool with support from exporters. (Judy Lessing) U.S. - ANTI-TRUST officials may have whetted appetite for closer look at other parts of technology sector following Microsoft case. Brock Meeks, chief Washington correspondent for MSNBC television channel, thinks trust-busters are about to widen their net. (Gyles Beckford) BUSINESS BRIEFS
0700 INTRO/NEWS CANCER SMEARS INQUIRY starts today in Gisborne. Questions regarding re-testing of work of former pathologist Dr Michael Bottrill will be raised by his lawyer. Chris Hodson QC argues results from Sydney laboratories, which carried out the re-testing, are themselves untested. Sydney tests indicated Dr Bottrill picked up onlu 24% of abnormalities in cervical smears. I/v with Chris Hodson QC. (Mng Rpt); Health correspondent Rae Lamb in Gisborne to cover inquiry - i/ved live. GENETIC ENGINEERING - Alliance backs down from demanding complete ban on all new field trials while Royal Commission of Inquiry into GE is carried out. Comment from Associate Environment minister Phillida Bunkle, PM Helen Clark, Environment minister Marian Hobbs, Green Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons, and National MP Nick Smith. (Clare Sziranyi) CAMPAIGN SPENDING - Labour Party president Bob Harvey to meet counterparts in National and Alliance parties to discuss rules covering election campaign spending. He's concerned that unless better controls on spending are put in place, parties may be forced to engage in high-spending presidential-style. ACT leader Richard Prebble would like to see limits on campaign spending abolished altogether, while Alliance leader Jim Anderton says it would be beneficiasl for political system for there to be some limit on party spending; live i/v with Bob Harvey and National Party president John Slater.
0730 NEWS/WEATHER/SPORTS NZ PAPERS FINANCE UPDATE HOPE/SMART CASE - Court of Appeal today begins hearing appeal of Scott Watson, convicted of murders of Olivia Hope and Ben Smart who disappeared in Marlborough Sounds on New Year's Eve 1988. Watson currently serving life sentence with non-parole period of 17 years. Live i/v with Court reporter Merle Nowland. MUSEUM THEFT - police investigating weekend theft of jewellery and coins worth more than $300,000 from Kelly Tarlton Shipwreck Museum on baord "Tui" in Northland. Live i/v with Nicole Tarlton. TAURANGA - FLOODING - clean-up this morning after torrential rain in weekend causes flooding in parts of city. Several homes evacuated in suburb of Buretta and Fire Service received about 200 calls to pump flood water from homes and businesses. Chief Fire Officer Ron Devlin says volunteer brigades from around Bay of Plenty called in to help - i/ved. (Mng Rpt) INTERNET ROW - fledgling service i4free says it's prepared to spend million dollars in legal fees to brak Telecom's stranglehold on internet industry, but Telecom says i4Free is backed by British Telecom through Clear Communications. Comment from i4Free's Annette Presley and Hesketh Henry internet lawyer Russell Brown. (Karen Gregory-Hunt) WELLINGTON WATERFRONT - Waterfront Watch residents group believes it's won fight to stop revamp of waterfront under Variation 17 proposal which it claimed would restrict public access and block harbour views. Mayor Mrk Blumsky has now withdrawn his support for the scheme and says it's likely to be dumped at special council meeting this week. (Corin Dann) INTERNATIONAL PAPERS
0800 NEWS/WEATHER CANCER SMEARS INQUIRY - women affected by pathologist Michael Bottrill misreading of their cervical smear slides, to be first to be heard by inquiry. Wendy Ure, member of the women's support group, says they expect explanation of what went wrong but they don't want blame laid at anyone's door - i/ved. (Mng Rpt) U.S. - CUBAN BOY - legal battle over custody of Elian Gonzales continues. Live i/v with correspondent Malcolm Brabant. OBITUARY- A K GRANT, satirist, dies in CH aged 59. David McPhail and Jon Gadsby among his closest friends - i/ved live. CONSTITUTIONAL CONFERENCE - Māori delegates argue Treaty of Waitangi must be included if constitutional changes are made though no consensus emerges at conference about how it would be done. Live i/v with Denise Henare, barrister and member of Law Commission, lawyer and former Labour cabinet minister David caygill, and ACT MP and lawyer Stephen Franks.
0830 NEWS/WEATHER/SPORTS GOLF - U.S. MASTERS - Fiji'as Vijay Singh has 1 stroke lead in final round. Live i/v with correspondent Bill Blighton. KIMBERLEY CENTRE - govt announces another review of centre for intellectually disabled in Levin. Health officials and MidCentral Health have been trying since 1994 to move residents into community care but should the centre be closed. Live i/v with Ann Hunt, author of soon to be published book "The Lost Years" which looks at the history of the centre and wider issues of institutionalisation. ANTARCTIC - TOOTHFISH becomes subject of heated debate between green campaigners and seafood industry. Green Party and Greenpeace call for moratorium on fishing of the toothfish (aka sea bass) which they say is in danger of being driven to extinction, in large part through illegal and unregulated fishing. NZ fishers say if they're stopped from legally plying waters in search of toothfish, pirate fishers will have free rein to decimate remaining toothfish. Live i/v with Greenpeace ocean ecology campaigner Sarah Duthie and Greg Williams, vessels operations manager for Independent Fisheries. BRITAIN - MEDIEVAL ZOO - remains found beneath Tower of London. Excavation and research shows as many as 100 different species were once kept theer, including rhinoceroses, antelopes and tigers. Live i/v with Tower archivist Dr Geoffrey Parnell. OZ SPOT - live i/v with Phil Kafcaloudes. ( stolen generation - PM Howard and cabinet minister John Herron apologise for offence given by report denying stolen generation but not for the fact itself; Social Justice Commissioner says apology warranted; Aboriginal leader Charlie Perkins calls by boycott of Olympics in Netherlands)