As the windup for the APEC summit began in earnest today - Scoop was there. For other news today see further below...
SCOOP FEATURE - EAST TIMOR CRISIS DEEPENS
NEWSFLASH: Indonesian President Not Coming
- A major blow has been dealt to the chances of APEC dealing constructively with the crisis in East Timor with an
announcement this afternoon that Indonesian President B.J. Habibe will not be attending the Summit. He had been expected
to arrive on Saturday. The US Secretary of State and British Foreign Secretary are both in New Zealand and are expected
to attend a meeting tomorrow with fellow foreign ministers to discuss the crisis. ASEAN member nations are not expected
to be at the meeting.
Dili UN Compound Defended By Army
- Speaking from the UN Compound in Dili by phone to Radio New Zealand New Zealander Andrew Ladley of the UNAMET mission
says the compound is now secure as it is being defended by a new army unit which has just arrived. See... UN Compound In Dili Defended By Indonesian Army [1] in the Headlines wire.
Timor Minister's Meeting Tomorrow
Arrangements will not be able to be made in time for an urgent meeting of foreign ministers today to discuss the crisis
in East Timor. See... Foreign Ministers Timor Meeting Will Not Be Today [1] in the Headlines wire.
Aussie Emergency Cabinet Session
- The Australian Cabinet is set to meet for an emergency Cabinet session as speculation mounts that they are preparing
to send troops to East Timor. Prime Minister John Howard says he has little confidence in the imposition of martial law
and says Australia would be prepared to commit 4,000 troops.
Colin Isles - The Fate Of A Brave People In A Cowardly World
- "For the merest moment in time the East Timorese glimpsed the possibility of an end to 24 years of the brutal and
illegal occupation that had cost a third of their population," writes veteren East Timor campaigner Colin Iles. See... Column on East Timor by Campaigner Colin Iles [1] in the Headlines wire.
Save The Children Open Letter To Don McKinnon On East Timor Crisis
- See... Save The Children Letter To McKinnon [1] in the Politics wire. See also An Open Letter To Foreign Minister Mckinnon [2] from Corso.
No Sign of Martial Law Having Any Effect
- Reports this morning say there is no sign of the declaration of Martial Law in East Timor having any effect on the
mob violence in the territory. Yesterday the PM Jenny Shipley said she had been assured by Indonesian President B.J.
Habibe that he would "not tolerate anarchy" in East Timor. However Labour Leader Helen Clark said today that the
National Government's excuses for President Habibie and the Indonesian Government are wearing very thin. See... History will judge National's reluctance [1] in the Parliament wire.
Frigate Te Kaha Deployed To Darwin
- The Prime Minister, Rt Hon Jenny Shipley and the Minister of Defence, Hon Max Bradford, this morning announced the
Government had agreed to deploy HMNZS Te Kaha to Darwin. See... Te Kaha Deploys To Assist In East Timor [1] in the Parliament wire. Meanwhile National MP Annabel Young says that the deployment of Te Kaha to stand off East Timor should silence
the critics of the blue-water Navy. "Thank God we have the frigates. This is not a job for shoreline patrol craft," she
said. See... "Thank God we have the frigates" [2] in the Parliament wire.
Latest UN and US Briefings On Timor Crisis
- UN Headlines: 1. Security Council mission en route to Jakarta as Secretary-General confers with world leaders on ways
of stopping violence in East Timor. 2. UN staff in East Timor seek safety in guarded compound as Indonesia declares
martial law. See... UN Statements On East Timor - Daily Highlights [1] . See also the US State Department Briefing On East Timor [2] , dated September 7 and the statement by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on East Timor, which was issued on Monday,
6 September. See... UN Secretary-General Expresses Extreme Concern [3] . All in the General wire.
TODAY'S OTHER SCOOPS
Trade Figures Show Exports Dwarfed By Imports / APEC Figures Released
- The Overseas Merchandise Trade Figures to July 1999 were released by Statistics New Zealand today showing our trade
deficit continues to worsen. See... Overseas Merchandise Trade To July 1999 in the Business wire. Also in this wire is the figures of our trade with APEC nations. See... Trade with APEC - year ended June 1999 [1] . Rod Donald says the Trade Deficit is getting worse and today challenged the government to tell the truth about it
at APEC. See... "Tell The Truth About The Trade Deficit" [2] in the Parliament wire.
Scoop At APEC - Full Coverage
- Scoop's Selwyn Manning is covering the APEC summit on the ground in Auckland. His ongoing coverage is in the Auckland
wire. See:
- APEC Trade Fair a Failure [1] -
- Auckland Now Resembles A Militarised Zone [9] . All in the Auckland wire.
Alliance Announce Tariff Plan to Deal With Deficit
- "The balance of payments deficit has reached a crisis point. At $6,374 million in the last year, every New Zealander
is spending $33 dollars a week more on imported goods, than we earn from the sale of our nation's exports," said
Alliance leader Jim Anderton today. Today the Alliance announced their approach to the problem, including a policy on
tariffs. See... Dealing with the Balance of Payments crisis [1] in the Parliament wire. Ilam MP Gerry Brownlee described the announcement as "plain stupid". See... Alliance Tariff Policy "Plain Stupid" [2] in the Parliament wire. The Trade Union Federation Of New Zealand welcomed the move. See... Alliance Tariff Policy Gets Thumbs Up [3] in the Politics wire.
Employers Federation Speech
- Employment - Do We Really Want It? See... Employers Fed. Speech On Employment [1] in the Business wire.
Prime Minister Launches Prison Books Trust
- Serious crimes demand serious measures such as imprisonment, but we must also bear in mind the importance of
rehabilitation, and being able to read is an important part of that, Prime Minister Jenny Shipley said today during a
visit to Mt Eden Women's prison. See... Prime Minister Launches Books In Prisons Trust [1] in the Parliament wire.
Labour's Welfare Policy
- Labour's social security policy is tailored to offer New Zealanders security and opportunity in the new century, says
Labour Leader Helen Clark. See... Labour social security policy offers fresh vision [1] and Welfare for the 21st Century - Labour [2] in the Parliament wire. The Minister of Social Services, Roger Sowry today welcomed what he describes as Labour's belated approval of
Government social policy. See... Labour social policy endorses Government direction [3] , also in the Parliament wire. ACT Social Welfare Spokesman Dr Muriel Newman said the announcement showed Labour had no vision. See... Labour: No Hope, No Vision [4] in the Parliament wire.
Clark's Credibility On Line Over Defamation Action
- Labour Leader Helen Clark's credibility has been dealt a major blow with defamation proceedings against her over her
claims about surgery at Ascot Hospital, Health Minister Wyatt Creech said today. See... Labour Leader's Credibility Put At Issue [1] in the Parliament wire.
Adult Literacy Strategy Launched
- Education Minister Nick Smith today announced the development of a comprehensive Adult Literacy Strategy to parallel
the Government's literacy and numeracy goals for children, in a speech to the Workbase Forum on International Literacy
Day. See... Opening The Book On Adult Literacy [1] in the Parliament wire. See the speech... Speech - Adult Literacy Day Forum [2] , also in the Parliament wire.
Hospital Equipment Ready For The Y2K - MOH
- The public can be reassured that any hospital medical devices have now been thoroughly checked and re-tested for
susceptibility to the Y2K computer bug, the Ministry of Health said today. See... Hospital Equipment Ready For The Y2K [1] in the General wire.
Athens Quake Kills 31
- A strong earthquake centred just outside of Athens has killed at least 31 people. The quake struck at 3 o'clock in
the afternoon while people were having their siesta. No historic buildings have been damaged.
Rural Doctors Welcome New Funding Rules
- The Rural GP Network and the New Zealand Medical Association welcome the new system of paying a bonus to rural GPs,
but say more initiatives are needed to confront the problems facing rural general practice. See... Redistribution of rural bonus welcomed [1] in the General wire.
Justice At Last For Ngati Ruanui - Graham
- The Minister of Treaty Negotiations, Rt Hon Sir Douglas Graham, said today the signing of a Heads of Agreement
between the Crown and Ngati Ruanui of Taranaki was justice at last for an iwi that had waited for more than 140 years
for its grievances to be addressed. See... Justice At Last For Ngati Ruanui [1] in the Parliament wire. Conservation Minister Nick Smith today welcomed the signing as a significant step towards settling Ngati Ruanui's
Treaty of Waitangi clai. See... Ngati Ruanui Heads Of Agreement [2] in the Parliament wire.
NZ On Right Track With Suicide
- New Zealand is on the right track with its initiatives to prevent people taking their own lives, according to
Minister of Health Wyatt Creech. See... NZ On Right Track With Suicide Prevention [1] in the Parliament wire.
LABOUR INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS POLICY LAUNCHED - REACTION
- Labour has launched their long awaited Industrial Relations policy and the response to it has been substantial. This
announcement promises to be a key policy issue of the coming election and everyone has something to say: - Labour's Employment Relations policy [1] . - Labour's industrial relations spokesperson Pete Hodgson said the policy was all about choice. See... Introducing real choice to workplace relations [2] . - Labour Leader Helen Clark today welcomed Labour's employment relations policy as a critical component in
Labour's plans to build a modern and prosperous economy. See... A more balanced approach to law [3] . - Michael Cullen said Labour will repeal the Employment Contracts Act because it is unfair, contravenes important
ILO conventions and has failed to incr
ease productivity or growth. See... The case for scrapping the ECA [4] . - ACTs Rural Spokesman Owen Jennings said Labour's Industrial Policy Bad News For Rural NZ [5] . - Roger Sowry, Minister of Social Services, Work and Income, yesterday said the policy showed the Unions have Labour in a strangle-hold [6] . - The Enterprise and Commerce Minister Max Bradford said the policy was a prescription for disaster for this
country. See... Labour's Union Payback Policy [7] . - ACT Leader Richard Prebble said the fears of employers and businesses about the return of militant unions under
Labour's industrial relations policy had been proved correct. See... Prebble Predictions On Union Bill Proved Correct [8] . - Food and Fibre Minister John Luxton yesterday warned that the farming sector had every right to be deeply
concerned about the Labour Party's policy to scrap the Employment Contracts Act as part of their sharp lurch to the
left. See... Agriculture Scared Of Labour's Employment Policy [9] . - The NZEI said that now there was Finally a fair workplace relations policy [10] , in the Politics wire.
Warehouse Christchurch Stops Selling Coal In Environmental Move
- Coal, a commercially viable retail product for The Warehouse, will be removed from shelves of its Christchurch stores
next year in a move designed to help the smog problems and the Christchurch environment. See... The Warehouse Removes Coal From Shelves [1] in the Business wire.