TVNZ Board and Hawkesby (Extended Report) - Lisa Blakie Murder - Americas Cup Defender Selected - Peanuts Creator Dies
- General Wiranto Sacked
TVNZ BOARD: The fate of the TVNZ board hangs in the balance tonight. Jane Young live: Michael Cullen says the government
wanted to know who was involved, and how high up in the decision to sign the contract went.
Earlier Helen Clark used the post-Cabinet press conference to attack TVNZ. Clark accused the broadcaster of using its
top fronts-people, Paul Holmes and Judy Bailey and Richard Long in a PR campaign, a "war of words" with the government.
John Hawkesby meanwhile has being making jokes about TVNZ and Marion Hobbs on the speaking circuit.
Jane Young Live: There has been an enormous focus on what happened to John Hawkesby before and after he was appointed by
TVNZ. Michael Cullen said that Hawkesby made an approach to TVNZ himself and that discussions with TVNZ dated back to
1991. The Government wants much more accountability on this one. The government also wants to know why - when they knew
the size of the contract - the board did not take back the delegations it had given to its CEO Rick Ellis in relation to
the employment contract.
LISA BLAKIE MURDER: Police have described a driver that picked up Blakie as a blond man in his forties - heavily built -
she was picked up in a beige four door saloon in Christchurch that was later seen further out on the Canterbury Plains.
Police have also found Blakie's cellphone near where her dog was found.
AMERICAS CUP: NZL60 has been chosen to race against Prada in the Americas Cup final series starting on Saturday.
Yachting commentator says the boats are quite different even if they look the same. Meanwhile there are arguments yet to
resolve how to deal with penalties and umpiring on the water. Tomorrow morning Team NZ will lift the skirts of their
defender.
SHULTZ DIES: The Peanuts cartoon creator Charles M. Shultz dies as his final cartoon strip goes to print. Charlie Brown,
Snoopy, Linus, Lucy all said goodbye today, and Shultz's heart stopped. The largest readership of any comic strip in
history will miss this strip.
GENERAL WIRANTO SACKED: General Wiranto has been stripped of his Cabinet position. Earlier President Abdurrachman Wahid
- who had just returned from an overseas trip - had said Wiranto could stay.