National Radio Midday Bulletin

Olympic Traffic Snarl-Up – Olympic Scalpers – Olympic Airfares – Murder Hearing – Social Workers Wanted – Landslide Cleanup – Tainui Struggle – Rebels On Run – GE Inquiry – Rescue Helicopter

- OLYMPIC TRAFFIC SNARL-UP: Traffic gridlock on Sydney roads has delayed thousands of spectators from getting to shooting, women’s softball, and equestrian events.

- OLYMPIC SCALPERS: Ticket scalpers at the Olympics have had trouble selling their tickets, even at face value, as spectators would prefer to cue for hours from official vendors than take a chance on scalpers.

- OLYMPIC AIRFARES: Air NZ and Qantas have gone back to normal fares to Sydney, after struggling to encourage people across the Tasman for the Olympics. They are now offering Sydney return tickets from $419, and are not requiring advance bookings.

- MURDER HEARING: A hearing is underway at the High Court in Auckland to determine the minimum number of years that convicted murderer Travis Burns will serve. The crown has requested a longer sentence than the standard 10 year no-parole period.

- SOCIAL WORKERS WANTED: A major drive is underway to recruit NZ social workers in London, when there is already a shortage of social workers in New Zealand.

- LANDSLIDE CLEANUP: The daunting task of clearing loose material above a massive landslide that closed a road near Queenstown has begun.

- TAINUI STRUGGLE: A High Court judge will today hold telephone conference with the parties involved in a dispute over control of the executive of the Tainui iwi. This comes after the tribal parliament passed a vote of no confidence in the executive. The executive’s chairman, Kingi Purima is not accepting the decision, because he says the hui was not properly constituted.

- REBELS ON RUN: The Philippine military say rebels who have been holding hostages have been forced from their hideouts and are now on the run. The Philippines Government believes all hostages are still alive, but none have yet been found.

- GE INQUIRY: The first public meeting by the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Genetic Modification begins in Invercargill this afternoon. The meeting will be followed by 14 more regional meetings.

- RESCUE HELICOPTER: The Northland rescue helicopter service is poised to lose the ACC contract it has held for 11 years, and doesn’t know why.

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