The Dominion

State Pay Rises – Levin Beatin – ‘Halfwit’ email – Kava Driver

- STATE PAY RISES: Public service bosses pocketed average pay increases of 9.5 per cent in the year to June this year. State Services Minister Trevor Mallard, who revealed the increases agreed to by the previous Government in Parliament yesterday, said the pay rises were unjustified, and a “terrible signal.”

- LEVIN BEATING: An emotional appeal by a 12-year-old girl has resulted in the arrest of two teenagers for beating her brother. Ben Oxnam, 14, was beaten in the street in Levin on Sunday afternoon, leaving him with a fractured skull.

- ‘HALFWIT’ EMAIL: A senior Alliance staffer was publicly rebuked by Prime Minister Helen Clark yesterday for sending a caustic e-mail to Richard Poole, the organiser of a newspaper advertisement calling for a change of economic direction, as political tensions mounted over the “brain-drain.”

- KAVA DRIVER: The trial for the first person in New Zealand to be charged with driving under the influence of kava began in Wellington District Court yesterday.

Inside Political Headlines:
- Anderton stops short of calling for Brash to go;
- Shipley’s US defence talks under fire from PM;
- Bruised Hide signals change of tactics;
- Ministry told to quit whaling conference;
- Wilson changes stance on gang payouts;
- Minister rejects suggestion she meddled with authority selection.

Editorial: Racing uncertainty.

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