Disjointed Defence – Reefton Mine – Party Supervision – Power Saving – Sky City Awarded
DISJOINTED DEFENCE - Defence heads are under fire for fighting among themselves over purchasing the new army LAVIII
vehicles. The Auditor General says mistrust and misunderstanding, personality clashes and a dysfunctional relationships
between the armed forces have caused unnecessary delay in getting the vehicles. The choice of vehicle was not criticised
in the report. NZ First Defence Spokesperson Ron Mark says the LAVIII order should be cancelled and incompetent people
in the armed forces should go. Act’s Rodney Hide says the Defence Minister Mark Burton should be for the chopping block.
REEFTON MINE: Coasters are gearing up to take on Wellington after a public meeting in Reefton last night. Australian
mining company GRD Macraes says it will modify their proposal to keep the project alive, after Conservation Minister
Sandra Lee denied them permission for the gold mine. They have put in an official request to meet Sandra Lee. Sandra Lee
says that is unlikely to happen until at least next week, and says she is not going to change her mind. Commerce
Minister Paul Swain has been meeting with Macraes management.
PARTY SUPERVISION: Parents are being warned to beware when organising parties for their teenage kids. A father thought
he was doing the right thing in supervising his 16-year-old daughter’s party, where there was a stabbing incident.
Police charged him under an obscure and rarely used part of the Sale of Liquor Act, for turning his farm into a resort
for the sale and consumption of liquor.
POWER SAVING: For the first time in more than a fortnight, New Zealand saved more than the 10 per cent power target.
SKY CITY AWARDED: There is controversy over Sky City being awarded the supreme tourism award. Green Co-leader Rod Donald
says it is entirely inappropriate to award a casino the top award. Staff, meanwhile, went on strike yesterday
immediately after a record profit was announced.