Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
TV3 News
National Service - Young Mountaineer - Climbers Given Up By Mountain - Susan Burdette Murder - ACT on Crime - Home Detention - SPCA Approved Eggs - Firefighter - Vexatious Litigant
NATIONAL SERVICE: Attention boys. NZ First wants a return to compulsory military service. Girls would be exempt. A call to arms at a public meeting in Hamilton. Winston Peters says the scheme is designed to put purpose in the lives of young people. The last scheme was scrapped in 1972. 100,000 did it - many of them are now inclined to vote NZ First. Females could volunteer to undergo. Around 20,000 would do it each year. Opting out would not be an option. National is not keen on the idea. Roger Sowry - "it just doesn't make sense" - Labour says it is a "timewarp" policy - The Alliance says it is illconceived.
YOUNG MOUNTAINEER: A 14-year-old from Ashburton has become the youngest person to climb Mt Cook. Videoed by her dad. She beat her sister to the prize of being the youngest by four days. They descended in part by skis.
CLIMBERS GIVEN UP BY MOUNTAIN: Mt Cook has given up the remains of two climbers who disappeared thirty years ago on the Hooker Glacier. They have not yet been identified.
SUSAN BURDETTE: Teina Poura has been granted a retrial for the murder of Susan Burdette by the Court of Appeal. He was convicted on the first count in large part as a result of a confession. He was 16 at the time of his conviction. However his lack of verbal skills and literacy is considered to put the confession in doubt. Malcolm Rewa was twice tried for the murder of Burdette and the crown twice failed. New DNA evidence should now be shown to a jury in relation to the case against Poura the court says.
ACT ON CRIME: ACT wants to get tough on violent criminals. At Mt Eden prison Richard Prebble says it is "time Parliament got tough on crime". He was supported in his plea by the family of Kylie Smith of Owaka who was murdered by an offender on bail. ACT wants to re-table a petition from the Smith case.
HOME DETENTION: Four convicts tagged with anklets were released today for home detention. 300 in place by June next year by the corrections department.
SPCA APPROVED EGGS: Eggs deemed to have been humanely produced will get a special label from the RNZSPCA. Egg producer Harry Bennick says his eggs are better because they are produced under less stress. He says performance of barn hens is competitive compared to battery hens.
FIREFIGHTER: A volunteer firefighter charged with more than 50 arsons pleads guilty to around 10.
VEXATIOUS LITIGANT: A Christchurch man who is accused of being a vexatious litigant appears in court again. His legal battling concerns a house sale in 1971. Chief Justice Sian Elias and Justice Heron hear the case. An hour into the case John Collier stormed out of court but the case goes on.
Alastair Thompson
Scoop Publisher
Alastair Thompson is the co-founder of Scoop. He is of Scottish and Irish extraction and from Wellington, New Zealand. Alastair has 24 years experience in the media, at the Dominion, National Business Review, North & South magazine, Straight Furrow newspaper and online since 1997. He is the winner of several journalism awards for business and investigative work.
Ramzy Baroud: The World Owes Palestine This Much - Please Stop Censoring Palestinian Voices
Dee Ninis, The Conversation: Why Vanuatu Should Brace For Even More Aftershocks After This Week’s Deadly Quakes: A Seismologist Explains
Martin LeFevre - Meditations: Meditation Without A Method
Ramzy Baroud: Israel To Annex The West Bank – Why Now? And What Are The Likely Scenarios?
Binoy Kampmark: The Strawman Of Antisemitism - Banning Protests Against Israel Down Under
Gordon Campbell: On The Coalition’s Empty Gestures, And Abortion Refusal As The New Slavery