Leaders Debate –Rodney Rift – GE Wheat – Smoking Kids – Florist – Ngati Awa – Tame and Tuariki – Prison Escaper – Breast
Feeding – Skyhawks – Immigration – Growing Up – Software Jobs – Robberies – Editorial: Piha
For full text see New Zealand Herald web site at http://www.nzherald.co.nz/
LEADERS DEBATE: The two women vying to be Prime Minister, Jenny Shipley and Helen Clark, failed to score a political
king-hit in the first of the televised leaders' debates last night. In a nervy but good-humoured contest on TV3, the
three male leaders - Jim Anderton, Richard Prebble and Winston Peters - hogged the limelight, prompting presenter John
Campbell to accuse Mr Peters of acting like a fourth former.
RODNEY RIFT: The rift in the Rodney District Council widened yesterday when six councillors walked out of a meeting in
disgust at what they say was typical constitutional abuse. One councillor who left, Jill Jeffs, said: "It's time to
stand against the bullies. They can't be allowed to make their own rules."
GE WHEAT: Genetic changes to a wheat crop that an international company wants to grow in New Zealand are being kept
secret with the blessing of a Government watchdog. Monsanto refuses to give details of the genes inserted into
weedkiller-resistant bread wheat it hopes to field-test in Canterbury, claiming the information is commercially
sensitive.
SMOKING KIDS: Some 11 and 12-year-old pupils at a Northland intermediate school are so addicted to cigarettes they can't
get through the school day without a smoke. Kaitaia Intermediate principal Mike Reid says many of them are allowed to
smoke at home, and cannot control the habit when they are at school.
FLORIST: Two-year-old Jimi took his mother's car for a quick spin and ended up on display at a downtown Rotorua
florist's shop. Owner Maria Gower heard an almighty crash on Wednesday afternoon and found a car had burst through the
shop window. Behind the wheel was Jimi and, in the back seat, a large dog.
NGATI AWA: The Crown confiscated land from the Bay of Plenty tribe Ngati Awa in 1866 on account of war and rebellion
but, says the Waitangi Tribunal, it is doubtful either actually occurred. Tribunal manager Ian Shearer yesterday
presented its Ngati Awa Raupatu report into the confiscation to hapu representatives at Taiwhakaea Marae in Whakatane.
TAME AND TUARIKI: Leaders of the country's newest Maori political movement admit they have differences in style. But
cabinet minister Tuariki Delamere and Tuhoe artist Tame Iti say they have put aside personal agendas to provide a
platform for an independent Maori voice in Parliament.
PRISON ESCAPER: Rapist Dion Ihaka Matthews wrapped himself in Gladwrap to foil police heat-seeking devices and used
pepper to put dogs off his scent when he escaped from Auckland Prison at Paremoremo. The tactics used by the 28-year-old
to flee the prison in June were revealed in an internal report obtained yesterday by the New Zealand Herald under the
Official Information Act.
BREAST FEEDING: The number of women breast-feeding babies has dropped dramatically in the past five years. An Auckland
University study of 400 mothers, published in the New Zealand Medical Journal, shows 63 per cent are breast-feeding
infants after six weeks, compared with 75 per cent in 1994.
SKYHAWKS: Indonesia's political uncertainty forced New Zealand Air Force jets to skirt the republic's extensive airspace
when returning from exercises in Malaysia. Eight Skyhawks and support aircraft spent four days trundling back to Ohakea
through the Philippines, Guam and Papua New Guinea instead of flying a direct route over Indonesia, the Defence Force
said yesterday.
IMMIGRATION: An Auckland immigration consultancy at the centre of investigations into allegedly phoney marriages has
folded. Wilsons Consultancy in Queen St, one of nine Auckland premises raided by police and immigration officials a week
ago, has been placed in liquidation.
GROWING UP: Growing up poses the same challenges for teenagers regardless of their ethnic group, a Victoria University
study has found. A survey of Wellington teenagers of Indian, Maori Greek and other European descent found they faced
common pressures from the educational system and workplace.
SOFTWARE JOBS: Canadian software company Geac will invest $50 million over five years in its locally developed
StreamLine software. Chief executive Doug Bergeron said the company would hire 100 more developers within two years in
addition to the 75 already at its Auckland office.
ROBBERIES: Police are looking at whether a string of Armourguard robberies are the work of Mongrel Mob associates
carrying out revenge attacks for the jailing of their bosses in June. Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Bush, of Takapuna,
said the robbers were believed to be responsible for five armed holdups of Armourguard staff in Auckland and one in
Tauranga.
EDITORIAL: - PIHA: The tragedy at Piha last weekend has prompted surf lifesaving organisations to begin another summer's
campaign to be recognised as an essential service deserving more substantial and secure public finance. The loss of
three people, recent immigrants who may not have been aware of Piha's perils, is an indictment of the lack of signs
warning of the hazards that can develop quite suddenly at West Coast beaches, particularly Piha. But the Labour Weekend
incident might not be a good basis for proper consideration of a claim on public funds. The victims, as lifeguards
themselves note, were swimming far from the patrolled area of the beach and late in the afternoon when patrols had
largely finished for the day. It is difficult to see that greater public financing of the surf club could have avoided
the catastrophe.