Two a penny

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Two people were killed on New Zealand’s roads this weekend, both in Northland crashes.

A 29-year-old pedestrian, Sheridan David Snowden from Northland, was killed in a possible hit and run overnight.Mr Snowden’s body was found near a car on its side in a ditch on Russell Rd in Oakura, 50km north of Whangarei, about 4.He died at the scene, but it was not clear whether the upturned car had struck him or another vehicle that may have collided with that car, police said.30am.”Inquiries conducted to date have given rise to the possibility that another vehicle may also have been involved in the incident.The driver of the car left in the ditch was “assisting police” with their investigation, a police spokesman said. .5m down a bank.On Friday night 19-year-old Andrew Thomas Ellwood from Whangarei died after the car he was a passenger in crossed the centreline, collided with another car and rolled 2.20pm.The car had been travelling along Whangarei Heads Rd before the crash about 7.He and two other people were trapped in the car.Mr Ellwood was conscious when emergency services arrived but died shortly afterwards.They were taken to hospital with serious injuries and stabilised.They were taken to hospital with serious injuries and stabilised.

.Police believe speed was a factor in the crash

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National is playing down a high-stakes political battle between its support partners over Maori seats on the new Auckland council.

It has emerged that Local Government Minister and ACT Leader Rodney Hide told Prime Minister John Key in June he would resign as minister if the Government allowed any form of Maori seat on the yet-to-be-created council.

Cabinet had previously agreed in principle there would be no such seats, but at the June 3 meeting Mr Key had sounded him out on the possibility of Maori seats.

The Maori Party has been lobbying to overturn the Government’s position and recent events show that Mr Key is seriously considering whether Cabinet should reverse its decision.

“It was a live issue and a prospect,” Mr Hide said.

Mr Hide had also assured Mr Key ACT would not threaten the stability of the Government and the confidence and supply agreement would remain in place.

Mr Hide had told Mr Key that he could not compromise and still introduce the bill in his name, and would therefore have to stand aside.

His stance was not a threat, but a position of principle which Mr Key had to know about when decisions were made on the issue, he said.

“The coalition is going well, really focusing on the important issues facing New Zealand,” Mr Ryall said. . .

“ACT’s position is very well known to New Zealanders. but he is very solidly behind the Government. .”

Decisions on the Maori seats were yet to be taken, he said.”

Decisions on the Maori seats were yet to be taken, he said.

He called on Mr Hide to let Cabinet and Parliament decide the issue and then live with it.

“I would hate him to feel he has to step down over one little detail, if Maori seats are created, because that is now a very real possibility,” Dr Sharples said.

Labour accused Mr Hide of grandstanding to lift his party’s low poll ratings, but he said he had not intended to make his stance public.

Dr Sharples said he would be disappointed if Maori seats were not created, but he would stay on to advocate for Maori interests as a minister.

In the email, Mr Henare urges National MPs to back Maori seats, a reversal of its previous policy, saying there was public support for them.

Mr Hide said he was disappointed an email from National MP Tau Henare had been leaked to TV3 in which it had been wrongly claimed Mr Hide had been threatening the stability of the Government when it enjoyed only 1 per cent support in the polls.

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The Reserve Bank has fired a warning shot about the sudden recent sharp rise in interest rates.

The central bank said this morning that current levels of long-term interest rates in this country were “out of line” with its expectations.

The action by the governor was unusual, as he normally waits for his regular six-weekly review of interest rates before making comments on market conditions.

Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard said the recent rise in rates charged between financial institutions was “unwarranted and inconsistent with the monetary policy outlook”. A short time ago it was worth US55.

The New Zealand dollar reacted sharply to the announcement, falling over a cent in value against the American currency.

The comments by Bollard indicate a clear concern from him that recent actions of the markets could put further pressure on struggling Kiwi households and on the depressed New Zealand economy.9 cents compared with over US57c prior to the RBNZ statement. Governments around the world are issuing huge amounts of bonds as they seek to pump money into their own economies.

A number of factors have caused the recent increase in longer term rates.

There has also been a very strong rise in the value of the New Zealand dollar – largely due to the weakness of the US dollar.

This is forcing banks sourcing money offshore to pay higher rates. Several banks have increased their longer term fixed mortgage rates. .5 percent to 3 percent, indicated it did not see much more scope for further falls.

As well, the RBNZ, when lowering official interest rates from 3.

Continuation of such a trend could put further downward pressure on an economy that has been in recession since the start of 2008.

All of these factors have contributed to what is effectively a sharp tightening in monetary conditions within New Zealand – contrary to the RBNZ’s wishes. Furthermore, the risks around the outlook continue to be weighted to the downside,” Dr Bollard said in a statement.

“As we said in our 12 March Monetary Policy Statement, the economic recovery is expected to be very gradual.”

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Dr Bollard said that if this “apparent distortion” in the market persists, it could put unnecessary pressure on the cost of borrowing by firms and households.

“As indicated in our March Statement, we are projecting interest rates to remain at relatively low levels for an extended period.

A number of economists in recent days have been calling for just such an action from the RBNZ governor.

The comments by Bollard are effectively an attempt to “jawbone” interest rates and the New Zealand dollar down.

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Man bashed outside 21st party in Taranaki

By RYAN EVANS – Tuesday, 03 March 2009

ROBERT CHARLES
New Plymouth police officers investigate the scene at Konini St, Inglewood, where a man was found with serious head injuries after a party early on Sunday.

A 30-year-old man is in Wellington Hospital with serious head injuries after being bashed outside a 21st birthday party in the Taranaki town of Inglewood.
Detective Senior Sergeant Keith Borrell, of New Plymouth CIB, said police believed the man was assaulted. .
Mr Borrell said police were speaking to people who had been at the party.
A section of Konini St was cordoned off yesterday while police investigated the scene.30am when the man went outside to his car. Guests spoken to by the yesterday said about 60 people had been at the party but most were gone by 5.
The guests did not think the man had been assaulted by another party goer but said perhaps he had tripped and fallen over.
They said a few people were left drinking and other people were still hanging around outside.
One neighbour reported hearing aggressive voices from the street about 5. They said the party had been trouble-free.
The neighbour looked out a window and reported seeing a man lying on the ground with people around him and a woman talking on a cellphone.30am.
They said the house was known to have parties that could get rowdy.
Neighbours said the party continued after the man was taken to hospital and only stopped when police arrived to investigate on Sunday evening.

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Yesterday afternoon the man was in a serious but stable condition, Mr Borrell said, and was being transferred to Wellington Hospital's neurological ward

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Neighbours tell of attack on woman, 99

The Saturday, 14 February 2009

Aman who attacked a 99-year-old woman in her home walked into a bedroom when police arrived and said he was going to bed, a court has been told.
Neighbours reported the screams of the woman who yelled "save me" and then hearing pounding thuds.
"What's he done, what's he done to me, have I been stabbed?" she asked.
Police found the frail woman bleeding, with her nightie unbuttoned and arms outstretched, and the man still in the home.
He is charged with indecent assault, male assaults female, and burglary.
Glen Patrick Walsh, 20, appeared for a depositions hearing in Palmerston North District Court yesterday. . He conceded a prima facie case and had been committed to trial. One said: "I felt terrified just hearing this going on.
In briefs of evidence, neighbours told of hearing screams of "save me" and "don't". It sounded like she was screaming from the top of her lungs. It sounded like the woman was scared.
He told him to get out of bed and that he was under arrest but the man was incoherent."
Constable Garry Bedford followed the assailant, who was shirtless and barefooted, into a bedroom and watched him get into a bed and pull the covers over his legs.
The court was told Walsh had been drinking home-brew spirits that night. "Nah, I'm going to bed," the man replied."It appeared to me the nightie had been pulled open.
Constable Lisa Walker said the top buttons of the woman's nightie were undone.
Yesterday her family said she was still in hospital, had undergone three operations, had nightmares and wanted to go home."
The woman was taken to Palmerston North Hospital with gashes to both arms and her leg..
"She should have been able to see out her days at home . I promised her she would never have to go to the home but now she's got to go in one," her daughter said.. "She was perfect on that day, though she was tired out by the end of it. "She was perfect on that day, though she was tired out by the end of it."

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NZ sisters offer shelter to survivors

By DENISE McNABB in Whittlesea Friday, 13 February 2009

The Age
MOVED TO TEARS: Two big-hearted Kiwi sisters have opened their home to victims of the Australian bushfires. Maria Totorewa, front, and Sue Wirepai say their home is open to anyone who wants to stay.
Maria Totorewa and sister Sue Wirepai, visiting from Melbourne, are among hundreds of people in the devastated town of Whittlesea, Victoria, to offer help at a temporary refugee centre.

Two big-hearted Kiwi sisters have opened their home to victims of the Australian bushfires. She fought back tears yesterday as she remembered friends who died in the fires.
"My house is open to anyone who wants to stay," Mrs Totorewa said.
"I can't take my sunglasses off. The flames were just 20 minutes from her home when the wind changed direction, saving her family. . You will see my tears," she said. We saw nothing. We were under the air conditioner eating ice popsicles, trying to get relief from the heat. Police need cellphones in the huge task of identifying bodies."
Her husband, Chris, a telecommunications contractor, has gone to the obliterated town of Marysville to build new cellphone towers.
Many people, including cricketer Shane Warne, have poured into Whittlesea anxious to lend a hand. Fifteen people are confirmed dead in the town, which had a population of 519.

. Firms have also donated goods by the truckload

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Man charged over attempted murder in NZ

By PIPPA O’ROURKE – Monday, 02 February 2009

A man wanted over the murder of his first wife in the UK and the attempted murder of his second wife on Auckland's North Shore is facing charges in a Scottish court.
British news agencies reported that Malcolm Webster, 49, had been arrested and charged in connection with the death of a woman who died in a car crash in Aberdeenshire almost 15 years ago. Her husband Malcolm Webster survived the crash. .
Webster, 48, failed to appear in the North Shore District Court in 2000 on charges of administering a drug and stupefying his then-wife Felicity Drumm and two charges of arson at her parents' home.
Grampian Police said the man had also been charged in connection with events in the UK and New Zealand leading to the attempted murder of another woman. Tests found she had been drugged before dying in a crash in Scotland in 1994.
Scottish police reopened their case into the death of his first wife, Claire, after becoming aware of the New Zealand case.
Webster met Ms Drumm in Saudi Arabia after he moved there with the proceeds of a £200,000 insurance payout.
Reports about the crash that killed Clare Webster said the vehicle, a Daihatsu 4×4, did not immediately burst into flames after the crash.
A year later the couple were involved in a crash on the North Shore.
They were married in Takapuna in 1997, according to the Scottish Sunday Mail.
Webster is a healthcare worker and reportedly worked as a manual handling advisor, training staff in safe lifting of objects or patients, in Scotland in 2006. Ms Drumm survived the crash.
"I heard a comment but it was unsubstantiated.
Ms Drumm's father, who lives in Takapuna, told the he was suprised to hear Webster had been charged.
When asked of Ms Drumm, he said "as far as I know, she's doing fine. That's of interest," he said."

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Kindy teachers want exemption from law

The Thursday, 22 January 2009

Kindergarten teachers want an exemption from National's 90-day trial period law, in what may be the first real test of the controversial employment legislation.
The Educational Institute, which represents most of the 2000 kindergarten teachers, has lodged a new employment claim with the Education Ministry. . It follows the passage of a law before Christmas giving employers of fewer than 20 workers the right to sack staff within the first 90 days without going through normal employment procedures.
The 28-month claim, which seeks a 4 per cent pay rise this year and continuing pay parity with primary teachers, was lodged in December but a new clause was lodged this week.
Educational Institute national secretary Paul Goulter said the law had serious implications for the education sector, where recruitment was a "major challenge".
The union fears smaller, rural associations, which employ fewer than 20 teachers, would be disadvantaged by the law, as working for them could become less attractive. It seeks agreement between the ministry and kindergarten associations that a 90-day trial period "is neither necessary or desirable" and would be left out of the kindergarten teachers' collective agreement.

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Beach seaweed complaints don’t wash, council says

Friday, 02 January 2009

Island Bayresidents are threatening to bring in bulldozers to clean up their beach after the council turned down requests to remove smelly seaweed and weeds.
Council officials say the debris is forming a natural protection against erosion.
"It's a waste of a beach, the only swimming beach on the south coast that's suitable for little children.
Beach cleanup campaigner Margaret Davis said the council had ignored a petition signed by hundreds of residents calling for action."
Last month, Mrs Davis presented a petition signed by 583 people to Wellington City Council.
"Surely it is the right of families who live close to an urban beach to be able to take toddlers in bare feet to play in clean dry sand. "And his answer is still no.
However, on Christmas Eve she was told councillors had referred the matter to the official who refused her request in the first place.
Wellington City Council parks manager Paul Andrews said council workers regularly removed litter and rubbish, but not natural beach debris and vegetation."
She said some long-term residents were so fed up that they had suggested hiring a bulldozer to do the job themselves."
Where vegetation had spread, the sand had stabilised. .
"Potentially you're going to get a better quality beach long term if you allow the dunes to build up again.
"We're not losing sand from the beach system, and there's less cost to ratepayers in cleaning up the road, less inconvenience to residents from sand blowing on to their properties.
In October, Mrs Davis told The the council had stopped taking seaweed and driftwood from the beach after the Taputeranga Marine Reserve came into force in August."
A local community conservation group had been replanting dunes at the western end of the beach for some years and was interested in extending that work, he said.

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Wellington City Council said last year it could no longer remove seaweed from the reserve because of rules prohibiting the removal of marine items a stance the Conservation Department said was wrong

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Witches, masons miss out on fake knives

Saturday, 20 December 2008

Abulk order of fake plastic knives and swords, coveted by local witches and Freemasons, will be handed over by Customs, but not in time for the Christmas rush.
Importer and retailer Dave Hannay won the right to retrieve the 230 knives and swords after the Customs service failed to appear in Napier Civil Court yesterday – but he cannot have them till next month, and then only if Customs does not object.
The order included 60 dragon-handled double-edged swords, 50 slide knives and 120 daggers with twisted blades.
The Chinese-made knives and swords were to have been sold in Mr Hannay's Napier store, King of Swords, but were seized by Customs in Auckland on December 21 last year as they were deemed to be offensive weapons.
The items, most of which are plastic with blunt edges, would have sold for about $9200. .
"The daggers were for the Freemasons. The swords have blunt stainless steel blades and plastic handles, and are glued into a resin dragon before being sold. "You'd be surprised who buys them. The others are bought for all sorts," Mr Hannay said. There are heaps of witches round here, and down in Masterton. Witches need them for their covens.
"This means I've missed two Christmases. And re-enactors, they like them too. If they'd [Customs] just turned up in court it might have been sorted. I've spent a year writing letters to various people trying to sort this out. "But these are weak imitations."
Mr Hannay said he understood that Customs was bound by definitions that saw fakes such as his classified as offensive weapons. I sell pocket knives in my store that are more dangerous. They'd snap if you hit anyone with them."
He said Customs had been made aware that it should have appeared in court. It's just ridiculous. He adjourned the case till next month in case Customs wished to be heard.
Judge Geoff Rea said that, "on the face of it", the knives would be ordered to be turned over to Mr Hannay.

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