Two a penny

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National and ACT have struck a deal over ACC reform that will see the Government investigate opening the work account to competition.

A press conference was expected at about 4pm to release details of the deal which clears the way for ACC Minister Nick Smith to introduce his stalled Bill to increase levies and reduce some entitlements.

“I am pleased the Government has secured support for this critical legislation from both the Maori Party and from ACT that will see ACC’s proposed levies reduced by half,” Dr Smith said.

ACC Minister Nick Smith confirmed the ACC Reform Bill will now be introduced next week.

“Today the National and ACT Parties reached an agreement that will ensure the Injury Prevention, Rehabilitation, and Compensation Amendment Bill will be passed through all stages,” Dr Smith said.

The Maori Party earlier this week said it would support the Bill as far as a select committee hearing.

“I think it’s clear that both ACT and National have made up their minds that they think parts of ACC should be privatised, notwithstanding the fact that its cheaper than Australian equivalents and notwithstanding it’s the best compensation system in the world,” Labour’s ACC spokesman David Parker said.

Labour said the deal was inevitable but was not good for taxpayers.”

The account was opened to competition between 1998 and 2000 until a Labour government re-nationalised it.

“In the end New Zealanders will end up paying more themselves to fund the profit margins of private insurers and getting less cover..

“We’ve been through this before and it ended in a muddle – people didn’t know who was covering them . the private insurers were a lot tougher when it came to people getting treatment and long term costs were projected to go up..

“People should have a choice of insurance provider for work-related accidents in the same way that they have a choice for their home and car insurance,” Mr Hide said.”

However, ACT Leader Rodney Hide said greater competition would provide more choice, quality of service and reduce costs. .

Dr Smith said National intended to work with ACT to open the ACC work account to competition subject only to the Government receiving a report from the steering group currently considering the stocktake of ACC accounts.”

The group will provide an interim report on the competition issue no later than 1 February 2010.

The ACC Stocktake Group will also explore other areas in which the private and non-government sectors (including Iwi) can be involved in accident management and compensation.

.The only surviving Union Jack from the Battle of Trafalgar has sold at auction in London for close toly $700,000 after being found tucked away in a drawer in a Sydney home.
The battle-scarred flag, which was flown from the mast of HMS Spartiate during the battle, was given to Lieutenant James Clephan by his crew mates 204 years ago as a reward for his bravery during the fighting.
Lieutenant Clephan’s relatives moved to Australia in the 1960s and the flag was tucked away in the bottom drawer of a home in Castle Hill, Sydney for safe-keeping.
The 1805 naval engagement pitted the British fleet under Lord Nelson against the combined French and Spanish fleets, and the ensuing British victory was seen as a turning point in the Napoleonic Wars.
During a fierce bidding war the price climbed more than 30 times the original estimate, setting a new world record for a British flag.
Overnight a London auction house was stunned when the flag sold for a world record of 384,000 pounds ($687,774). .
The buyer is an American collector who wants to remain anonymous.
“So this is a passion I’ve had for history and many of these artefacts people often do not keep the story and the history together.
“I’m a collector and I’ve been collecting flags for over four decades, and I work on keeping the story and the relic together,” he said.
“In the United States it would have a nice home and if we’re not able to work something out with the British government, we of course will give it a good home in the US.
“We understand the concern people may have in the United Kingdom about the flag going to America, but we’re working on a plan to work with the British government to accommodate that concern.”
The buyer says he finds the story of Lieutenant Clephan “intriguing”, which is what attracted him to the flag. I’m sure it will be on view in the US for people to see.
“We’re familiar with the history of the lieutenant who was given the flag at the time right after the battle.
“It’s one of the most historical flags, certainly in the Western world, that’s well documented from a historical event,” he said.”

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“This is a man who worked himself up through the ranks of the British Navy and became one of only 16 captains to do that in the history of the Royal Navy

.Former rugby league full-back turned AFL convert Karmichael Hunt has agreed terms to play with a French rugby union side for six months.
The 22-year-old left Brisbane earlier today and will link up with club Biarritz Olympique Pays Basques (BOPB) to play in the French Top 14 competition.
He will return to start his AFL career with the fledging Gold Coast side, entering the competition in 2011, in May next year.
Hunt, who played six seasons with the Brisbane Broncos and represented Australia and Queensland, made headlines earlier this year when he defected from rugby league and signed a three-year deal with the new Gold Coast AFL team. The cultural side of things will be fantastic and the challenge of elite rugby is exciting,” Hunt said in a statement.
“I am really examining forward to the experience of playing and living overseas.
Hunt was given the opportunity to have a stint in French rugby as part of his contract with the new Gold Coast franchise. .
The short-term arrangement was reportedly close toly foiled after Hunt was ineligible to play as an emerging nation player from Cook Islands rather than an “import”.
His six-month contract with BOPB, based in the luxurious sea-side town of Biarritz close to the Spanish border, is reportedly worth $300,000.

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A former French spymaster denied Monday taking part in a plot to smear President Nicolas Sarkozy during his much-awaited testimony at the trial of ex-prime minister Dominique de Villepin.

Yves Bertrand, the former head of the RG police intelligence service, said he had never heard of the Clearstream dirty tricks scandal before the media began reporting on it in July 2004.

Villepin and four other defendants are on trial on charges of conspiring to slander Sarkozy in 2004 by implicating him in corruption at a time when the two men were jostling to succeed president Jacques Chirac. .

The case centres on a fake list of account holders from the Clearstream financial clearing house who were said to have received kickbacks from the sale of French frigates to Taiwan.

This is a completely fantastic tale, Bertrand told judges at the Paris criminal court.

Bertrand’s testimony was crucial after another defendant, Imad Lahoud, admitted in court to adding Sarkozy’s name to the list in the ex-spy chief’s office.

I never met Lahoud in my office nor anywhere else and I state that emphatically, said the ex-spy chief, who was at the helm of police intelligence for 12 years.

But Gergorin testified that he had never laid eyes on Bertrand before their face-to-face encounter in court.

Lahoud, a former employee with Franco-German aerospace giant EADS, said the meeting with Bertrand took place in March 2004 in the presence of another defendant, EADS vice president Jean-Louis Gergorin.

Three weeks of testimony have however failed to clear up questions about the bogus list and how Sarkozy’s name along with those of more than 100 prominent people ended up on it.

Dubbed the trial of the decade, the Clearstream case features a Who’s Who of big names in French politics, industry and intelligence circles, beginning with Sarkozy, who is a civil plaintiff in the case.

Judges were to wrap up testimony on Monday and begin hearing submissions from lawyers representing Sarkozy and some of the 38 other civil plaintiffs in the case.

Villepin took the stand last week to deny that he had leaked the fake list to investigators and ordered a special probe to focus on Sarkozy as one of the alleged Clearstream account holders.

The trial ends on October 23 after the defence and the prosecution make their final submissions, but a verdict is not expected before several months.

The trial ends on October 23 after the defence and the prosecution make their final submissions, but a verdict is not expected before several months.

Clearstream trial – Dominique de Villepin – France – Nicolas Sarkozy

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LATEST:
A $50,000 reward has been posted by Lord Ashcroft for information leading to the safe return of Aisling Symes.

Meanwhile a week after two-year-old Aisling Symes’ disappearance, police say they have no leads and have issued another plea for her return.

The award offered by the

The toddler disappeared from Longburn Rd in Henderson where she was last seen with an Asian woman in her 30s walking a dog.

Today the head of the inquiry, Detective Inspector Gary Davey, said there had been no major breakthrough but had been getting a lot of information from the public.

Police poured huge resources into the search but last week said it was most likely she had been kidnapped and the mystery Asian woman may hold the key to her disappearance.

“We are still appealing for anyone who has her to come forward.

Police staff on the inquiry had been increased to 70. We just want her back.

Last week police said after an intensive search of the area around the Longburn Rd home of her deceased grandparents, they were convinced she was not in the area.”

He said today he was still hopeful someone had abducted her and was looking after her but could not rule out other possibilities.

“I believe that.

“My own genuine hope or gut feeling is that somebody does have her and she is still alive,” he told NewstalkZB today.”

The Asian woman was critical to police inquiries, he said. I am optimistic, I believe family are and certainly the investigation team are optimistic that we can find Aisling.

“She doesn’t need to fear the police.

“She doesn’t need to fear the police.

Aisling’s father said the past week has been “one very long bad day”.”

Police had “nothing solid” in the search for Aisling and all they could do was follow the potential leads they had and “make sure we keep an open mind and follow each of those phases down to its conclusion”, he said.He said the family hopes that whoever has their daughter, is looking after her.

Allan Symes told Radio New Zealand today that evenings and mornings have been especially hard for the family, who are exhausted.

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.France is ready to hand back five fragments of ancient Egyptian tomb wall paintings acquired by the Louvre museum between 2000 and 2003.
Egypt’s chief archaeologist and head of antiquities, Zahi Hawass, has accused the Louvre of buying the pieces knowing they were stolen.
The Pharaonic steles are reported to be from a tomb in the Valley of the Kings, near Luxor.
Subject to a decision by France’s national museum scientific committee, Mr Mitterrand said he was ready to order the frescoes be handed back.
Mr Hawass asked France to return the murals after extensive discussions between the two sides, according to French culture minister Frederic Mitterrand. .
Under the UNESCO convention of 1970, member countries agreed measures to prevent the illegal export of national treasures.
Mr Hawass was quoted by the MENA news agency as saying the council had ceased cooperation with the Louvre until the murals were returned.
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AFP – German auto parts maker Continental on Monday announced a breakdown in talks with the Dubai-based MAG group on the possible takeover by MAG of a tyre making plant in France. .

MAG vice president Fawaz Sabri said his group would continue to examine the matter.

The two parties had led intensive discussions but finally agreed that it was not possible to reach common ground for further talks. The German group offered MAG additional time when the MAG response was deemed incomplete on September 30.

Continental had given MAG until September 30 to reach agreement on a letter of intent regarding the factory, located in Clairoix, northern France.

Dubai – France – Germany

.The little white dog belonging to former French president Jacques Chirac underwent treatment for depression after leaving the Elysee palace and bit his master three times before being sent off to a farm.
Mr Chirac’s wife, Bernadette, has told Le Parisien newspaper that Sumo, a maltese bichon, apparently could not cope with life in a spacious Paris apartment.
Sumo was sent to a farm owned by a family friend outside Paris and since has never showed any aggression.
The dog bit Mr Chirac’s leg twice and despite undergoing treatment with anti-depressants, Sumo made a third attempt a few months ago, this time attacking the 76-year-old ex-president in the chest.

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AFP – French President Nicolas Sarkozy came under fire Thursday for describing ex-prime minister Dominique de Villepin and four others on trial for allegedly slandering him as guilty.

Villepin’s lawyer called the comment scandalous and said the former prime minister would file suit against Sarkozy for violating his right to presumption of innocence.

After a two-year investigation, two independent investigating judges ruled that the guilty parties should be tried before a criminal court, said Sarkozy during an interview Wednesday with French television.

&raquo Special Report on France&#039s trial of the decade
&raquo Who&#039s who in the trial
&raquo How a finance trial turned into a major political scandal
&raquo A glossary of terms in the Clearstream saga
Opposition politicians said Sarkozy’s remarks made on French television were a revealing slip of the tongue that showed he was not impartial in the case involving his long-time rival, Villepin.

Mister Sarkozy has declared in front of all of France that Mr de Villepin is guilty, because he was ordered to stand trial, said Villepin’s lawyer Olivier Metzner.

Several politicians and lawyers said the comment was a blunder given that the justice system in France, like that in other major democracies, consider the accused innocent until proven guilty.

The so-called Clearstream trial opened Monday with Villepin and four others in the dock for allegedly taking part in a plot hatched in 2003-2004 to smear Sarkozy and torpedo his bid for the presidency.

This is a scandalous violation of fundamental principles, said co-defence lawyer Henri Leclerc.

The case centres on a list — later found to have been fabricated — of account holders at the Clearstream financial clearing house in Luxembourg who allegedly took bribes from the sale of French warships to Taiwan.

Villepin and Sarkozy were at the time locked in a fierce struggle for the governing right-wing party’s nomination to succeed president Jacques Chirac.

Bythem A tale of two rivals (21 September)But Villepin’s camp and politicians on the left have called on Sarkozy to pull out of the case, given his status as president.

Sarkozy has registered as a civil plaintiff in the case, saying he wants the trial to reveal the truth about the bogus list and how his name ended up on it.

Sarkozy is a civil plaintiff, that is he has filed a complaint as a victim and also the guarantor of justice, the prosecutors’ top superior in the hierarchy, he said.

Mister Freud would say that this was a revealing slip, revealing of the ambiguity of Nicolas Sarkozy’s position in this affair, said Francois Bayrou, leader of the centrist Democratic Movement (MoDem) party.

This was his subconscious speaking, said opposition Socialist deputy Pierre Moscovici, who called the comment extremely shocking.

This situation is abnormal and shouldn’t be accepted in a republic that has principles, Bayrou told RTL radio.

The 55-year-old Villepin faces up to five years in jail and a 45,000-euro (66,000-dollar) fine if convicted.

Former Socialist leader Francois Hollande said Sarkozy’s choice of words was all the more disturbing because the president is a trained lawyer who understands the importance of using precise language.

Clearstream trial – Dominique de Villepin – France – Nicolas Sarkozy
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AFP – Former French prime minister Dominique de Villepin goes on trial Monday for allegedly plotting a smear campaign against President Nicolas Sarkozy in France’s most politically-charged case in years.

Dubbed the trial of the decade, the judicial drama features a cast of powerful players in politics, industry and intelligence circles, beginning with Sarkozy, who is a civil plaintiff in the case.

More on Clearstream

&raquo Special Report on France&#039s trial of the decade
&raquo Who&#039s who in the trial
&raquo How a finance trial turned into a major political scandal
&raquo A glossary of terms in the Clearstream saga

A suave diplomat best remembered for leading the charge against the Iraq war at the United Nations, Villepin is accused of conspiring to slander Sarkozy at a time when the pair were waging a vicious battle to succeed Jacques Chirac as president.

One name on the bogus list was that of Sarkozy, then Chirac’s ambitious finance and interior minister, who suspects the president’s chosen heir Villepin of using the list to try to torpedo his bid for the presidency.

The case dates back to 2004 and centres on a list — later proved to have been fabricated — of account holders at the Clearstream financial clearing house who allegedly received kickbacks from the sale of French frigates to Taiwan.

The trial is shaping up as a showdown between the two men, whose mutual hatred is legendary in French political circles.

Villepin, 55, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and maintains that the case would have never gone to trial had it not been for Sarkozy’s meddling in the judicial process.

But it will also cast light on the murky dealings of French intelligence and of one of the world’s top aerospace companies, EADS.

Also on trial are management consultant Florian Bourges, accused of stealing Clearstream documents, and journalist Denis Robert, who broke the story.

A former EADS vice president and Villepin ally, Jean-Louis Gergorin is also on trial as is the former head of an EADS research center, Imad Lahoud, who has reportedly confessed to falsifying the list.

In the weeks leading up to the trial, Villepin has waged a media offensive, accusing Sarkozy of being a bit twisted for insisting that the Clearstream affair was a plot to sabotage his bid for the presidency.

Villepin faces up to five years in jail and a 45,000-euro (66,000-dollar) fine if convicted of complicity in slander, complicity in the use of forgeries, dealing in stolen property and breach of trust.

Some day, he will have to explain his relentlessness, Villepin said last week.

Sarkozy reportedly vowed to hang up whoever did this on a butcher’s hook. This is not without consequences for the office of president, on the human and political level. This is not without consequences for the office of president, on the human and political level. .

General Philippe Rondot, a former intelligence official whose notes — seized by investigators — detail secret meetings that appear to incriminate Villepin, is to testify in early October.

This is the trial of an era, said Robert, the investigative journalist among the five defendants.

Villepin himself is expected to take the stand next week, defending himself in the exact Paris courtroom where Marie Antoinette was sentenced to the guillotine in 1793.

We see that inside domestic intelligence circles there was a rift between those who were loyal to Villepin and those who were close to Sarkozy, he told AFP.

It is the trial of a kind of French political practice, where spooks and the powers that be use the legal system as a political tool.

The hearings at the Paris criminal court are scheduled to run until October 23.

Villepin’s trial comes five years after another prime minister, Alain Juppe, was convicted of corruption in an illegal party financing scheme and given a 14-month suspended sentence and a one-year ban on holding public office.

Clearstream trial – Dominique de Villepin – France – Nicolas Sarkozy