.
Saturday sitting for tax bill
By VERNON SMALL Friday, 12 December 2008
Parliament is set for a rare Saturday sitting tomorrow as the Government pushes through laws to fulfil its election pledges.
The Taxation (Urgent Measures and Annual Rates) Bill, implementing National's three-year programme of personal tax cuts and reductions in KiwiSaver entitlements, passed its final reading yesterday.
"The tax cuts we have delivered will stimulate the economy in the short term by putting cash in people's pockets, and in the longer term by encouraging people to invest in their own skills to earn and keep more money," Finance Minister Bill English said. . A worker on the average wage is in line to receive an extra $18 a week from the first round of the cuts on April 1.
He said no one would be worse off as a result of the law change. "Sheep's clothing has fallen from the National wolf.
But Labour finance spokesman David Cunliffe said the changes were bad for ordinary New Zealanders and bad economics.5 per cent more tax than under Labour's plan."
Anyone earning between $14,000 and $20,000 would pay 8.
"It is the wrong way to fight recession; it rewards the few, punishes the many and wastes an opportunity for effective government economic stimulus. All families earning $40,000 or below, and some earning up to $80,000, would also pay more tax.
Labour's labour spokesman, Trevor Mallard, will try to amend the law so that teachers would not be covered by the 90-day provision."
National has also introduced the Employment Relations Bill, instituting a 90-day probation period for employees in enterprises of fewer than 20 employees – a plan dubbed the "fire at will bill" by opponents because it removes the right to take legal action over unjustified dismissal.
About 30 per cent of schools have 20 or fewer employees and teachers. That came after the Opposition uncovered a video of new Education Minister Anne Tolley, speaking to the New Zealand Educational Institute conference before the election, in which she said that teachers would be exempt from the law change.
These include moves to amend bail laws, beef up sentencing for violence or the neglect of children, and set national literacy and numeracy standards for schools.
Meanwhile, after being criticised for keeping proposed law changes under wraps till they were debated, Leader of the House Gerry Brownlee has relented and National is now tabling planned laws as they are drafted.
.
New ministers will face their first question time on Tuesday
.
Air NZ crash: Fyfe arrives in France
By ADRIENNE BOURGEON – Sunday, 30 November 2008
Experts at a loss to explain Airbus tragedy
Rob Fyfe’s longest, saddest day
Air New Zealand staff in Perpignan sincerely wish to retrieve their colleagues and return them home, the airline's chief executive Rob Fyfe said at a press conference in the southern French town today.
"Our primary goal is to retrieve our colleagues and return them to New Zealand; that is our sincere wish," a visibly shaken Fyfe told reporters shortly after arriving on a 30-hour flight.
Accompanied by members of one of the families involved, Mr Fyfe made the decision to travel to Perpignan to ensure that everything possible was being done to help.
Since the company was of the accident advised two days ago, the focus has been on supporting the families of the crew aboard the crashed Airbus, he said.
"We don't think anything more could be done and that has been very important for the families of the people who were aboard the aircraft.
Before leaving New Zealand, hespoke to Prime Minister John Key, and said that both the Prime Minister and Air New Zealand were tremendously gratified by the French authorities' effort to search for survivors. Members of three more families are expected from New Zealand in the next two days."
Mr Fyfe arrived in Perpignan accompanied by a team of investigators and several police officers.
Recoveredfrom the submerged wreck off the coast of Perpignan by police divers today, Alzeari said that the "black box" – in reality fluorescent orange – contained the recorded conversation between the pilots in the last minutes leading up to the crash.
The flight recorder retrieved from the crashed Air New Zealand Airbus is to be taken to Paris tomorrow (Sunday, French time) for analysis, Perpignan’s Procureur-Adjoint, Dominique Alzeari said.
A second flight recorder, containing technical data about the flight, such as speed, altitude and navigation information was also precisely located today, but aheavy swell and visibility reduced to only 20 centimetres prevented divers from bringing it to the surface, but he hoped it could be recovered tomorrow (Sunday French time).
It was in one piece and held vital information that should be known within 48 hours, he told reporters at a press conference on Saturday night (French time) in Perpignan.
It was still far too early however, to speculate on the cause of the crash, its origins or the responsibility of those involved.
It would take several days for the all the information to be pieced together,Alzeari said.46pm on Thursday (French time) when two of the seven crew members were found.
No further bodies have been discovered since the crash occured at 4. .
Unfortunately thecondition of the two bodies means they have yetto be visually identified.
Alzearisaid that some of the bodies may still be in the cockpit, the most rigid and reinforced part of the aircraft, which has not yet been accessed.
Themain priority for investigators was to identify the bodies with rapidity and dignity.
. Much of the debris has now been located and covers an area 800m long, 400m wide and 40m deep
.
Air NZ crash: Fyfe arrives in France
By ADRIENNE BOURGEON – Sunday, 30 November 2008
Experts at a loss to explain Airbus tragedy
Rob Fyfe’s longest, saddest day
Air New Zealand staff in Perpignan sincerely wish to retrieve their colleagues and return them home, the airline's chief executive Rob Fyfe said at a press conference in the southern French town today.
"Our primary goal is to retrieve our colleagues and return them to New Zealand; that is our sincere wish," a visibly shaken Fyfe told reporters shortly after arriving on a 30-hour flight.
Accompanied by members of one of the families involved, Mr Fyfe made the decision to travel to Perpignan to ensure that everything possible was being done to help.
Since the company was of the accident advised two days ago, the focus has been on supporting the families of the crew aboard the crashed Airbus, he said.
"We don't think anything more could be done and that has been very important for the families of the people who were aboard the aircraft.
Before leaving New Zealand, hespoke to Prime Minister John Key, and said that both the Prime Minister and Air New Zealand were tremendously gratified by the French authorities' effort to search for survivors. Members of three more families are expected from New Zealand in the next two days."
Mr Fyfe arrived in Perpignan accompanied by a team of investigators and several police officers.
Recoveredfrom the submerged wreck off the coast of Perpignan by police divers today, Alzeari said that the "black box" – in reality fluorescent orange – contained the recorded conversation between the pilots in the last minutes leading up to the crash.
The flight recorder retrieved from the crashed Air New Zealand Airbus is to be taken to Paris tomorrow (Sunday, French time) for analysis, Perpignan’s Procureur-Adjoint, Dominique Alzeari said.
A second flight recorder, containing technical data about the flight, such as speed, altitude and navigation information was also precisely located today, but aheavy swell and visibility reduced to only 20 centimetres prevented divers from bringing it to the surface, but he hoped it could be recovered tomorrow (Sunday French time).
It was in one piece and held vital information that should be known within 48 hours, he told reporters at a press conference on Saturday night (French time) in Perpignan.
It was still far too early however, to speculate on the cause of the crash, its origins or the responsibility of those involved.
It would take several days for the all the information to be pieced together,Alzeari said.46pm on Thursday (French time) when two of the seven crew members were found.
No further bodies have been discovered since the crash occured at 4. .
Unfortunately thecondition of the two bodies means they have yetto be visually identified.
Alzearisaid that some of the bodies may still be in the cockpit, the most rigid and reinforced part of the aircraft, which has not yet been accessed.
Themain priority for investigators was to identify the bodies with rapidity and dignity.
. Much of the debris has now been located and covers an area 800m long, 400m wide and 40m deep
.
Son to be buried week after dad
By FLORENCE KERR – Monday, 17 November 2008
Renee Metu will bury her partner, Kupa Tearoa, today not far from where the family buried his father less than a week ago.
Mr Tearoa was found dead in his Tokoroa home last Wednesday.
His father, Nooanga Mataora Tearoa, died after a heart attack the previous week and was buried at the Tokoroa Lawn Cemetery last Tuesday.
He had been stabbed but police are not treating his death as suspicious.
The couple had only been back in New Zealand six months after moving from Melbourne. It is same cemetery where Mr Tearoa was to be laid to rest today.
"He would sing his favourite island songs while our daughter Alexis would dance around," Miss Metu said.
The death of Mr Tearoa, described as a doting dad and at times an affectionate "teddy bear," has shocked the town's close-knit Cook Island community. I know I am going to miss that so much.
"He loved his culture."
In the early hours of last Wednesday morning Mr Tearoa kissed Renee, their children Jon-Haze, 3, and baby Alexis and told Miss Metu that he was going back to Dreghorn Pl, where his family were celebrating his late father's life. . I thought nothing of it at all. "He told us he loved us, then went.
"I went to go and get the rubbish from the bathroom."
Later that morning Miss Metu woke to prepare breakfast for her children and put the rubbish out. I thought gosh he has drunk heaps and crashed out on the floor, so I ran outside to bang on the window and still nothing.
"I banged on the door and couldn't get in.
"I just screamed."
Miss Metu knew something was wrong so went back inside and kicked the door open. I quickly grabbed him and Alexis and ran to his mother's place on Dreghorn Pl to tell them. I didn't realise my son was behind me.
She said she felt like a suspect with both she and Mr Tearoa's family interviewed by police."
She said the hours after finding Kupa were a nightmare.
She was thankful of the support the town had shown her and her children.
She was thankful of the support the town had shown her and her children.
"It has been overwhelming."
But she said family parties would never be the same again.
"He was the life of the party. He would make everyone laugh to the point where you would end up in stitches.
"I think that's what attracted me to him."
A funeral service for Mr Tearoa was to be held at St Lukes Pacific Island Church before his burial.
.
Child rapist already in jail for sex crimes
Friday, 07 November 2008
A Napierman found guilty of sexually abusing two young girls was already behind bars awaiting sentence for abusing another two girls.
An interim order for name suppression was lifted yesterday. Richard Miller was waiting to be sentenced for sexual offending when a jury this week found him guilty of raping a young girl and abusing another. He had been barred from associating with anyone under 16.
Miller has been in custody since April when his electronic bail was revoked after it was found he had breached bail conditions by holding birthday parties for toddlers.
He was found guilty of committing an indecent act on the six-year-old in a car at Nelson Park on September 19.
Miller, 46, was found guilty in the High Court at Napier on Wednesday of six charges relating to girls aged 6 and 10. Five other convictions, including two of rape, involved a 10-year-old girl and occurred in 1990.
He was convicted on two representative charges of indecently assaulting two girls, aged 15 and 16, between February 2006 and February 2007.
His other convictions came after an earlier trial in August. The 16-year-old had stayed with Miller and his wife for a short time.
The 15-year-old was a family friend.
He is due to be sentenced on December 16 – eight days after he is due to be sentenced in the High Court on the other convictions.
Miller was found guilty on August 14 after a two-day trial in Napier District Court.
.
Many students bored in class
– Tuesday, 28 October 2008
More than half of 14-year-old Kiwi schoolchildren are often bored in class, a new survey shows.
Schools are so interested in the new figures they are buying reports to compare how engaged their students are compared with the rest of the country.
The New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER) survey of about 8500 students from more than 50 schools was released in the Seeing Yourself in Science report issued late last week.
A scale measured student attitudes to school.
It shows students lose interest in school as each year passes from Year 7 to Year 10. By Year 10, both boys and girls dropped to 53. . A score of 55 was the level at which students said they were often bored in class.
The report says there is an emerging trend for disengagement with science learning in Year 7 and 8 students.
"If you had anybody scoring down around 20 at the bottom of the scale, you would have to say that they would be very sad students who probably had some things going on in their lives that were nothing to do with school at all," said Rose Hipkins, a NZCER chief researcher and co-author of the report.
Students who left school at 16 had started disengaging in early primary years. Disengagement from science sat within a general trend to disengagement from school.
Hipkins said that while the number of students reporting boredom was a concern, there were also positive sentiments expressed by the same students.
"At 12, the young people who left school by 16 were giving up, playing up and increasingly alienated, and this trend was even more marked at age 14," the report says. A score of 55 included sentiments that their culture was treated with respect, they were proud to be at the school and their classes were not a waste of time. A score of 55 included sentiments that their culture was treated with respect, they were proud to be at the school and their classes were not a waste of time.
"They can get the data for their own individual school and see it compared to the national pattern, so they can get a snapshot of how their students are compared to students nationally," Hipkins said.
Schools were able, for the first time, to buy data about the attitudes of their students.
"They've got hugely more choices than we had.
The report highlights the need for a continued shift in curriculum and teaching methods to respond to the more individualistic "late-modern youth".
"They have a level of flexibility that simply wasn't available to us as a result of the way society was organised. They're used to everything being personalised and individualised for them," Hipkins said."