Two a penny

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Up to 500 jobs will be lost as a result of the creation of a National Health Board (NHB), Health Minister Tony Ryall said today.

Cabinet agreed the NHB would be established within the Ministry of Health.

“The public health service needs to stop reinventing the wheel 21 times,” Mr Ryall said.

It would oversee areas such as IT, payroll, procurement and logistics, where there had been duplication from 21 District Health Boards (DHBs).

Labour’s health spokeswoman, Ruth Dyson, said it was hard to work out why a new bureaucracy was needed to manage the existing bureaucrats.

The 500 job losses were in addition to 200 vacancies that were scrapped earlier in the year, saving $20 million.”

Ms Dyson said it appeared that a lot of local decision-making was being taken away from DHBs, and that was a bad thing.

“It seems to me that these are functions that could be done within the existing system but instead the minister is proposing to set up an entirely new business unit within the Ministry of Health.”

Mr Ryall said up to $700 million over five years should be saved by the NHB handling the bulk purchasing and national cooperation.

“If we see the ability to be flexible and responsive to local needs, and local solutions being taken away from the DHBs, then our communities will lose out.

The Government chose to have the NHB within the ministry because it was cheaper and provided “faster improvements”.

The NHB would incur one-off set-up costs of $5m-$10m, Mr Ryall said. About 180 people will lose their jobs and 400 will move to the NHB.

The ministry has around 1475 staff.

The remaining 320 job cuts will come from DHBs over time as more cooperation takes place, Mr Ryall said.

The ministry has a historical rate of about 15 percent attrition and volunteer redundancies.

Many of the group’s proposals were already under way and others were still being considered, Mr Ryall said.

The NHB was a recommendation from the ministerial review group, which made more than 170 other recommendations.

Money saved from bulk purchasing and the nationalisation of services would be redirected to the frontline, Mr Ryall said.

The NHB was expected to be in place by Christmas.

Some programmes and funding controlled by the ministry would move out to the local level and greater regional cooperation between neighbouring DHBs was expected.

He said all of the money would remain within the health budget.

“We shouldn’t have 21 DHBs with 21 IT systems that can’t talk to each other,” he told reporters.

DHBs would not be merged, Mr Ryall said.

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Clothing and outdoor equipment retailer Kathmandu is hoping to raise up to $457 million in an initial public offering being launched in New Zealand and Australia.

The company was offering a total of 197.4 million shares to investors representing 99 per cent of the issued capital of Kathmandu.65 to A$1.

The indicative price range for the offer per share was $A1.01 to $2.90 and in New Zealand at $2.32.7m to A$374.

The gross proceeds from the offer were expected to be in the range of A$277.6m and $457.9m and in New Zealand between $338.

The offer would open on October 27 and close on November 6, before being listed on the New Zealand Exchange and Australian Securities Exchange on November 18.2m.

Kathmandu was founded in Christchurch in the 1987 by Jan Cameron, who sold the company to existing owners Goldman Sachs JBWere and Australia’s Quadrant Private Equity in 2006.

Kathmandu was founded in Christchurch in the 1987 by Jan Cameron, who sold the company to existing owners Goldman Sachs JBWere and Australia’s Quadrant Private Equity in 2006.

The company has also announced big expansion plans.

The IPO would be the first in New Zealand since Farming Systems Uruguay floated in December 2007.

It had already opened three and a further three were expected to open before Christmas.

Kathmandu chief executive Peter Halkett said Kathmandu planned to open 12 new stores in Australia and New Zealand this financial year.

Kathmandu chairman James Strong said the company had undergone a transformation over the past three and a half years, opening more than 30 new stores.

Halkett said Kathmandu has identified 70 locations in Australia and New Zealand to assess for suitable store sites (including the 12 new stores).

”We believe a dual listing will provide Kathmandu with growth flexibility, and give investors the opportunity to own shares in a very well recognised retail brand which resonates with customers’ aspirations of travel and adventure,” Strong said.

He said the dual stock exchange listing was the next logical step for Kathmandu’s growth plans.

On completion of the IPO, current owners Goldman Sachs JBWere Principal Investment Area and Quadrant Private Equity would hold, in aggregate, between 0 per cent and 15 per cent of the listed company, with Kathmandu management to own approximately 1.

Proceeds of the offer would be used by Kathmandu to acquire all the shares in Milford Group Holdings Limited, the entity that currently owns the Kathmandu business, and reduce existing debt levels and pay the fees and expenses of the offer.

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Police and Child Youth and Family officials will be warned to not prosecute parents for lightly smacking their children.

Prime Minister John Key told the Sunday Star-Times in Sydney yesterday he was planning to introduce “increased safeguards” to prevent parents who gave their children “minor” or “inconsequential” smacks from being either investigated or prosecuted.6 million New Zealanders who voted (a 54 percent turnout), 88 percent said smacking children should not be a criminal offence.

Key’s move is designed to appease the “Vote No” campaigners, who were yesterday celebrating an overwhelming win in the citizens-initiated referendum asking: “Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?”

Of the more than 1.

“What I am wanting to ensure,” Key said, “is that parents have a level of comfort that the police and Child Youth and Family follow the intent of parliament, and that they can feel comfortable that in bringing up their children they are not going to be dragged before the courts for a minor or inconsequential smack. The “Yes” campaign attracted 12 percent of the vote.

Given the referendum results, campaigners are baying for the law to be changed back or at least amended, allowing parents to use an open hand to smack their children on the bottom or hand.”

Key said that although police had statutory independence from the government, cabinet had some options to direct them, which would be outlined tomorrow. He has repeatedly said he does not believe police are prosecuting parents unnecessarily and that he remained comfortable the law was working. . Key said that report would also show a similar result.

Four police reports had said the law change in 2007 has had “minimal impact on police activity” and another was due for release early this week.

Family First, which led the “Vote No” campaign, said the result was clear-cut and justified changing the law “so that good parents are not treated as breaking the law for light smacking”.

Sending the issue back to parliament would consume the country at a time when there were bigger issues to deal with, he said.

“The 87. It also wants the government to establish a Royal Commission into child abuse to identify and target the real causes.

“They are simply Kiwis who want to tackle the tougher issues of family breakdown, drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness, violence in our media, poverty and stress, and weak family ties.6% of New Zealanders who voted no are not people who are demanding the right to assault and beat children,” says Bob McCoskrie, national director of Family First.”

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Employees could choose to swap existing public holidays for celebrations or holidays of other religions –
an idea put forward as part of a review of holiday legislation.

Though New Zealand’s main statutory holidays are closely tied in with traditional religious days off, such as Christmas and Easter, it has been suggested workplaces offer the option of swapping them for holidays important to people of other religions.

The idea has been raised by the Employers & Manufacturers Association (Northern) as part of the review of the Holidays Act, to illustrate the diversity of our workplaces and the faiths of the people that work in them.

Many companies closed over the Christmas-New Year period and Easter, so swapping statutory holidays for other days was not easy, said EMA chief executive Alasdair Thompson.

The former president of the Auckland Ethnic Council, Ganges Singh, said that if people wanted to celebrate different holidays at the moment, they either had to take annual leave, or the day off without pay.

“If some people wanted to transfer their holiday to say, Ramadan, then they should be able to work the current traditional public holiday at their usual pay rate and get the day they really want off on pay.

“But there’s no reason why employees should not be able to swap the same number of days off to celebrate their own religion’s holy days.”

Minister of Labour Kate Wilkinson said it was an issue worth exploring.

But Nagalingam Rasalingam, chairman of Ethnic Voice, the group set up to be a collective voice for ethnic communities, did not believe the idea would work.

New Zealand was becoming more multi-cultural and it was appropriate to survey people’s views on their holidays, she said.

Dr Rasalingam said he wanted the holidays to be allocated so people could maintain their culture and heritage.

Many people already observed a Christmas and New Year break in their home countries, he said.

The Indian festival of Diwali, or Indian New Year, was a beautiful custom and he would like to see more New Zealanders celebrate it with the Indian community, he said.

And Parakash Soma, president of the Wellington Indian Association, said that as he celebrated traditional New Zealand festivities, he hoped people could also celebrate those of other cultures. .

“If it’s recognised nationally then everybody recognises each others’ culture.

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Switzerland’s Roger Federer beat Andy Roddick in one of the most extraordinary finals ever seen at Wimbledon, holding off an incredible challenge from the American to win 5-7 7-6 7-6 3-6 16-14.

The final set alone of an unforgettable Centre Court duel lasted 95 minutes before Roddick’s mis-hit forehand gave Federer his sixth Wimbledon title and the record of 15 grand slam titles he so cherished.

Fittingly, Pete Sampras, the only other man to have previously won 14 slams, was sat in the Royal Box as a match of unrelenting drama stretched into a fifth hour.

“Today I was on the lucky side.

“Andy I want to say you’re going to come back and win one, I’m sure,” Federer said on court as a shattered Roddick contemplated his third defeat to Federer in a Wimbledon final. It feels great. It feels funny to have the trophy back. .”

Few imagined that Federer’s seventh consecutive Wimbledon final could come anywhere near close to emulating last year’s epic when he lost his crown to Rafael Nadal — a five-set thriller that ended in near darkness. It’s an unbelievable moment in my career.S.

The Swiss, who claimed his first French Open title last month to complete his career grand slam, dropped just one set in reaching the final and had won 18 of his previous 20 matches against the American who is still waiting for a second career grand slam title after winning the U.

Roddick has reinvented his game though in the last 12 months after his career began to slide and after stunning British hope Andy Murray in the semi-final he came agonisingly close to another shock. Open in 2003.

Federer was stretched to the limit in an unforgettable duel of energy-sapping tension despite firing 107 winners.

Federer was stretched to the limit in an unforgettable duel of energy-sapping tension despite firing 107 winners.

CRUCIAL MOMENT

Federer could make no headway on the Roddick serve but remained solid on his own delivery to win the third set on another tiebreak 7-5. Federer then won six consecutive points to level the match, Roddick wasting one golden chance at 6-5 when he sent a backhand volley wide.

With Wimbledon greats Sampras, Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver watching intently from the Royal Box, Federer kept his nose in front in a nerve-racking decider and clinched victory after four hours and 16 minutes when Roddick’s resistance finally cracked and the Swiss broke serve for the first time in the match.

Roddick, beaten twice in previous finals here by Federer, refused to buckle and broke at a crucial moment of the fourth with a great backhand to set up an enthralling decider.

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Kid, 10, buys booze in liquor-store sting

Sunday, 01 March 2009

Aseries of undercover stings involving minors buying liquor has revealed shocking results, with a 10-year-old child being allowed to make a purchase.
The revelations come at the same time as the Law Commission conducts a full-scale review of liquor laws because of the "high prevalence of hazardous drinking" among Kiwi youth.
Three recent covert investigations conducted by , TV3's consumer watchdog show Target and police used dozens of children aged under 18 who attempted to buy liquor. Before then buyers needed to be 20 years old.
The legal age for purchasing alcohol is 18 and has been since 1999.
The newspaper instructed the actress to select one bottle of white wine and take it to the counter without producing identification.
Last week sent a 17-year-old girl into 10 liquor outlets throughout Auckland.
She used a Visa card with no available credit so that the transaction would fail.
The stores that agreed to sell alcohol were Southmall Liquor, Manurewa Liquor, Three Kings Liquor Store, Onehunga Liquor Centre, Super Liquor Clendon, Kingsland Liquor Centre and Liquor Galaxy Kingsland.
Of the 10 outlets visited, seven swiped the underage customer's card. One said he thought it was satisfactory to sell to the minor because his employee noticed the actress was "with two older guys who were outside the shop".
Some of the offending store owners told they were reviewing their policies and would counsel staff.
The findings of ' sting were mirrored in at least two other recent probes.
All of the sting results were passed to police on Friday.
The producer of TV3's Target which screens on Tuesday at 7.
The producer of TV3's Target which screens on Tuesday at 7. Of those, nine agreed to sell liquor.
The show sent a 17-year-old actor to 10 Canterbury outlets.
Then, unbelievably, three of the offending seven stores agreed to sell liquor to a 13-year-old.
A 15-year-old then attempted to purchase from the offending stores seven of those agreed to go ahead with a further illegal transaction.
Target Producer Simon Roy said the results showed retailers were willing to flout liquor laws and were happy to disregard the harmful affects alcohol has on youngsters. Of those three stores, one agreed to sell to a 10-year-old. The results were really incredible," Roy said.
"This was the worse year ever.
Target passed their results onto Canterbury police who in January conducted their own controlled purchase operation of the nine offending stores and had similar results.
A Target sting in 1999 exposed a Wellington mini-market who sold to an 11-year-old without checking identification.
Of those, 25 percent failed the test and have been referred to the Liquor Licensing Authority.
Of those, 25 percent failed the test and have been referred to the Liquor Licensing Authority.
Senior Sergeant Ben Offner told he arranged up to 10 stings each year and each time those holding manager certificates were caught bending the rules.
He said the key was "education and enforcement" but the latter was more effective. Offner had been working with Law Commission staff as part of their review into the Sale of Liquor Act which began in August and is due to be completed in June next year.
In a speech last week at the Pan Liquor Industry Symposium, Law Commission President Sir Geoffrey Palmer said some of the possible outcomes from the commission's review included adjusting the drinking age, restricting drinking hours and advertising and reducing blood alcohol levels for driving.
"This is a subject that touches many aspects of the New Zealand community and we need to get it right," Palmer said.
The Sale of Liquor Act says anyone caught trading liquor with a person under 18 can be fined up to $10,000 or have their licence suspended for a maximum of seven days.

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$10 million carrot thrown to graduates

Tuesday, 24 February 2009

A $10-million-a-year sweetener is being used to lure young medical, teacher and veterinarian graduates to areas difficult to staff. .
The payments will apply to areas outside the main centres, including Wairarapa, Whakatane, Southland and the West Coast.
They will receive a salary top-up of more than $45,000, less tax, after three years, if they stay put in a speciality or job that has traditionally struggled to attract graduates.
The scheme is expected to attract 500 doctors to traditionally hard-to-staff areas once it is fully in place, while the Government hopes it will attract as many as 1250 nurses and midwives to unpopular areas.
Graduates who go on to train as a GP, general surgeon, or pursue training as an internal medicine physician in psychiatry or pathology can expect another $15,873 a year for the next two years.
Nurses and midwives will get salary top-ups between $4229 and $5224 a year for three years, while teachers will get $3500 a year for five years.
The scheme also offers generous incentives to veterinarians $11,000 a year, before tax significantly more than nurses, midwives and teachers.
But graduates without student loans would still be eligible.
The payments have been set at a rate that should allow graduates to pay off their student loans during the bonding period.
As many as 1800 teachers may be eligible this year, she said.
Education Minister Anne Tolley said bonding would put more teachers in schools that were hard to staff, including those in poor or isolated areas. "What they need is to recruit and train more experienced teachers," president Frances Nelson said.
But the teachers' union said many of the schools being focused on were already staffed by younger teachers.

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Community sentences regularly breached

– Monday, 16 February 2009

Law changes designed to stop criminals from dodging community work sentences may be having little effect.
In recent years, about a quarter of all community work sentences have been ignored or only partially completed.
During a case in the Christchurch District Court last week, a judge was told by a probation service staff member that community service default rates in Christchurch would be similar to those of Rangiora.
The law was changed in October to require offenders to complete a minimum of 100 hours of their community work sentence every six months.
"People need to know these sentences are not optional. Judge Michael Crosbie, who sat in Rangiora earlier this month and discovered default rates there were 25 per cent, said the figures were shocking.
Corrections Department figures for community work breaches to the end of June last year showed a steady trend. They are mandatory," he said.
Corrections Minister Judith Collins said those figures were unsatisfactory. Nationally, almost a quarter of community work sentences had been breached, while in Christchurch the figure was just over one in five.
About 2 million hours of labour are performed annually under community work sentences.
"Offenders sentenced to community work are repaying a debt to society, and it is not acceptable to me or the community if they do not fulfil their obligations," she said.
A breach conviction can incur a fine of up to $1000, a further community work or community-based sentence, home detention or imprisonment for up to three months. Offenders who consistently work towards completing their sentences can have up to 10 per cent of their hours remitted. In the year to June 2008, $38.
Criminals owing large fines can convert their debts to community work sentences.
A case study highlighted in revealed a person with $18,000 in fines had them swapped for 180 hours community service a rate of $100 an hour.5 million of the more than $783 million in fines owed were remitted to community work.
"They don't seem very concerned about the consequences if they don't do their sentence," McVicar said.
Sensible Sentencing Trust spokesperson Garth McVicar said the breach figures showed community work sentences were not respected by offenders..
"Unless judges read the riot act and enforce the consequences, whatever they might be, then the system will break down . that would mean building more prisons..
Judge Crosbie was sentencing Troy John Henderson for a breach of community work when he made his comments.
Judge Crosbie was sentencing Troy John Henderson for a breach of community work when he made his comments.
The judge told Henderson – who had 148 hours left on his sentence and had last reported for community work on November 15 – that he faced jail if he did not improve.
Henderson had opted to work overtime rather than perform community work. .
The judge cancelled the remaining 148 hours, imposed a 200-hour community work sentence in its place, and gave Henderson a final warning.
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Community sentences regularly breached

– Monday, 16 February 2009

Law changes designed to stop criminals from dodging community work sentences may be having little effect.
In recent years, about a quarter of all community work sentences have been ignored or only partially completed.
During a case in the Christchurch District Court last week, a judge was told by a probation service staff member that community service default rates in Christchurch would be similar to those of Rangiora.
The law was changed in October to require offenders to complete a minimum of 100 hours of their community work sentence every six months.
"People need to know these sentences are not optional. Judge Michael Crosbie, who sat in Rangiora earlier this month and discovered default rates there were 25 per cent, said the figures were shocking.
Corrections Department figures for community work breaches to the end of June last year showed a steady trend. They are mandatory," he said.
Corrections Minister Judith Collins said those figures were unsatisfactory. Nationally, almost a quarter of community work sentences had been breached, while in Christchurch the figure was just over one in five.
About 2 million hours of labour are performed annually under community work sentences.
"Offenders sentenced to community work are repaying a debt to society, and it is not acceptable to me or the community if they do not fulfil their obligations," she said.
A breach conviction can incur a fine of up to $1000, a further community work or community-based sentence, home detention or imprisonment for up to three months. Offenders who consistently work towards completing their sentences can have up to 10 per cent of their hours remitted. In the year to June 2008, $38.
Criminals owing large fines can convert their debts to community work sentences.
A case study highlighted in revealed a person with $18,000 in fines had them swapped for 180 hours community service a rate of $100 an hour.5 million of the more than $783 million in fines owed were remitted to community work.
"They don't seem very concerned about the consequences if they don't do their sentence," McVicar said.
Sensible Sentencing Trust spokesperson Garth McVicar said the breach figures showed community work sentences were not respected by offenders..
"Unless judges read the riot act and enforce the consequences, whatever they might be, then the system will break down . that would mean building more prisons..
Judge Crosbie was sentencing Troy John Henderson for a breach of community work when he made his comments.
Judge Crosbie was sentencing Troy John Henderson for a breach of community work when he made his comments.
The judge told Henderson – who had 148 hours left on his sentence and had last reported for community work on November 15 – that he faced jail if he did not improve.
Henderson had opted to work overtime rather than perform community work. .
The judge cancelled the remaining 148 hours, imposed a 200-hour community work sentence in its place, and gave Henderson a final warning.
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Travel plans dismay patient

– Saturday, 31 January 2009

Richard Mathis describes himself as pretty cold-blooded. Even when he cut off his own fingers he managed to remain relatively calm.
On Monday evening, the engineer was splitting wood at his home in Waimangaroa.
However, that it took close toly a day for him to travel from the West Coast to Christchurch for surgery has got his blood boiling.
"I worked my eight hours," Mathis said. A momentary lapse of concentration cost him two fingers." He said the mistake he made was not paying attention to the blade going down. "I came home and was splitting wood until about eight o'clock."
The 44-year-old told his neighbour he needed help, and an ambulance took him to Buller Hospital, in Westport.
"I felt the pain and saw my fingers lying there and the blood was coming out pretty much like my heart beating. It was then decided he would be transferred to Greymouth then taken to Christchurch, he hoped, within four or five hours.
Mathis was told a helicopter would transport him to Christchurch for treatment, but this was cancelled due to bad weather.
"They told me, `No, we are going to go over tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock and the other news is that your fingertips are not going to be put back on'," Mathis said.
Hopes his fingers might be reattached were dashed when he reached Greymouth.
Mathis accepted quicker treatment could not have saved his fingers, but was annoyed by the delay in taking him to Christchurch, and the lack of information he was given in Westport.
An ambulance took him to Christchurch on Tuesday morning and an operation to trim where he had severed his left index and middle fingers was carried out.
"You are paying taxes, this guy is paying taxes, we are all paying taxes, and I want the same service that they have got in Auckland. ."
No-one has fully explained what caused the delay. OK, I did it at home and it was my mistake, but I am still expecting to get over to Christchurch in less than 22 hours.
Mathis said he was told there was no ambulance available on Monday night and thinks a breakdown in communication is responsible. St John Ambulance in Westport has said a vehicle was available to take Mathis across to Christchurch on Monday and Garden City Helicopters was prepared to meet them halfway if necessary.