Two a penny

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The Office of the Auditor-General says there are no grounds for an inquiry into Finance Minister Bill English’s housing arrangements. .

The Auditor-General’s conclusions were predictable, Mr English says.

“Importantly, the Auditor-General concludes that the current parliamentary system is designed to establish whether an MP maintains a current residence outside Wellington, rather than where an MP lives in an everyday sense.

“I welcome the Auditor-General’s confirmation that I correctly completed my declarations and provided other information as required to claim Wellington accommodation costs.

The report called for a “simple and sensible” system for providing MPs and Ministers with support for the costs of their accommodation while in Wellington.

Mr English came under fire after it was disclosed he received more than $900 a week in allowances while living in his family home in Karori, twice what he was able to claim for living in the same house as an Opposition MP.

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Two men have been charged with murdering 17-year-old Kaine Lewis in the Bay of Plenty town Murupara earlier this month.

A 17-year-old and an 18-year-old were due to appear in Rotorua District Court later today, acting area commander Inspector Greg Sparrow said.They had both been previously charged with participating in a criminal group activity.”Obviously we are pleased that we have been able to reach a point where we can charge two people with murder. .”This was a serious incident which has had a significant impact on the Murupara community. We are continuing to speak with a number of other people who may have been involved.”Mr Lewis was beaten and dumped on a driveway of a Murupara house, where he was found dying on October 3.”There was a vehicle involved but we don’t believe it was serious enough to cause those injuries,” Mr Sparrow said.He had extensive head injuries but Mr Sparrow would not say whether a weapon was involved. In January Jordan Herewini, 16, was run down by a vehicle allegedly driven by a gang member now facing a murder charge.Mr Lewis was the second teenager to die in Murupara gang violence in nine months.

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A man tried to snatch a 10-year-old boy just half a kilometre away from where Aisling Symes vanished two days later, can reveal.

The boy’s story has emerged as police announce the investigation into Aisling’s disappearance is to be further boosted by additional police staff. He offered to buy him sweets as he shopped in the Discount Food Mart, on Rathgar Rd, Henderson.

The schoolboy was approached by a man in his 30s two days before two-year-old Aisling’s disappearance, has learned. It made me feel weird,” the boy said.

“I asked the shop person the price of the candy and, when she said $4, the man asked if he could pay for me and said I could go along with him.

The boy’s mum, who is desperately concerned for Aisling, said: “It could have been anyone’s kid and even ours.

He ran screaming from the store, which is close to where two-year-old Aisling disappeared from her late grandparents home in Longburn Rd last Monday.

“From what has happened in the last week in this area it is going to make me a lot more careful. I always tell my son not to go off on his own but he doesn’t listen. Who knows if the guy was joking but my son did the right thing.

“I didn’t like hearing about what happened in the shop with my son.

Police spokesperson Noreen Hegarty downplayed the incident.”

Police questioned the boy on Thursday and again last night for several hours.

She said police were not seeking the man. She said police believed the man hadn’t made any attempt to “abduct” or “lure” the boy away from his family.

The boy, who has agreed not to identity, was in the superette around 12. Asked why police then interviewed the boy’s parents, Hegarty said they had to “take everything that comes to this investigation seriously”.

“I was by the candy and the guy came up to me and gave me a really strange look and started talking to me,” the boy said.30pm last Saturday while his mum and aunt were in Creative Cutz hairdressers nearby.

“That made me worried,” said the schoolboy.

He was concerned that the stranger, who described as about 33, Maori or Pacific Islander, wanted to buy him candy.

“I was scared, pretty scared.

“Suddenly I ran out of the store screaming for my mum as I thought he wanted to kidnap me.”

The brave lad knew he had to run away from stranger danger.”

The brave lad knew he had to run away from stranger danger. “I’ve been told that if someone wants to give you something or take you anywhere you just say `no’ and get away,” he said. .

Harrison Williams, the owner of Creative Cutz hairdressing, has also been spoken to by police.

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It may be no surprise to new fathers to know that they survive on an average 42 minutes’ less sleep a night than other men.

This gem is among a raft of facts released today by Statistics New Zealand to mark Father’s Day on Sunday.

Other ”father figures” include:

* In 2008, a new baby was a Father Day’s present for 143 men.

* Today’s newborn babies have fathers who are, on average, four years older than their own fathers were when they were born.

* The average age of fathers of new babies is 33 years, but one in 100 babies has a father aged 50 years or over. This is because men generally start parenting later in life and women have a longer life span. .

The first Father’s Day is thought to have originated in Babylon over 4000 years ago.

A number of northern hemisphere countries celebrate Father’s Day in June.

The modern Father’s Day celebration had its origins in the US at the turn of the 20th century.

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Police say three Chinese tourists who were robbed in the Far North at knifepoint by men they had stopped to help yesterday are “stunned and shocked” at the incident.

The attack happened on a stretch of gravel road which runs through Te Paki Reserves and farm land leading to Te Paki Stream and 90 Mile Beach, from State Highway 1F.

When they stopped to help, the touring group was set upon by the two men who assaulted them, produced knives and then demanded money and property.

Detective Sergeant Trevor Beatson from Kaitaia police said the tourists had been hailed by two Maori men in a maroon coloured station wagon, who claimed they were lost.

“It was the worst possible thing that could have happened to them when they went out of their way to help these two men. Mr Beatson said.”

Police were this morning combing the area and the victims’ car for forensic evidence.

“They had come to New Zealand fully believing it was a safe place to holiday and now their holiday and impressions of our country have been shattered.

They were driving a maroon or dark red coloured station wagon similar to a Subaru legacy, which had fishing rods sticking out of a side window.

The two men were believed to be in their 20s, and were described as tall with strong physical builds. .