Two a penny

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LATEST:
Deputy Prime Minister Bill English has announced he will not receive any more taxpayer-funding housing allowances.

The finance minister this afternoon confirmed actions he had taken with the aim of putting the “unnecessary distraction” of the row over his housing expenses behind him.

His announcement comes ahead of an informal meeting scheduled with the Auditor-General’s office this evening to discuss an investigation into his housing allowances claim.

* Had not received any housing allowance payments since July 28.

Mr English said he:

* Would no longer receive a housing allowance.

* Had received a legal opinion from Stephen Kos, QC, that changes made to his family trust arrangements did not affect his eligibility for the housing allowance.

* Had repaid all housing allowance payments received since last November’s election to Ministerial Services.

“What I’m announcing today reflects a set of personal decisions I have made about my own situation,” Mr English said.

“At all times my decisions have been driven by my desire to keep my family together and provide them with as much stability as possible.

“It is in no way setting a precedent for others although I make the point here that I believe Parliament does have to think how it can accommodate the families of long-term politicians.”

A TV One poll showed that voters felt the issue was denting Mr English’s credibility. It’s now clear that the system has struggled to deal with my circumstances.

The Deputy Prime Minister considers the Southland town of Dipton, in his electorate, to be his primary residence under parliamentary rules, but his family has lived in, and owned, a house in Wellington for years.

Asked if the issue had damaged his credibility, 62 percent said yes and 27 percent no; asked if Mr English has acted with integrity, 54 percent said no and 30 percent yes.

He came under fire when it was revealed he was now claiming a much higher allowance to stay in the Wellington house than when he lived there as an opposition MP.

He came under fire when it was revealed he was now claiming a much higher allowance to stay in the Wellington house than when he lived there as an opposition MP.

Today, a spokesman for Mr English said the Auditor-General’s office wrote to the minister after receiving the complaint.

Auditor-General Lyn Provost has asked for more information before deciding whether to investigate a complaint by Progressive Party leader Jim Anderton into the matter.

He will meet with a team from the office tonight for informal talks which will not form part of the inquiry, the spokesman said.

They said “feel free” to get in touch and Mr English has done that. .

Mr English will be informed about what the Auditor-General’s office is doing

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Former New Zealand Post team leader
Stephen James Francis Cadigan used to complain about mail thefts while
he was stealing thousands of letters himself.

The hypocrisy counted against him at his sentencing today where Judge Stephen Erber jailed him for 11 months.

Fifty-year-old Cadigan’s eyesight has failed and he is now legally blind.

He had pleaded guilty in June to charges of theft of the postal articles by a person in a special relationship, and two charges of dishonestly using documents – two grocery vouchers he had stolen from an envelope. He had to be guided to the dock in Christchurch District Court by a prison officer for the sentencing.

Cadigan was team leader at the Beckenham branch – at the end of his 35 years of employment with NZ Post.

Judge Erber said he did not believe a home detention sentence was appropriate as a result of the scale of the offending, its impact on so many people, the breach of trust, and the impact on the reputation of the employer, New Zealand Post.

He has admitted his thefts began five or six years ago, but the charge refers to the period from January 1 to May 15 this year when he says he was stealing 20 to 30 items a day. He would open the mail in the men’s toilet, taking cash, vouchers, and Lotto tickets, and 559 of the stolen mail items were later found hidden behind a water-heating cylinder.

He would arrive before the other staff, help unload the mail, and then sort out items to steal.

Judge Erber calculated Cadigan would have taken 2000 to 3000 items over those months. Those items covered only part of the period. Transport to work was provided by the New Zealand Foundation for the Blind because it was outside bus hours.

Defence counsel Carol Morgan said Cadigan had found further work as a labourer, working a graveyard shift.

He was keen to pay reparation and she handed up a $500 cheque from his savings.

He was keen to pay reparation and she handed up a $500 cheque from his savings.

She said the Beckenham branch had been held up as a model, and senior management visiting Christchurch were often taken to see it.

Crown prosecutor Sara Jamieson said NZ Post was seeking $4842 reparation for the cost of the investigation, and another $170 was sought for a direct victim.

“We will never know how much he actually obtained from this offending,” she said. Cadigan was regularly given information about missing mail, and was vocal about how upset customers were when they approached him about lost items.

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A Waikato woman has found her Irish husband’s body in a Laos river three days after he went missing in a tragic end to their Asian honeymoon.

Michael O’Sullivan, 39, a publican, got into difficulty after a river “tubing” ride with his wife Ilana James 29, and 18 other holidaymakers.They had planned to renew their vows in the presence of Mrs O’Sullivan’s mother in New Zealand.Mr O’Sullivan and Ms James, from Raglan, had been enjoying a belated honeymoon backpacking around Asia after marrying last November, the Evening Herald in Dublin reported.But the river had swollen dangerously because of the rainy season, and locals had to use ropes and sticks to rescue them.Last Thursday, the pair went on the “tubing adventure” on the Nam Xong river in Vang Vieng, in the north of Laos, described by backpackers’ guide Lonely Planet as “one of the rites of passage of the Indochina backpacking circuit”. He was not wearing a lifejacket. .For three days she hired boats and scoured the river banks looking for her husband and she was among a search party that found his body yesterday.Ms James insisted on being part of the search team that combed the river.The couple met in England.Ms James suffered a further blow when she was mugged on the way back to her hotel during the search.They had already visited India, Malaysia and Thailand after heading off backpacking in June. They were married last year and moved to Ireland.

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An energy drinks company has denied organising a publicity stunt that resulted in three New Zealand soldiers being sent home in disgrace from Afghanistan.

They were photographed posing with a large bomb carrying an advert for Demon energy drinks and were sent home for breaching operational security.

One photo showed a Demon energy drink sticker with the slogan “no limits, no laws” attached to the bomb suspended from a plane, with the soldiers standing around it.

The men took the photos and sent them to the drink company.

A decision was made to send the soldiers home immediately after the incident, which went against clear guidance given to all military personnel on operations, Joint Forces commander Air Vice Marshal Peter Stockwell said yesterday.

Another showed a handwritten message, “dear Taliban enjoy this demon”, on the side of the bomb. .

Demon Drinks company said today that the soldiers were not involved in any kind of commercial sponsorship agreement.”

The soldiers were not directly asked to take part in any kind of promotion.

“Demon Drinks has no understanding of army procedures, so did not know this would cause an issue.

“Often we ask for photos of people drinking the product in return.

The company said it donated products and did sampling all over the country every day.”

The company regretted what had happened to the soldiers, and had expressed that to them personally several weeks ago. In no way was this a publicity stunt.

“Demon Drinks was acting in good faith to help NZ troops and we wanted to show our support for them.

“If we had realised that this was going to be the outcome we would never have provided free drinks.”

AVM Stockwell said two of the soldiers had been found to have contravened the Armed Forces Discipline Act and were formally reprimanded. It is very unfortunate the way this has panned out for the soldiers and we will do everything we can to help these soldiers if their careers are in jeopardy.

Green Party MP Keith Locke, who previously criticised the soldiers’ actions, said sending them home was an appropriate punishment.

“Irrespective of the investigation into whether the acts contravened military law, the NZDF sets and expects very high levels of professionalism and behaviour from its people – this is especially the case in an operational theatre where the protection of information is vital to the overall security of New Zealand interests and activities,” he said.

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A Bay of Plenty man who raped a sleeping teenager before fleeing the country using a fake passport has been jailed for seven years.

Mount Maunganui diesel mechanic Phillip Armstrong, 49, last month pleaded guilty to rape and two breaches of the Passport Act after being extradited from Australia.

In the early hours of the morning, the teenager went home.

Armstrong had been partying with a group of people, including the teenage victim in March last year, Tauranga District Court was told.

He left after the girl woke up and cried out. Shortly afterwards, Armstrong entered her house through an unlocked door, made his way to the room where she was sleeping and raped her.

However, in September last year Armstrong submitted a false passport application to Internal Affairs, using another name and date of birth, and a week later used it to travel to Sydney.

He was subsequently arrested and appeared in court on March 10, 2008, the Bay of Plenty Times reported. .

He was eventually tracked down and extradited back to New Zealand.

Defence counsel Craig Tuck said Armstrong deeply regretted his actions and deserved credit for his guilty pleas and a $3000 emotional harm payment, paid to the court yesterday by his family.

The court was told Armstrong’s criminal history included an attempted rape in the 1990s.

Judge Louis Bidois said he was satisfied Armstrong had fled the country to avoid the charges and needed to appreciate the extent of the damage and harm he had done to the victim.

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Auckland University scientists have developed technology to power a wire-free heart pump that could save the lives of thousands of heart patients.

It could eventually offer an alternative to heart transplants.

It weighs only 92 grams and can be powered 24 hours a day for the wearer’s lifetime.

The pump uses magnetic fields to transfer power through a patient’s skin, rather than using wire cables.

A new company, TETCor, was created to take the technology for powering a wide range of devices implanted in the human body to market.

The new technology came out of collaboration between scientists from Auckland University’s Bioengineering Institute, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Department of Physiology. The existing method, using a wire cable that goes through the stomach and chest caused serious infections in about 40 percent of patients, and sometimes death.

TETCor chief executive Simon Malpas said heart pumps needed a huge amount of power.

The new wire-free version uses a coil outside a person’s body to generate a magnetic field.

The wires were also prone to breaking and restricted a patient’s activities. . A second coil placed inside the body, near the collar bone, picks up the signal from this field and creates power for the pump.

Dr Malpas saw the potential market as 50,000 people each year globally, within 10 years. The two companies plan to work together to combine the power transfer technology with the pump technology, and plan to begin patient trials within 24 months. If these pumps stop, you only have about one minute to live.

“It’s probably the most extreme implantable medical device you can get.”

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Dunedin’s mayor and city MP Pete Hodgson want the controversial Undie 500 rally out of Dunedin for good.

The rally once more descended into chaos last night, with Dunedin police forced to wear riot gear and use pepper spray to disperse student mobs. .The annual Undie 500 event, organised by Canterbury University engineering students, involves a pub crawl from Christchurch to Dunedin, in cars worth under $500.The 70 officers took about two hours to disperse the students.Hodgson, who represents Dunedin North, told Radio New Zealand it’s time to put a stop to the event. This is the third consecutive year the rally has led to disorder.Mayor Peter Chin said the Undie 500 isn’t welcome in Dunedin, and suggested the Canterbury students trash their own city instead, RNZ reported.Last year’s official Undie 500 was cancelled after rioting in the city resulted in 69 arrests the previous year.The event has previously caused headaches for Dunedin police left to control riotous behaviour at the end of the trip.Most of last night’s action centred in the three blocks around Castle Street, with mobs setting furniture and piles of rubbish on fire in Castle and Leith streets, Dunedin Area Commander Inspector Dave Campbell said.However, an unofficial version of the event still ran and 30 arrests were made after another round of disorder.Flying bottles hit two or three other people, who had to be taken away by ambulance for treatment.One officer was hit in the head and knocked down with a hurled bottle, and would have been seriously injured if not for his helmet, he said.Mr Campbell said there would be a boosted police presence this weekend and anyone arrested would gain a criminal record, due to a no-diversion policy.Mr Campbell said there would be a boosted police presence this weekend and anyone arrested would gain a criminal record, due to a no-diversion policy.They faced a variety of charges, ranging from disorderly behaviour and breaching the liquor ban to wilfully setting fire to property.Most of those arrested were Otago University students, Mr Campbell said.”We are happy we have been able to stabilise the crowd without exerting our authority too much,” he told the Otago Daily Times.The officer in charge of the police response, Inspector Alistair Dickie, said they had chosen to take a softer approach this year and were relatively pleased with how things turned out last night. We are pleased at the moment.”We could have sparked something here.”

. Hopefully, I don’t eat my words

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A woman charged with brutally assaulting her son after he wet the bed told her husband she had been “naughty, very naughty” when he asked her what she’d done to their child, a jury has heard.

Itupa Julie Mikaio, 40, pleaded guilty in the AucklandHigh Courtthis morning to one charge of injuring with intent to injure her son, Benjamin Mikaio, on June 27, 2008.

But she is defending two further charges – one of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and another of failing to provide the necessities of life for a child – which relate to matters that allegedly happened on June 30, three days after the assault.

Mikaio’s husband, Haini Mikaio, told the court that his wife had told him she had hit their three-year-old son with her shoe because he had been jumping up and down and had scribbled on the walls of the house.

A jury of six men and six women has been selected to hear the case before Justice Forrest Miller.”

In her opening address, crown prosecutor Deborah Marshall said the case was “about a mother who was angry at her three-year-old son because he wet the bed”.

“She said she was naughty, very naughty.

She said Mikaio had taken her anger out on Benjamin with such violence that he had been sent to Starship Hospital.

The court heard how, on the weekend before the assault, Benjamin had spent a normal weekend with his family going shopping, attending church and watching television.

A year on from the incident, Benjamin was still recovering from his severe injuries, Ms Marshall said.”

Ms Marshall said Benjamin was brought to Starship Hospital deeply unconscious, suffering from severe head trauma and extensive bruising to his buttocks, pelvis and chest.

“However, by the afternoon of Monday, June 30, he was in a very bad way.

“If he had not received medical attention it was likely he would have died.

He had two fractures to his pelvis, two fractures to his right hand, a fractured left hand and a fractured foot.”

Ms Marshall said Mikaio had caused all of these injuries.”

Ms Marshall said Mikaio had caused all of these injuries.

She then put him in the blanket and left him on the couch until early in the afternoon. .

The massage therapist took one look at Benjamin and told Mikaio to call 111, the court heard.

Ms Marshall said that, when Mikaio did seek help, she took him to a “Samoan massage therapist who lived in Glen Innes”.

Mr Faleauto said his client had tried to help her son.

Mikaio’s lawyer, Ted Faleauto, said his client disputed she had caused her son’s head injury.

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Roads in the lower North Island, closed during weekend flooding, rain-related slips and crashes, have reopened today.

Do you have photos of the wild weather? Click here to send them to us.

A weather-related crash on the northbound lane of State Highway 2 near Avalon disrupted traffic and a slip near Pukerua Bay stopped trains on the Paraparaumu line into Wellington earlier today.

State Highway 2 between Pakuratahi and Kaitoke has reopened after one lane was closed by a slip at Kaitoke Gardens, and Ngauranga Gorge, north of Wellington, has been cleared of flooding that resulted from a missing manhole cover.

All disruptions were cleared by midday and vehicle traffic and trains were running as usual.

Awamutu Grove in Lower Hutt was also flooded but remained open.

A slip at the Johnsonville off-ramp that slowed traffic and a rockfall that blocked State Highway 58 at Haywards have both been cleared.

Metservice forecasters predict more rain as a north-bound front moves over the west of the South Island on Tuesday, crossing over the lower North Island, with heavy falls over the Tararua Ranges.

Mr Barrow also forecast heavy rain and thunderstorms over Westland and Fiordland tomorrow, warning people going to the bush and mountains to keep a weather eye.

“People planning a trip in the area should still watch out for rivers and streams rising rapidly and keep up to date with the latest forecasts,” Metservice forecaster Gerard Barrow said.

Wind gusts of 155kph were clocked at Cape Turnagain on the Wairarapa Coast, he said.

Powerful westerly winds hitting much of the country would tail off on Wednesday, with lighter winds continuing into the weekend, Metservice spokesman Bob McDavitt said. As the sun moves south, the longer days mean extra warmth over the Southern Ocean and this powers up the winds known as the `Roaring 40s’.

“We are now stepping into the months of spring.”

TRAINS DISRUPTED

Meanwhile, trains on the Paraparaumu line were disrupted by a slip near Pukerua Bay, and commuters faced delays of up to 20 minutes, OnTrack spokeswoman Ruth Larsen said.”

TRAINS DISRUPTED

Meanwhile, trains on the Paraparaumu line were disrupted by a slip near Pukerua Bay, and commuters faced delays of up to 20 minutes, OnTrack spokeswoman Ruth Larsen said.

WINDY CONDITIONS

Heavy rain and gale-force winds played havoc with motorists in Wellington yesterday.

Power would be cut to the train lines while a digger was brought in to clear the tracks, Ms Larsen said.

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A fierce spring storm made itself felt in the region late yesterday afternoon, moving quickly eastwards across the lower North Island

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National MP Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi has assured Prime Minister John Key he has not done anything wrong and Mr Key wants him to be treated like everyone else during an inquiry into immigration allegations.

The inquiry, involving list MP Mr Bakshi, is back on after police were provided with fresh information.

There have also been allegations about attempts to silence witnesses.

Mr Bakshi has denied allegations he accepted money for false job offers to bolster Indian immigrant applications.

“I’ve directly and personally asked him whether there’s any truth to the allegations, he’s given me a personal assurance there is not.

Mr Key, in Australia for meetings with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, said Mr Bakshi should be “treated like any other New Zealand citizen”, Radio New Zealand reported.

Acting Prime Minister Bill English said yesterday Mr Bakshi was “quite clear he hasn’t done anything wrong”.

“If there is grounds for investigation then the authorities should conduct those investigations and they’ll get full support from the Government if it’s required,”

Mr Bakshi would be “called to account” if there was a case to answer, Mr Key said.

It has now provided police with further information on the allegations after interviewing a new informant. Immigration New Zealand started an inquiry last year but closed it in March because of a lack of evidence.

Police said they were looking at the role of former immigration consultant Darshan Singh Bains, who took job offers from Mr Bakshi and gave them to Indians to use as part of their applications to migrate to New Zealand.

The service also provided police with a sworn statement, obtained by Labour MP Pete Hodgson from another new informant, which said complainants were encouraged by people in India to drop the matter; “because he was going to be the first Sikh MP in New Zealand”. .

Mr Bakshi said he knew nothing about the police investigation, and had not had any contact with Immigration since its file was closed.

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