Two a penny

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TSB Bank is cutting its two-year fixed home loan rate to 5.99 percent to stimulate demand for home loans.

Managing director Kevin Rimmington said the bank was unaffected by the comings and goings on worldwide financial markets, and was determined to pass the benefits of this on to New Zealanders.

The Taranaki-based trust-owned bank, which returns its profits to the community, said it funds its mortgage lending entirely from deposits, which have been increasing. Dr Bollard said he was disappointed that banks had not passed on the April reduction in the official cash rate to short-term lending rates.

The reduction comes a day after the latest round of bank bashing by Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard.

Mr Rimmington said the two-year fixed rate was effectively the bank’s benchmark mortgage lending product.

“They have an opportunity to help New Zealand’s recovery by doing so,” Dr Bollard said.

“Right now, we’re experiencing record levels of funds growth.

It was being cut because “we are getting a lot of funds into the bank” and “we have to get it back out again”.25 percent and the one-year rate is 4.”

TSB’s deposit rate for two years is 5.

Mr Rimmington said that up until about a month ago the bank’s margin on lending was the lowest it had ever experienced.6 percent.

The official cash rate has been cut from 8.

Australian-owned banks operating in New Zealand have argued that their funding costs have risen, particularly in global markets, so they can’t pass on all of the cuts in the official cash rate.5 percent.25 percent to the current 2.5 basis points to 3.

reported that New Zealand swap yields firmed across the curve today, with two-year swaps up 4.25 percent.79 percent and five-year swaps up five basis points at 5.

The website interest. These yields influence the pricing of mortgages.nz shows that many two-year home loan fixed rates are around 6.nz shows that many two-year home loan fixed rates are around 6.25 percent. Kiwibank offers 6. .19 percent prior to this cut.

Up to 65 percent of TSB Bank’s assets go into providing home loans. The bank has nine branches outside Taranaki.

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Two people have died on New Zealand roads this weekend.

This morning a 78-year-old Hauraki man died at the scene of a crash close to Paeroa.

The driver of the ute was the only other person involved and was unhurt.

Police said the man attempted to do a U-turn in the path of a northbound ute close to the intersection of Rangiora Road, Komata, on State Highway 26.

The dead man was driving west and hit an oncoming car, Sergeant Steve Salton said.

About 1am yesterday (Saturday) a 22-year-old man died at the scene of a two-car collision on Auckland’s Upper Harbour motorway, close to the Greenhithe Bridge.

On Friday morning two teenage girls were killed in a car crash in Whangarei.

He suspected speed to be a factor in the crash.10am.

The pair, who were aged 17 and 18, were killed when the car they were in rolled down a bank on Anzac Rd and into the front yard of a property in suburban Morningside just after 1.

The two were in the back seat of the car and not wearing seatbelts, Northland police spokeswoman Sarah Kennett said.

Police said they were locals.

They received minor injuries and did not need hospital treatment.

There were three other women, aged 16 to 19, in the car.

Ms Kennett said the car lost control on a bend and no other vehicles were involved.

The driver was breath-tested at the scene and was found not to have been under the influence of alcohol.

Also on Friday, a woman died after her car and a truck collided close to Dargaville, 58km south west of Whangarei.

She said the road would have been wet as it rained in Whangarei yesterday and overnight.

The woman driver of the car died at the scene. . The three deaths on the road on Friday fell outside of the weekend reporting period.

* The weekend road death toll was earlier incorrectly reported as five.

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Immigration ‘has to be fixed’

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Hundreds of women are paying for new “egg-timer” fertility tests, with experts forecasting increasing numbers will freeze their eggs. .

Since their introduction, hundreds of women each month have paid about $400 for the test and follow-up consultation.

Previously, women had to pay for a less accurate and more costly ultrasound scan to determine fertility.

The Health Minister is considering a recommendation by the Advisory Committee on Assisted Reproductive Technology, which guides the Government on fertility issues, that the use of frozen eggs be allowed for some individuals.

Experts say the tests will see a consequent rise in the freezing of eggs, despite it still being illegal to thaw them.

Collyer said one in four New Zealanders now had infertility issues.

The new egg tests had attracted “a lot of interest from single women”, said Michelle Collyer, chief executive of support group Fertility New Zealand. The egg-timer tests allowed single women and couples to make informed decisions about when and how to have children, she said. This had climbed from about one in five several years ago.

A lot of single women had not met “Mr Right” yet and wanted to know how long they had before they were unable to conceive or could do so only with great difficulty.

Many women in their 30s who called Fertility New Zealand about the tests said they were likely to consider freezing their eggs if they found they had a limited time to conceive. “That means people are often putting their career before embarking on a family.

“We are dealing with a lot of social infertility now rather than biological infertility,” Collyer said.”

Obstetrician and gynaecologist Andrew Murray, the medical director of Fertility Associates in Wellington, said its “egg-check” tests provided important information for single women and couples in deciding when to start a family.

“The egg test gives people more information about what their options are and, as far as I’m concerned, the more information the better.

Few people had eggs frozen at Fertility Associates, and they were predominantly cancer patients.

Having the test, and freezing eggs, were a kind of “fertility insurance”, he said.

Currently, a frozen embryo was far more likely to be successfully thawed than a frozen egg, he said.

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However, it was likely that if the thawing of eggs was allowed and the related technology became more sophisticated, more women might do it, Murray said.

The cost of being inseminated with donor sperm was about $1000.

It cost about $10,000 to freeze either an egg or an embryo, Murray said.

Women produced a finite number of eggs at birth.

Repromed deputy medical director Dr Greg Phillipson said its egg-timer tests assessed levels of the hormone AMH, which related to a woman’s egg supply.

If, for example, a woman scored 10 per cent, it was likely she had a limited window of opportunity to conceive, he said.

If, for example, a woman scored 10 per cent, it was likely she had a limited window of opportunity to conceive, he said.

It was likely that if the moratorium on thawing eggs was lifted, more single women with limited fertility would freeze eggs for when they met their life partner, Phillipson said.

BACK ON FERTILTY TRACK

At 31, Caron Gutovitz believed she had years left to conceive a child.

However, after a new blood test that determines how many eggs a woman has left, Gutovitz has found she is nearing the end of her fertility.

The egg-timer or egg-check blood test was recently introduced to New Zealand.

Since then, hundreds of women have had it.

Gutovitz had her son, Owen, about two years ago, and had been trying to conceive for the past year.

Eventually, she turned to fertility experts, who discovered scarring on her uterus.

This had been removed, but she was still unable to get pregnant.

“I had the egg-check tests and it showed that my fertility was very low,” she said. “It showed my ovaries thought I was far older than I am.

“My body thought I was 40-something instead of 31. The result was pretty unexpected because I wouldn’t have thought I had that problem.”

The egg-check test is done via a blood test.

Results take about 10 days and are plotted on a graph against a person’s age.

Gutovitz said the test results had “radically” changed her outlook on getting pregnant.

She is now starting in vitro fertilisation treatment.

“If I hadn’t done the test, I would have continued to try and get pregnant through less invasive techniques. This way I know what my options are and I’m not going to find myself running out of time.”

- KIM THOMAS,

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Ron Clark remembers standing in the middle of a fireball, watching as his Nelson fish and chip shop exploded around him.

One second he had been preparing for Easter Weekend, his busiest time of the year; the next, he was engulfed in flames when a gas leak ignited. Just a huge explosion and then the building isn’t there.
“It happened instantaneously.”
Mr Clark, 67, is not sure how he made it out alive. You open up your eyes and it’s just the sky no walls, no roof and a ball of fire. I mean, Jesus, there was no building left.
“You couldn’t say that it was anything less than a miracle, really. The beard he kept for most of his life was burnt off- until the explosion his wife, Carole, had never seen him without it.”
He suffered burns to his arms, legs and face.
He had been standing beside a refrigerator when its motor kicked in and a spark ignited gas that had leaked from a vat.
Mr Clark, who has run the Milton Street Fish and Chip Cafe for eight years, is recovering in Hutt Hospital’s burns unit after last Thursday’s explosion. . The explosion knocked the shop’s roof off and blew out the back and front walls. “I could look down and see the skin falling offmy legs.
“I was just standing there one second, and then a split second later I am in a yellow ball of fire,” he said from his hospital bed.
Neighbours helped him, and firefighters were on the scene within minutes.”
Mr Clark stumbled out of his shop and across the street to a neighbour’s front yard, where he found a hose to douse himself with water.
He was later flown to Hutt Hospital, where his arms and legs were wrapped in man-made skin to protect him from infection.
They put a special cooling mask on his face, then took him to Nelson Hospital.
He is full of praise for the medical staff who treated him at the scene, as well as those in hospital, and is already planning to rebuild his fish and chip shop. Mr Clark believes the mask may have saved his face.

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Fellow bikies performed a haka chant as the coffin of Rebels motorcycle club life member Richard Roberts was lifted from a motorcycle sidecar at a crematorium in Canberra.

About 300 bikies attended Roberts’ funeral on Monday, remembering the man they called ”Rebel Rick” as a ‘’superstar” of drinking who ”loved the chicks and they loved him”.

”He was feared by those who didn’t know him, but loved by those who did,” a fellow bikie, known as Pappa, said of Roberts in a eulogy.

The 57-year-old New Zealand-born father of three was fatally shot last Tuesday at a suburban Canberra home.

”He was a hard worker.

Another Rebel said the slain man had ”loved his club and loved to ride”.

Roberts was a New Zealander who shifted to Australia in 1973.”

Roberts was also remembered as a man with a ”heart of gold” who ”could make you laugh”.

Engelbert Humperdinck’s cover version of Frank Sinatra’s My Way, with the poignant lyrics ”Regrets? I’ve a had few”, was played after the eulogies. .

Earlier, a procession of more than 300 bikies and an empty hearse moved through the northern suburbs of Canberra from a Rebels clubhouse in Queanbeyan to the Norwood Park Crematorium under police escort.

Bikies from Rebels chapters as far away as southeastern Victoria, the NSW central coast, Gundagai and Sydney attended the funeral.

A police car stood by as the bikies, most of them wearing helmets, ran a red light at the entrance to the crematorium.

The coffin containing Roberts’ body was carried on a sidecar. Police have charged 20-year-old Russell Field with their murders.

Roberts and Gregory Carrigan, 48, were shot dead outside a southern Canberra house last week.

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A spokeswoman for ACT police said the funeral and the procession through Canberra on Monday morning were incident-free.

The slayings were initially thought to be an explosion of violence between outlaw bikie gangs, but a long-time Rebels member has said they resulted from a bitter ”love triangle”.

The proposed laws would allow police to apply to the Supreme Court for an order to prohibit members identified in an outlaw motorcycle gang from associating with each other.

The funeral was held as the NSW government is considering introducing tough new laws aimed at stamping out violent bikie gangs.

The night before Monday’s funeral, a Hells Angel member, believed to be Peter Zervas, 32, was gunned down outside his Sydney home.

One bikie at the funeral wore a provocative t-shirt which read, ”Love us or hate us, you’d better get used to us”.

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The man, who survived the shooting, is the brother of Anthony Zervas, 29, who last week was bludgeoned to death at Sydney airport during a brawl between members of the Hells Angels and the rival bikie gang Comancheros

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Fellow bikies performed a haka chant as the coffin of Rebels motorcycle club life member Richard Roberts was lifted from a motorcycle sidecar at a crematorium in Canberra.

About 300 bikies attended Roberts’ funeral on Monday, remembering the man they called “Rebel Rick” as a “superstar” of drinking who “loved the chicks and they loved him”.

The 57-year-old New Zealand-born father of three was fatally shot last Tuesday at a suburban Canberra home.

Another Rebel said the slain man had “loved his club and loved to ride”.

“He was feared by those who didn’t know him, but loved by those who did,” a fellow bikie, known as Pappa, said of Roberts in a eulogy.”

Roberts was also remembered as a man with a “heart of gold” who “could make you laugh”.

“He was a hard worker.

Roberts was a New Zealander who shifted to Australia in 1973.

Engelbert Humperdinck’s cover version of Frank Sinatra’s My Way, with the poignant lyrics “Regrets? I’ve a had few”, was played after the eulogies. He had strong Maori connections.

Earlier, a procession of more than 300 bikies and an empty hearse moved through the northern suburbs of Canberra from a Rebels clubhouse in Queanbeyan to the Norwood Park Crematorium under police escort.

Bikies from Rebels chapters as far away as southeastern Victoria, the NSW central coast, Gundagai and Sydney attended the funeral.

A police car stood by as the bikies, most of them wearing helmets, ran a red light at the entrance to the crematorium.

The coffin containing Roberts’ body was carried on a sidecar.

Roberts and Gregory Carrigan, 48, were shot dead outside a southern Canberra house last week.

Roberts and Gregory Carrigan, 48, were shot dead outside a southern Canberra house last week.

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A spokeswoman for ACT police said the funeral and the procession through Canberra on Monday morning were incident-free.

The slayings were initially thought to be an explosion of violence between outlaw bikie gangs, but a long-time Rebels member has said they resulted from a bitter “love triangle”.

The proposed laws would allow police to apply to the Supreme Court for an order to prohibit members identified in an outlaw motorcycle gang from associating with each other.

The funeral was held as the NSW government is considering introducing tough new laws aimed at stamping out violent bikie gangs.

The night before Monday’s funeral, a Hells Angel member, believed to be Peter Zervas, 32, was gunned down outside his Sydney home. .

- AAP

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The man, who survived the shooting, is the brother of Anthony Zervas, 29, who last week was bludgeoned to death at Sydney airport during a brawl between members of the Hells Angels and the rival bikie gang Comancheros

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Teacher undergoing surgery after bus crash

and Wednesday, 25 February 2009

Eight pupils from a Gisborne high school were discharged from hospital in Hastings today after a bus crash on the Napier-Wairoa road.
The group's teacher, who was driving their mini bus back to Gisborne, was undergoing surgery as pupils waited for their parents to arrive from Gisborne to collect them.
The Lytton High School group was travelling on State Highway 2 near Putorino about 6.
Police said it appeared a car came around a corner towards the northbound mini bus and may have crossed the centre line.30pm when the crash happened.
The car driver received facial injuries and broken bones.
The pupils suffered moderate injuries ranging from broken bones to bruising.
The Lowe Walker rescue helicopter tried to land at the crash scene, but had to turn back because of bad weather.
Both vehicles were extensively damaged. .

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Police said they were continuing their investigation into the accident and hoped to speak to both drivers today

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Police interview 140 prostitutes in Manning murder probe

By JO McKENZIE-McLEAN - Tuesday, 13 January 2009

Police have spoken to about 140 prostitutes and 40 minders in their hunt for the murderer of a Christchurch woman. .
Her body was found in the Avon River in Dallington.
Williams said police had spoken to a man they were seeking. She had been strangled, stabbed in the chest several times and beaten about the head and legs with what appeared to be a piece of reinforcing steel.
"At this stage in the investigation we still believe it is likely that Mellory has been picked up from her corner by a vehicle around 10.
He was in the area the night of Manning's murder, driving a silver Ford Focus.45pm, and the telephone inquiries definitely indicate that all is not well by 11.
"This also seems to fit with her watch stopping at 10.30pm as she failed to reply to the next set of texts that were sent to her," Williams said."
The violent attack would have caused considerable blood loss where she was attacked, in any vehicle that she was in or anything she might have been wrapped in, Williams said.58pm.
Police had still not identified the vehicle or driver of the XR6 or XR8 Ford Falcon that Manning was seen in.
He appealed for information on anyone who might have changed their behaviour since December 18, who were reluctant to use their vehicle, had suddenly sold it, cleaned or altered it, or said they had sold it.
Police had identified about 100 cars and had sent out about 20 inquiries to other towns, Williams said.
Police had identified about 100 cars and had sent out about 20 inquiries to other towns, Williams said.
Also of interest was a man in a blue 4WD possibly a Toyota Hilux who approached a prostitute about 10.
Men had been driving four-wheel-drive vehicles in the Manchester Street-Peterborough Street area in central Christchurch about the time Manning must have been picked up, including a dark-coloured one either black or blue with chrome wheels and tinted windows, he said.
He is described as European, slim, with grey stubble, balding at the front and greying hair at the back.35pm and asked for prices.
Williams asked that person or anyone knowing him to contact the police.
He was described as "rough-looking" and was wearing a blue jersey with holes in it.

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Asbestos alert after destructive Dargaville fire

Dargaville News Thursday, 08 January 2009

HEALTH RISK: Sprinklers are set up to prevent airborne asbestos spreading.

REDUCED TO RUBBLE: The aftermath of the Dargaville fire.
Kaipara District Council infrastructural assets manager Fiona Vessey told the Dargaville and Districts News today that a specialised asbestos crew is due to arrive at the scene later in the day.

The Dargaville public is being kept at bay from the site where asbestos has been found after a major fire consumed four shops and extensively damaged another one in the biggest fire the town has seen in over 40 years.
Ms Vessey says the asbestos group would be supervising clean up contractors GHK Piling from Whangarei.
She says the crew had been held up at a fire in Southdown Auckland that occurred on Tuesday.
The Kaipara District Council issued a statement on Wednesday saying the asbestos discovery in the debris had delayed clearance of the site and the public was required to keep away from the area.
Northland Health health protection officer Paul Reid says the asbestos would be removed and placed in covered trucks to be transported to the Redvale special rubbish disposal facility north of Auckland.
Council, Fire Service, Northland Health and police officials, with insurers, building owners and the Department of Labour met to collaboratively minimise any potential health risk in the meantime. . The area will remain cordoned to protect the public and a section of Victoria St will stay closed.
The site is being kept continually dampened to eliminate any risk of breathable asbestos fibres becoming airborne.
"It is a concern and I apologise for any extra inconvenience but I am confident that the situation is being handled correctly and council's understanding is that the risk posed is minimal.
Kaipara mayor Neil Tiller says the discovery of asbestos is disappointing and hopes it will not significantly delay reinstatement of the area."

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Free study on offer if job goes under

Saturday, 29 November 2008

Government-owned polytechnic UCOL is offering free study next year for anyone who loses their job as a result of the economic crisis. .
The initiatives show UCOL's "commitment to its local communities and to the health of the regional economies UCOL serves".
"Anyone who doesn't find employment in their study area within 13 weeks of successfully completing a UCOL programme started in 2009 can then apply to enrol on another programme without paying further tuition fees in 2010," chief executive Paul McElroy said.
"There is still uncertainty about the impact on the New Zealand job market of the recession and slowdown in the global economy," McElroy said.
The offer is available to anyone made redundant after September 1 and includes normal tuition fees on certificates, degrees and diplomas offered at its campuses in Palmerston North, Wanganui, and the Wairarapa."

. "All of this means that many people are anxious about the security of their jobs and their ability to adapt to a changing employment environment