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*** Checkpoint FOR WEDNESDAY 16 DECEMBER 2009
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1700 to 1707 NEWS
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Investors in the troubled finance firm Hanover have voted to accept a 400 million dollar rescue deal put up by the rural services firm Allied Farmers.The deal needed 75 per cent support from each of the four classes of investors - the biggest group, voted yes by the narrowest of margins at 75.4 percent.Allied Farmers shareholders already voted in favour of the deal last week making today's vote the final hurdle for the tie-up which means they'll now take over Hanover's assets in exchange for shares. During a meeting in Auckland today, investors railed against the board members of Hanover, accusing them of acting purely in self interest.
Financial adviser to clients in Hanover, Murray Weatherston joins us now: LIVE
The Corrections Department won't say how long it took guards at the country's only maximum security prison to realise an inmate had cut his way through the double perimeter fence and escaped. 49 year old Kevin James Polwart is serving an eight year sentence at Auckland Prison at Pareremoremo for armed robbery.
He's still on the run this evening and police say he has escaped from prison before. They're asking locals to be vigilent but these residents say the prison took far to long to tell them of the escape. CLIP So how did Polwart escape? Here's Correction's Robin Benefield. PREREC
A taskforce advising the Government on ways to boost the sharemarket has recommended part sales of state-owned assets. The Capital Markets Taskforce says this should be a medium term goal after the Government ruled out any asset sales before the next election. It's also recommended a capital markets super regulator to increase confidence in financial products and encourage investment.
Our economics correspondent, Nigel Stirling, has more: PKG
The couple who gained the nickname Bonnie and Clyde during a crime spree in which the woman's toddlers were used as human shields, have both been jailed.
Christopher Shaw and Stacey Snelleksz (pron: snell-ix) were sentenced today for their crimes which began in Palmerston North and ended with a high speed Armed Offenders chase near Palmerston in Otago. Monique Devereux was at the High Court in Timaru: PKG
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1720 TRAILS AND BUSINESS WITH Patrick O'Meara
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Three strikes and then you're out of pocket. That's what illegal downloaders of music, movies and other material face following a new government proposal to deal with internet piracy. Under the new rules, copyright holders will be able to pay internet service providers to serve suspected illegal downloaders with notice to stop infringing. If after a third notice the downloading continues, copyright holders will then be able to seek damages at a tribunal. Termination of accounts would only be achieved through the courts. Jordan Carter from Internet New Zealand says the new process looks much improved from the government's previous attempt at legislation. CLIP However musician Sam Scott says punishing downloaders is unworkable and it's the internet service providers who should be forced to pay artists. CLIP Joining us now is the Minister of Commerce , Simon Power. LIVE
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17.30 HEADLINES
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The Auditor-General says the Health Ministry has known since 2004 that auditing of rest homes is inconsistent and poor, and has failed to respond quickly. In a report released today, Lyn Provost details a range of serious failings in the process used to certify and audit rest homes. She says the process may have been flawed from the start. Our Health Correspondent, Karen Brown, joins us now. LIVE
A group representing primary school prinicpals is questioning the timing of a report which says 30 percent of Year 1 and 2 teachers don't know how to teach their five and six year old pupils to read and write. The study by the Education Review Office was ordered by the Minister Anne Tolley last November. It looked at 212 primary schools over the first half of this year. Mrs Tolley says the 30 percent finding is alarming and shows just how vital it is to introduce national standards. Ernie Buutveld (bootfield) is the President of the Principals Federation - I asked him if HE thinks the study is cause for alarm. PREREC
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17.45 TRAILS
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WAATEA
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As talks to secure a global deal on climate change reach a deadlock, New Zealand's targets on reducing emissions have come under fire. The two-week conference finishes at the end of the week and has stalled over cuts to emissions and financial aid for poorer countries. Meanwhile New Zealand's conditional target for cutting between 10 and 20 percent of emissions on 1990 levels by 2020 has dropped from being rated as moderate by a climate analysis group, to inadequate.
Here's our political reporter Liz Banas PKG
Investors in the troubled finance firm Hanover have voted to accept a 400 million dollar rescue deal proposed by the rural services firm Allied Farmers.
The deal needed 75 per cent support from each of the four classes of investors - the biggest group, voted yes by the narrowest of margins at 75.4 percent.
Hanover independent director Des Hammond says he's very pleased with the outcome. CLIP Allied Farmers Managing Director Rob Alloway says the company will have big challenges ahead. CLIP We're now joined by Hanover investor, Julie Cunningham LIVE
One of the world's rarest dolphin species has been caught on film while flirting with a pair of fisherman off the Taranaki Coast. The Maui Dolphin, which is the smallest in the world, is a sub-species of the Hector's. It is listed as critically endangered, and it is thought there only about 100 left, all in New Zealand waters.
Waitara man Ray O'Donnell says he never expected to be lucky enough to see one, let alone capture the encounter on camera. PREREC