HEADLINES & NEWS
The Department of Conservation has been trying to decide whether to abandon the attempt to stop more than 80 pilot whales from stranding themselves on Stewart Island. Twenty-two whales have already died after some of the pod became stranded yesterday at Māori Beach north of the township of Oban. DOC workers have been out in boats this afternoon trying to herd the rest of the pod away from the shore. Live i/v Greg Lind, Southern Islands area manager for the Department of Conservation.
A manhunt continues in Wellington today for the four people who took part in an armed robbery in rush hour this morning, on one of the capital's busiest streets. Two security guards were ambushed at gunpoint as they delivered money [illegible] an ATM machine in downtown Willis Street at about half past seven. The robbers wearing balaclavas tied up the guards before escaping in a Chubb Security van with what police describe as a considerable amount of money. Joining us now is Detective Senior Sergeant Stephen Vaughan.
The Environmental Risk Management Authority has approved two applications to field test genetically modified trees.
The decision follows a three-day hearing in Rotorua last month, and all but five of the 700 submissions on the applications were opposed to the trials. The Authority says it has imposed very strict controls on how the trials will be conducted, including the erection of security fences, weekly reports on the progress of the trails and regular inspections by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Patrick O'Meara has more.
BUSINESS NEWS with CATHERINE WALBRIDGE
The official holiday road toll period began just over an hour ago as thousands of people hit the road for their summer holidays. For an update on the traffic situation the national road safety manager Steve Fitzgerald joins us now. LIVE
Cook Strait ferry passengers are still experiencing some delays despite the return to service of the Aratere. It resumed sailings this morning, but it is running on only two of its four engines, so the crossings are taking about four hours instead of three. I asked Thomas Davis, Tranzrail's General Manager of Inter-Island Services Thomas Davis, how long people are having to wait. PREREC
It has been a long, hard news year, but Christmas is finally here. Satirist Dave Smith has been looking at several of the stories Checkpoint has run and offers listeners his insight into recent political and sporting events. CUTS
5.30 NEWS HEADLINES
SPORT with RICHARD CROWLEY
Time now to look back at the year from Checkpoint's perspective. Nicci Coffey presents this report. END OF YEAR PIECE
MANA NEWS
voting outside their electorate to be counted before polling stops. Live I/V Chief Electoral Officer David Henry.
Eight key industries are being targeted by the government under its new apprenticeship scheme.
Up to fifteen hundred young people are expected to get jobs in building and construction, dairy manufacturing, electricity and electrical work, engineering, printing, hospitality, telecommunications and boatbuilding. Live I/V the associate education minister Steve Maharey
Police and customs officers in Fiji are searching shipping containers from China, after being tipped-off that one could contain more than 30 tonnes of a chemical used to make the drug "speed". Live I/V correspondent in Suva Shalen Shalen Shandil
The Consumer's Institute is warning that alternative therapists need to comply with the same standards set for all medical practitioners, before they're integrated into the mainstream health system. The Health Minister, Annette King, has just issued guidelines for a new committee to advise her on [illegible] medicines.
The committee is a Green Party initiative, and their Health spokesperson, Sue Kedgley, says she hopes this is the first step to Complementary health practioners working alongside Doctors. Package from Janine Sudbury.
Next month's national rifle championships look set to go ahead despite the closure of the army-controlled rifle range at Trentham. The Army closed four ranges last month because it found that ricochets were more of a danger than previously thought. But now it is letting the championships go ahead as long as the National Rifle Association brings the range up to safety standards. Live I/V Association's president Tony Loughnan
A new fad is top of the Christmas list this year - scooters are selling like hotcakes. The steel or alloy scooters have mini wheels and fold down for carrying - they range in price from around 90 dollars to 300. Package from Jill Galloway.