1700 to 1707 NEWS
The police have alleged in the Wanganui District Court that the euthanasia campaigner Leslie Martin tried to kill her mother by injecting morphine. Martin is charged with the attempted murder of her terminally ill mother, Joy Martin, who died in her home in May 1999. Police are presenting their case to two JPs in an effort to have Leslie Martin committed for trial. Our reporter Jill Galloway has been in court. LIVE
More New Zealand troops are being sent to Solomon Islands. The infantry company of 125 personnel was put on standby in July and their deployment was approved by Cabinet today. They will join the 35 police officers and 105 Defence Force personnel already in the Solomons, and provide backup for police who are trying to recover weapons. Meanwhile the Australian Prime Minister John [illegible] is in Solomons for a meeting with his counterpart Sir Allan Kemakeza - the first time an Australian Prime Minister has been to the country in a decade. Mr Howard took the opportunity to thank the Australian led intervention force for their efforts in restoring law and order. CUT Australian Prime Minister John Howard. New Zealand foreign minister Phil Goff joins us now. LIVE
The tree, which a boy was climbing when he received an electric shock, has been felled and the platform on the powerpole beside the tree has been removed. The eight-year-old is in a critical condition in Middlemore Hospital after he touched the 11-thousand volt overhead line while climbing from the tree onto the powerpole platform in Te Atatu at the weekend. The police had called for the tree to be chopped down saying it was the only way to prevent further injury to members of the public. The power lines company Vector is investigating the incident.
Here's company spokesman David Thomkins. PREREC
1719 BUSINESS NEWS WITH JOHN DRAPER
The Prime Minister Helen Clark says she's confident the sudden resignation of Māori Television Service chief executive Derek Fox won't derail the troubled station. Mr Fox quit on Friday amid an investigation into a complaint filed against him by a woman staff member. Mr Fox has cited a constant barrage of negative media publicity, work-related stress, and his family life suffering, as reasons for his resignation. It's the second CEO the Māori Television Service has lost, with Canadian John Davy earlier sacked and then imprisoned, for falsifying his CV. Our political editor Kathryn Ryan has been at the Prime Minister's post-Cabinet media conference and joins us now. LIVE WITH DROPINS
The treatment of a man who died of post operative complications following bowel surgery is the subject of a hearing before the Medical Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal. A North Island surgeon is facing a charge of disgraceful conduct or an alternative charge of professional misconduct relating to the man's surgery in December 1999. The surgeon and anything identifying the hospital or the location has been suppressed until the outcome of the hearing. Our reporter Andrew McRae is with us now. LIVE
HEADLINES
1732 SPORTS NEWS WITH STEPHEN HEWSON
The Health Minister has unveiled a plan to improve the way we deal with cancer in this country. For four years now, cancer groups have been calling for such a plan saying its needed if the number of people who die from this disease is to be reduced. Cancer is the leading cause of death here. It is responsible for about one in three deaths, and this death rate has increased faster, and is at a higher level, than in comparable countries.
Our Health Correspondent, Rae Lamb, has been having a look at the new Cancer Control Strategy and she joins me now. LIVE WITH DROPINS
In Fiji, security at its airports and harbours has been tightened following the discovery of three murdered Chinese traders and a Fijian security guard. Local media say it appears the three Asians, who had recently arrived from Hong Kong, had been tortured and the Fijian man had been shot in the head. The bodies were found at a seafood company Live Fiji Exports Limited and police say one of those killed managed the company. Police spokesman Mesake Koroi told me that [illegible] believe the killings could have happened some time after ten o'clock last Thursday, but the bodies weren't discovered until Friday. PREREC
The Commerce Commission has just wrapped up 6 days of hearings into a proposed corporate alliance under which Qantas would take a 22 and a half percent stake in Air New Zealand. The Commission's acting chairperson Paula Rebstock has just finished her concluding remarks. Our reporter, Michele Hollis, has been at the hearing and joins us now from outside the conference room. LIVE
The prime minister's brother in-law says he did not give policy advice to the government over the management of a GM scare in Gisborne. Helen Clark's brother in-law Alan Hardaker, who is a maize scientist with Crop and Food Research, has been giving evidence to a parliamentary inquiry looking into the so-called Corngate Affair. The inquiry was sparked by Nicky Hager's book - Seeds of Distrust - which claims government officials were under orders from Helen Clark to cover up an alleged discovery in Gisborne of genetically modified corn in 2000. Our reporter Elizabeth Brown went along to today's hearings and she joins me now. LIVE WITH DROPINS
[illegible] of New South Wales will be declared a natural disaster zone after savage winds left a trail of damage across the state's south and east. Winds of more than 120 kilometres per hour swept the coast yesterday, killing one man, leaving two swimmers missing at sea and leaving 86 thousand homes and businesses without power today. Joining us now is Doctor Chas Keys from the New South Wales State Emergency Service. LIVE
MANA
We end with a farewell for the soldiers heading for Afghanistan today. MONTAGE
CLOSE & THEME