Scoop: Top Scoops + Just Politics

Thursday, 1 July 2004, 5:17 pm
Article: Alastair Thompson

TODAY’S TOP SCOOPS
LEAD STORY: Comprehensive Nationwide Transport Plan Announced
Euthanasia Campaigner Lesley Martin Declined Home Detention
MORE NEW ZEALAND HEADLINES:
NATO Summit Refers Further Iraq Involvement Decision To Its Council
MORE INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES:
STORY OF THE WEEK: Buzzflash On Fahrenheit 9/11 & The GOP

SCOOP COLUMNS:
Hard News & Much More Is There!
US Congress Overwhelmingly Backs Middle East Land Grab
Mary Pitt: Not All American Christians Are Nutters
Steve Weissman: Iraq's Premature Handover
Bush's Gitmo Smack Down In Supreme Court
Profligate Spending Under The Bush Administration
Poem: Anatomy of Israeli-Zionist Racism Plotting
Sonia Nettnin At The Chicago Palestine Film Festival

OTHER NEWS (Just Politics)
Government Buys Back NZ's Rail Network
New NZ Supreme Court Sits For First Time
Urgency: Local Govt. Election Issue Clarified
Condom's At School Balls Disgraceful - Adams
Project Aqua Comparison For Wairau Scheme Appropriate
Expat's Get Dosh To Build Networks
Greens Welcome Support For Wind Power
Adolescent Dental Health Debated
Samoans March Against The NZ Immigration Service
Zaoui's Bid For Freedom A Waste Of Money - Mapp
$12 million Biotechnology Partnership Fund
ACT Backtracks On Flat Tax

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...TODAY'S PHOTO STORY...

http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/SC0406/S00075.htm
Ringworld Waiting - Cassini Approaching Saturn
E.T.A. 2.10pm Thursday NZT

LEAD STORY:
Comprehensive Nationwide Transport Plan Announced

- Transit New Zealand and Transfund have announced details of a massive modernisation of New Zealand's highways and byways. Here is a complete regional rundown on what's going to happen and where. See… Double Barrel Massive Transport Plan Launched [1] and Full Coverage: Transit 10 Year Plan For NZ Roading [2] MORE ROADING REACTION: - Jim Anderton - Whanganui River Road to promote development [3] - NZ First - Not A Cent For The Tauranga Bridge [4] - United Future - Baldock explains Tauranga bridge funding [5] - NZ First - No ‘Hokey Tokey’ Politics With New Zealand First [6] - EMA - Transport investment welcome, won't be enough [7] - LGNZ - LGNZ welcomes Land Transport Programme [8] - Roading NZ - Roading contractors welcome funding surety [9]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0406/S00284.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0407/S00011.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00037.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00014.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00020.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00030.htm
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0407/S00008.htm
[8] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0407/S00004.htm
[9] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0406/S00316.htm

Euthanasia Campaigner Lesley Martin Declined Home Detention

- The New Zealand Parole Board has declined a home detention application by Lesley Martin, the euthanasia campaigner who was found guilty for the attempted murder of her terminally ill mother.. See... Lesley Martin Declined Home Detention [1] REACTION: - ACT, Franks - Govt Must Act After Martin Parole Decision [2] - ACT, Eckhoff - Euthanase Govt Thinking On Parole, Says Eckhoff [3]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0406/S00315.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00034.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00025.htm

MORE NEW ZEALAND HEADLINES:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0406/S00300.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0406/S00299.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/SC0406/S00076.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/SC0406/S00075.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/CU0407/S00004.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/GE0407/S00011.htm
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/GE0407/S00008.htm
[8] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/GE0407/S00005.htm
[9] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0407/S00006.htm
[10] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0407/S00005.htm

NATO Summit Refers Further Iraq Involvement Decision To Its Council

- Issued by the Heads of State and Government participating in the meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Istanbul on 28 June 2004 See... NATO Summit Statement on Iraq [1] ALSO: NATO Istanbul Summit Communiqué [2] INTERNATIONAL NEWS HEADLINES

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0406/S00371.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0406/S00370.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0406/S00369.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0406/S00368.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0406/S00367.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0406/S00366.htm
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0406/S00365.htm

STORY OF THE WEEK: Buzzflash On Fahrenheit 9/11 & The GOP

- As Michael Moore brilliantly captures the nightmarish years we have spent under the Bush occupation government he interviews an American soldier wounded in Iraq. The young man recounts his injury and then states matter-of-factly (and we are paraphrasing here) that he is voting against Bush this year because, "Basically, the Republicans conduct business in a dishonest way." See... Buzzflash: GOP - Dishonest Demagogues [1] MORE: - Stateside with Rosalea: Michael Moore Party Talk [2] - "Fahrenheit 9/11" or "Farce and Hype 7-11" [3] - Stateside: Film Review - Fahrenheit 9/11 [4] - Full Coverage: Fahrenheit 9/11 [5]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0407/S00003.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0406/S00275.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0406/S00279.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0406/S00260.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0406/S00267.htm

SCOOP COLUMNS:
Hard News & Much More Is There!

- Perhaps we will never really know what brought 17 year-old Thomas John Davidson to Auckland's Northwestern motorway at 5.30 last Friday morning, there to be killed, under the Newton Road overpass, by a truck... See... Public Address 01/07/04 - A Bumper Offering [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0407/S00010.htm

US Congress Overwhelmingly Backs Middle East Land Grab

- On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives, in an overwhelming bipartisan vote, endorsed right-wing Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon's efforts to colonize and annex large sections of the Palestinian West Bank, seized by Israel in the June 1967 war. See... US Congress Endorses Sharon’s Annexation Plans [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0407/S00002.htm

Mary Pitt: Not All American Christians Are Nutters

- In perusing newspapers and websites regarding current events, one would be led to believe that all Christians are right-wing Republicans and that all Democrats and ''leftists'' are Godless Communists. See... Mary Pitt: The "Quiet" Christians [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0407/S00009.htm

Steve Weissman: Iraq's Premature Handover

- Poor Mr. Bush. Like bad sex, his hurried consummation of Iraq's mini-sovereignty left everything to be desired. Only a handful of people celebrated the occasion, while his Baghdad stand-in Jerry Bremer could hardly wait to jet away from the chaos ... See... Steve Weissman: Embracing Saddam-Lite [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0407/S00008.htm

Bush's Gitmo Smack Down In Supreme Court

- In a direct repudiation of the Bush administration’s position that the President is answerable to no one, the Supreme Court held the Guantánamo prisoners and U.S. citizen Yaser Hamdi are entitled to contest their detention in federal courts. See... Supreme Court: War No Blank Check for Bush [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0407/S00005.htm

Profligate Spending Under The Bush Administration

- Since 2001, even with record low inflation, U.S. federal spending has increased by a massive 28.8% (19.7% in real dollars)—with non-defense discretionary growth of 35.7% (25.3% in real dollars)—the highest rate of federal government growth since the presidencies of Richard Nixon and Lyndon Johnson.... See... Record Federal Spending Increases Under Bush Admin [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0407/S00004.htm

Poem: Anatomy of Israeli-Zionist Racism Plotting

- Bread is cheap and water : Makes tea a Palestinian : Prison life diet provided : By Israel's good : Neighbor Policy : Gets down to the bare : Bones good fences : Make good neighbors See... Anatomy of Israeli-Zionist Racism Plotting [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0407/S00007.htm

Sonia Nettnin At The Chicago Palestine Film Festival

- The Palestinian people of Qaqiliya enter and exit the city through a gate. Israeli soldiers lock it with a key. The gate is part of the concrete wall. See... Sonia Nettnin: Film Review - Route 181 (Part III) [1] (Part II) [2] and (Part I) [3]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0407/S00006.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0406/S00270.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0406/S00255.htm

http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0406/S00263.htm
Image: A Lap Top Bag With Attitude

Government Buys Back NZ's Rail Network

- “The rail network is now back in public ownership, bringing to an end one of the most disastrous privatisations in New Zealand history,” Finance Minister Michael Cullen announced today. See... Upgrade to rail system can now begin – Cullen [1] MORE: - Toll Holdings - Toll NZ & Crown Sign Agreements [2] - National - Time for Labour to reveal true costs of rail deal [3] - Greens - We've got the track back - now let's use it! [4] - Greens - Light at the end of the road-tunnel [5]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00002.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/BU0407/S00002.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00006.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00005.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0406/S00516.htm

New NZ Supreme Court Sits For First Time

- New Zealand's Supreme Court opened today with its historic first sitting. See... Supreme Court increases access to justice [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00023.htm

Urgency: Local Govt. Election Issue Clarified

- Law clarifies that people can stand for both a mayoralty and councillor position on the same council at this year's local authority elections See... Local Government Law Reform Bill Nos 3 passed [1] MORE URGENCY NEWS: - Visiting Forces Act comes into effect [2] - Bill to improve fairness efficiency of proceedings [3] - Extended Supervision Bill passed [4] - Meat Bill passed by Parliament [5] - Law addresses Auckland's transport problems [6]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00031.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00022.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00021.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00009.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00001.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0406/S00514.htm

Condom's At School Balls Disgraceful - Adams

- Schools handing out condoms to students attending school balls are blatantly disrespecting the role and rights of parents, United Future's Paul Adams said today. See... Condom-dispensing schools doing a disservice [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00039.htm

Project Aqua Comparison For Wairau Scheme Appropriate

- Green Co-Leader Jeanette Fitzsimons says comparing Trustpower's Wairau proposal to Project Aqua is valid, despite the company's claims to the contrary. See... They're not leaving enough water [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00038.htm

Expat's Get Dosh To Build Networks

- The Kiwi Expat Association has been awarded $200,000 from the Ministry of Economic Development's Sector Initiatives Fund, to assist them in building up our global connections, Jim Anderton, Minister of Economic Development, announced today. See... Expats given assistance to develop [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00036.htm

Greens Welcome Support For Wind Power

- Green Co-Leader Jeanette Fitzsimons says a study released today that shows New Zealanders "overwhelmingly" support wind power is great news for the country's energy future and environment. See... NZers know the answer is blowing in the wind [1] and New Zealanders favour renewable energy growth [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00035.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00015.htm

Adolescent Dental Health Debated

- The adolescent dental health campaign being launched in Christchurch today by the Minister of Health has a hollow ring to it, says New Zealand First health spokesperson, Barbara Stewart. See... Adolescent Dental Health Campaign Misleading [1] MORE: - Govt. - Annette King: Adolescent Dental Health Project [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00032.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00013.htm

Samoans March Against The NZ Immigration Service

- Green MP Keith Locke says a 5000-strong protest march in Apia yesterday shows the depth of feeling in Samoa over the way New Zealand's immigration restrictions are detrimentally affecting them. See... Samoan protest shows depth of feeling [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00029.htm

Zaoui's Bid For Freedom A Waste Of Money - Mapp

- The taxpayer is set to be landed with another colossal legal aid bill for suspected terrorist Ahmed Zaoui as his case comes before the High Court yet again, says National's Immigration spokesman, Wayne Mapp. See... Zaoui wastes more taxpayer dollars [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00026.htm

$12 million Biotechnology Partnership Fund

- New Zealand biotechnology companies looking to build their business through increased collaboration with their Australian counterparts can now apply for funding out of a new, $12 million Australia-New Zealand Biotechnology Partnership Fund. See... New $12 million biotech collaboration fund [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00024.htm

ACT Backtracks On Flat Tax

- United Future’s revenue spokesperson Gordon Copeland today highlighted the backtracking being done by ACT on its core policy of a flat tax rate. See... ACT backtracks on flat tax [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00019.htm

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Alastair Thompson

Scoop Publisher

Alastair Thompson is the co-founder of Scoop. He is of Scottish and Irish extraction and from Wellington, New Zealand. Alastair has 24 years experience in the media, at the Dominion, National Business Review, North & South magazine, Straight Furrow newspaper and online since 1997. He is the winner of several journalism awards for business and investigative work.

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