Scoop: Top Scoops + Just Politics

Tuesday, 17 May 2005, 5:31 pm
Article: Alastair Thompson

TODAY’S TOP SCOOPS
LEAD STORY: Mallard Gets Monstered
SCOOP IS IN THE HOUSE:
Benson-Pope Stands Down From All Portfolios
Scoop Report: Kevin List Reports On The PM's Presser
Wananga Tells Mallard Risks Not Sufficient To Warrant Dissolution Of Council
Prince William To Visit New Zealand For Lions Tour
MORE NEW ZEALAND HEADLINES:
Brazilian Tribe Faces Extinction Due To Unrestrained Logging
MORE INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES:

SCOOP COLUMNS:
Care For A Middle East Nuclear Holocaust?
Sandor Lau Savages Winston Peters With Blunt Irony
Anne Else: Shades Of Reds Under The Bed
"…The Intelligence And Facts Were Being Fixed Around The Policy."
Carolyn Baker On The Fundy's 12 Step Programme
MORE SCOOP COMMENTARY:

OTHER NEWS (Just Politics)
Bogus Jobs Responsible For Large Scale Immigration Fraud
WINZ Tough Stance Blamed On Election Year Welfare ‘Auction’
MAF Eases Off Foot And Mouth Operation
Parliament's Digital Strategy Launched
MORE PARLIAMENT HEADLINES:

LEAD STORY:
Mallard Gets Monstered

[1] Pictures from the university student and staff protest at Parliament this afternoon. There was easily a thousand people, it was well organised and ran very smoothly. See... Scoop Images: Mallard Gets Debt Monstered [2] ALSO:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00208.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00208.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/ED0505/S00064.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/ED0505/S00065.htm

SCOOP IS IN THE HOUSE:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00391.htm

Benson-Pope Stands Down From All Portfolios

- Prime Minister Helen Clark said tonight that Hon David Benson-Pope has at his own request stood aside from his portfolios while an independent investigation is conducted into the credibility of the allegations against him. Helen Clark said she would be seeking advice from Solicitor-General Terence Arnold on the form of the inquiry. See... PM Makes Statement Re: David Benson-Pope [1] ALSO:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00382.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00202.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00192.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00162.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00174.htm

Scoop Report: Kevin List Reports On The PM's Presser

- In This Edition: - TV3 And Rodney Hide Take Another Minister Down - Coalition Talks – Past, Present And Future - Fairfax Transcripts And The Doone Affair - More Muck To Come… See... PM's Presser: TV3, DBP & Mudslinging To Come [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00205.htm

Wananga Tells Mallard Risks Not Sufficient To Warrant Dissolution Of Council

- “The Council has told the Minister that it accepts that Te Wananga o Aotearoa has financial, operating and reputational risks that it must manage, but firmly believes that these risks are not of sufficient magnitude to meet the thresholds set by the Education Act that would require the Minister to proceed with the process leading to the dissolution of the Council." See... Wananga Issues Response to Education Minister [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/ED0505/S00066.htm

Prince William To Visit New Zealand For Lions Tour

- Prime Minister Helen Clark has announced that Prince William will visit New Zealand in July. While it is predominantly a private visit in conjunction with the British and Irish Lions rugby tour, Prince William will also undertake official engagements. Helen Clark said she was pleased that New Zealand was to host Prince William soon after the successful March visit by his father, Prince Charles. “Prince William is a popular and engaging young man and his visit will attract a lot of interest,” Helen Clark said. See... Prince William to visit New Zealand [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00384.htm

MORE NEW ZEALAND HEADLINES:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0505/S00269.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0505/S00274.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0505/S00273.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00387.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0505/S00144.htm

Brazilian Tribe Faces Extinction Due To Unrestrained Logging

- A small tribe of uncontacted Indians in the Brazilian Amazon is facing annihilation as loggers invade their land, forcing them to flee further and further into the forest. See... Brazil: Uncontacted Indians Face Genocide [1] ALSO:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0505/S00265.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0505/S00263.htm

MORE INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00207.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0505/S00260.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0505/S00261.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0505/S00271.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0505/S00267.htm

SCOOP COLUMNS:
Care For A Middle East Nuclear Holocaust?

- Israel has drawn up secret plans for a combined air and ground attack on targets in Iran if diplomacy fails to halt the Iranian nuclear programme. The inner cabinet of Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, gave “initial authorisation” for an attack at a private meeting last month on his ranch in the Negev desert. See... Link: Israel Plans Strike On Iranian Nuclear Plant [1] . BACKGROUND: Chossudovsky: Planned US-Israeli Attack on Iran [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00207.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00049.htm

Sandor Lau Savages Winston Peters With Blunt Irony

- I offer my warmest congratulations to the honourable member (of parliament) from Tauranga, Mr. Winston Peters, for recently bringing to light a great threat to Aotearoa’s image as a free, open and democratic society. See... Winston Peters & Weapons Of Mass Discrimination [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00204.htm

Anne Else: Shades Of Reds Under The Bed

- John Tamihere’s “trash-talk laddism” (as the Listener editor labelled it) was repulsive, but I didn’t take it seriously enough to respond in public. This is different. Last week Ian Wishart, Tamihere’s interviewer, and Sandra Paterson, who gets published in the New Zealand Herald, both wrote articles about how a woman called Kay Goodger and a pamphlet published in 1974, was, they claimed, linked to women in the Labour government. See... Letter from Elsewhere: Joe McCarthy Lives [1] MORE:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00186.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00194.htm

"…The Intelligence And Facts Were Being Fixed Around The Policy."

Delayed for two weeks after first reported and buried in the back pages of most major U.S. newspapers is the blockbuster story that key players in the British government believed the case for the invasion of Iraq was “thin” and that the Bush administration was manipulating intelligence to provide a rationale for an aggressive U.S. policy. See... Media Intel. Coverage Reflects Imperial Presidency [1] For Much More coverage of the "Downing Street Memo" see Scoop's IRAQ WAR FEATURE [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00203.htm
[2] - http://scoop.co.nz/features/iraqwar.html

Carolyn Baker On The Fundy's 12 Step Programme

- In recent article, I promised readers that I would address the mindset of the religious right as an addiction. In order to do so with accuracy and clarity, it is first necessary to define addiction and clarify the terms, Christian fundamentalism and Dominionism. See... The Religious Righ (2): Pushing A Deadly Addiction [1] & An Anti-American Terrorist Movement [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00197.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00149.htm

MORE SCOOP COMMENTARY:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00195.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00201.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00200.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00199.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00198.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00196.htm

Bogus Jobs Responsible For Large Scale Immigration Fraud

- Despite repeated warnings over the past three years, the Immigration Service appears to have only just realised that thousands of immigrants gained residency here with false job offers, says Rt Hon Winston Peters. See... Peters: Why No Action On Immigrant Job Scams? [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00389.htm

WINZ Tough Stance Blamed On Election Year Welfare ‘Auction’

- A dramatic surge in benefit stand downs is yet another sign that the Government is trying to outgun National and Act at beneficiary bashing, Green Social Services Spokesperson Sue Bradford says. See... Labour basks in 'beat-the-beneficiary' battle [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00390.htm

MAF Eases Off Foot And Mouth Operation

- It was a relief to be able to ease back on emergency response measures against a claimed foot and mouth disease outbreak, Biosecurity and Agriculture Minister Jim Sutton said today. See... Minister comments on Waiheke Island situation [1] ALSO:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00383.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0505/S00166.htm

Parliament's Digital Strategy Launched

- The launch of The Digital Strategy at 2.30pm at Parliament today will be streamed live to www.r2.co.nz/20050516 with the help of Citylink. The Digital Strategy is the government's action plan for ensuring all New Zealanders benefit from information ... See... Digital Strategy Launch - Webcast Details [1] OTHER DIGITAL ANNOUNCEMENTS:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00353.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00393.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00378.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00369.htm

MORE PARLIAMENT HEADLINES:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00387.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00398.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00397.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00396.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00394.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00388.htm
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00403.htm
[8] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00399.htm
[9] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00386.htm
[10] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00401.htm
[11] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00392.htm
[12] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00402.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.

Contact Alastair Thompson

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