The New Zealand Herald

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Deportation Mistake- Super Fund- Apology Rejected- Rail ‘Outsourcing’- Trans Rail Layoffs- Druggie Pensioner- Ballet Bullies - Herald & Jobs- Lawyer Cannot Remember- Ihug’s Loss

DEPORTATION MISTAKE: The Immigration Minister says a computer data entry problem caused a Filipino family to be wrongly deported under New Zealand's tough new immigration laws. The family of four was taken from their Auckland home by Immigration Services early yesterday and put onto a plane to Kuala Lumpur. The family's immigration consultant contacted the Immigration Service while his clients were in the air, pointing out that two of the family had lodged appeals, and were entitled to stay while the appeals were processed.

- SUPER FUND: New Zealand First has thrown its weight behind the Government's giant superannuation fund, ensuring it will be enshrined in law and therefore harder to dismantle. Finance Minister Michael Cullen unveiled details of the fund yesterday, showing the Government would set aside $25 billion over the next 10 years to help to meet the burgeoning cost of pensions.

- APOLOGY REJECTED: Colleen Poutsma yesterday rejected her first direct apology from gynaecologist Dr Graham Parry over his substandard treatment for cervical cancer. The suspended Northland Health specialist shed tears and had to take a short break as he read out his apology at a Medical Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal hearing in Waitangi.

- RAIL ‘OUTSOURCING’: The Northerner from Wellington pulled into the Auckland Railway Station last night, hauling three empty carriages and a handful of passengers. As the train waited to begin its return overnight trip to Wellington, the driver read a document from his employer, Tranz Rail, headed, "What is Outsourcing?"

- TRANS RAIL LAYOFFS: The union representing rail workers is shocked at Tranz Rail's plans to cut 3400 jobs as it quits long-distance passenger services and contracts out work. Announcing its restructuring yesterday, the company said it would reduce its workforce from 4000 to 600 in two years.

- DRUGGIE PENSIONER: A 74-year-old pensioner who describes himself as "just a miniature form" of Mr Asia used profits from drug-dealing to concrete the driveway and plant fruit trees at his state house. George Norman Edwards of Te Puke stood on crutches when he appeared for sentencing in the Tauranga District Court yesterday on charges of cultivating cannabis and possessing it for supply.

- BALLET BULLIES: In the tormented world of ballet, girls as young as 14 pop pills to stay thin, suffer feelings of worthlessness and low self-esteem and are at the mercy of ruthless mothers who have been known to push their daughters' rivals downstairs. Those are the findings of a survey carried out this year by an Auckland dance teacher who is pleading with the ballet world to come clean about the problems.

- HERALD & JOBS: A Herald initiative to promote a new sense of economic, social and cultural well-being in New Zealand has received an overwhelming response. General readers and business leaders alike have written, faxed and called this week about The Jobs Challenge - a major series we began last Saturday.

- LAWYER CANNOT REMEMBER: The memory of bashed Auckland lawyer John Timmins is slowly returning but he can still shed no light on how he came to be beaten and left for dead in an Onehunga industrial estate. Mr Timmins, a close friend of Prime Minister Helen Clark, who is taking a personal interest in the case, was found in a pool of blood in the courtyard of Shieling Laboratories in Hill St last Thursday morning.

- IHUG’S LOSS: Ihug, the country's second-largest internet provider, is to lay off up to 60 of its staff of 350. Managing director Nick Wood said ihug was facing higher costs while the value of its main source of revenue was dropping.

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