National Radio Midday Report

Property Relationships Bill – Heroin Bust – Businessman On Trial – Pacific Forum – Jury Investigation – GE Inquiry – ERMA Deficit – Kosovo Elections – Arthritis Cure – Soldier’s Tale – Local Govt NZ – Auckland CBD

- PROPERTY RELATIONSHIPS BILL: A Parliamentary select committee is recommending that same sex and de facto relationships remain in the new property relationships legislation, but the committee is recommending a change to reinstate the words marriage, husband and wife into the wording of the bill.

- HEROIN BUST: Auckland detectives are investigating whether there were people based in New Zealand who were part of the drug smuggling ring that was cracked in Fiji. Police think the drugs were to have passed through New Zealand. $100m worth of heroin was seized in the bust.

- BUSINESSMAN ON TRIAL: Graham Thompson, a former business high flier who served a jail term for his part in the fraud related collapse of meat exporter Fortex, is back in court in Christchurch appearing in pre trial hearing charged with managing a business in breach of a prohibition order.

- PACIFIC FORUM: Pacific Island forum leaders are to finalise whether the next meeting will be held in Fiji. Helen Clark is one of the leaders who have said they will not attend if the meeting is held there.

- JURY INVESTIGATION: Police have completed a top-level investigation into a survey of jurors by a Motueka detective following trial in Nelson where two men where acquitted of the rape of a 14 year old girl. The investigation centres around juror confidentiality and whether they can be asked about a trial or heir deliberations.

- GE INQUIRY: The manager of A2 Corporation, a Dunedin based biotechnology company, told the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification this morning that a small difference in the genetic make up protein in milk is believed to be linked to the onset of juvenile diabetes in individuals who are predisposed.

- ERMA DEFICIT: The Environmental Risk Management Authority is expecting to end the financial year $450,000 in deficit despite cutting back work to what it calls below satisfactory levels.

- KOSOVO ELECTIONS: Local elections in Kosovo seem to have favoured the moderate party and given a hammering to the radical group led by a former KLA boss. The official results wont be known until tomorrow, and until then the candidates are putting their own spin on the election.

- ARTHRITIS CURE: The NZ Arthritis foundation says that while research in Britain is promising, a cure for the disease is still a long way away.

- SOLDIER’S TALE: A former New Zealand soldier now fighting a legal battle against the British Government to publish his account of a bungled operation says he wants to give a truthful account of what happened to protect the reputations of his colleagues.

- LOCAL GOVT NZ: The mayor of the Hauraki District Council, Basil Morrison, has been elected the new president of Local government New Zealand.

- AUCKLAND CBD: The Auckland City Business Association plans to hire a private security service to patrol the CBD, to deal with drunkenness, drag racing and violence on the main street.

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