Daily New Zealand News

Happy New Year to all readers from New Zealand News

2010-01-01T12:52:00.001+13:00

Cricket-Canterbury win record breaking encounter

2010-01-01T10:28:00.001+13:00

Canterbury has posted the highest total in domestic one day cricket, beating Otago by 39 runs in Timaru. Batting first, Canterbury made 410 for five in 50 overs, surpassing the previous highest of 376 by Central Districts 13 years ago. Otago in reply scored 371 for seven, with Neil Broom scoring 164, the second highest score by a New Zealand batsman in domestic cricket. Rob Nicol top scored for Canterbury with 132 off 108 balls, putting on a 160 run opening stand with Michael Papps, who made 78.
Copyright © 2009 Radio New Zealand

Father inspires adventurer

2010-01-01T10:10:00.001+13:00

A New Zealand adventurer who hopes to be the first to successfully row home solo from Australia, says his father was his inspiration. Shaun Quincey is about to set off on the 2200 kilometre, 50-day journey. He will paddle east from Coff's Harbour, with his bow pointed at Taranaki. If he succeeds, the 25 year-old can claim a new record. Mr Quincey says his father Colin was his inspiration for the journey - being the first and only person to row the Tasman in the other direction (travelling west) in 1977. Shaun Quincey's trip, due to start "early this month", will raise funds for Surf Life Saving New Zealand.
Copyright 2002 - 2009, TelstraClear Ltd

New Zealand welcomes New Year

2010-01-01T10:07:00.001+13:00

Revellers celebrating New Year and the start of a new decade in New Zealand largely behaved themselves last night. In contrast with recent years, partygoers stayed under control thanks to a very visible police presence and liquor bans. Main centres and traditional resort hotspots reported only a small number of arrests for disorder, in some cases fewer than a normal Saturday night. Thousands of people out for a good time packed downtown centres in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch to watch spectacular fireworks and listen to bands playing loud and popular music as they counted down lustily to midnight. New Zealand is the first country in the world to welcome in the New Year.
NZPA

139th Waipu Highland Games begin

2010-01-01T10:04:00.001+13:00

The gates are open at the 2010 Waipu Caledonian Highland Games. Clan MacLean has been elected as the host clan for the 139th Games which will be opened by Dame Catherine Tizard. Events include piping, drumming, Highland dancing, athletics and Highland heavyweight field events. The programme begins with a March of the Clans and ends with a Ceilidh.
Copyright © 2010 Radio New Zealand

Blue collar workers targetted by anti-smoking agency

2010-01-01T10:03:00.001+13:00

Blue collar workers are the next target for a Government agency working to help people quit smoking. A Quit at Work programme is to be rolled out for employees after the summer break. The programme offers training, support and resources at large workplaces. The Quit Group estimates that an employee who smokes costs a company $2000 per year in extra sick leave.
Copyright © 2010 Radio New Zealand

Australia welcomes New Year

2010-01-01T10:01:00.001+13:00

An estimated 1.5 million people welcomed in 2010 around Sydney harbour, in what organisers call the biggest New Year's Eve show in the world. A $A5 million display of fireworks lasting several hours, was launched from barges and rooftops. A similar display in Melbourne was delayed due to lightning. The ABC reports bad weather kept many at home. There were also fireworks displays in Brisbane and record crowds at celebrations in Adelaide. Hundreds of families gathered on the waterfront in Darwin to see in the New Year. Western Australia is the last Australian state to welcome in the New Year.
Copyright © 2010 Radio New Zealand

NZ's highest honour for Helen Clark

2009-12-31T22:03:00.001+13:00

One of New Zealand's longest serving prime ministers has been given the country's highest honour. Helen Clark has been awarded the Order of New Zealand in the New Years Honours list. , a distinction limited to only 20 living New Zealanders. This caps off three decades in both domestic and international politics. Clark gets the top honour for 30 years of service to New Zealand. "Obviously some incredible Kiwis have been honoured with the Order of New Zealand and I feel very privileged to be counted among them," she says. After losing the last election, she took up the number three job with the United Nations as the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme . She is currently back in New Zealand on holiday.
Source: ONE News

Banned jam-maker back in full production

2009-12-31T21:50:00.001+13:00

A woman in Northland who was banned from making jam for a local hospice shop is back in full production after a gap of four months. Gloria Crawford, 68, a retired farmer from Waipapa, was told by council inspectors she could no longer make jams and pickles for sale because she did not have a registered kitchen. But the Food Safety Authority overruled what it said were absurd regulations and allowed her to continue after submitting a food safety programme. Mrs Crawford says she passed the jam test several weeks ago and now she's had the all clear for her sauces and pickles.
Copyright © 2009 Radio New Zealand

NZ cure saves endangered frogs

2009-12-31T21:44:00.001+13:00

Zoologists around the world are saving previously doomed frog species using a New Zealand cure for chytrid fungal disease. Over the past three decades, the fungus has wiped out or damaged a third of the world's 6-thousand species of amphibians. But in 2007 a University of Otago team found a cure in simple eye drops containing the antibiotic chloramphenicol. Frogs dipped in the solution recover in a matter of weeks and appear to be immune to the fungus thereafter. The Otago researchers believe the cure has saved many species from extinction, including Archey's Frog, which is native to New Zealand.
Copyright © 2009 Radio New Zealand

SPCA to launch free vaccination programme

2009-12-31T21:42:00.001+13:00

The SPCA says it will launch a free vaccination programme to try to stem disease among pets. The scheme will begin in 2010 from a caravan that has been carrying out free de-sexing operations over the past three years. But the society eventually wants every SPCA shelter to offer free vaccinations to community card holders. Chief executive Robyn Kippenberger says a disease such as parvo virus in dogs is particularly virulent and can be passed on very easily. "While they're diseased they're very highly infectious. I've seen an SPCA lose 25 puppies in a couple of days with parvo virus."
Copyright © 2009 Radio New Zealand

Freedom camping making a revival in Gisborne

2009-12-31T19:47:00.001+13:00

By Niva Retimanu - NewstalkZB
Gisborne District Council says it is doing all it can to entice freedom campers to the area. Freedom campers pitch tents anywhere they like along the coastline, just metres from the sea, in areas that are not officially designated campsites. Council community facilities manager Terry McMillan says this time every year, hundreds of campers visit the region, which is the only area which still allows freedom camping. He says people like the idea because it is unrestricted, cheap and fun. He says the council wants to keep the cost of freedom camping low and so only charge a small fee for waste removal.

Sky Tower fireworks for Auckland New Year

2009-12-31T19:34:00.001+13:00

The New Year will kick off with a bang in Auckland. Sky City spokeswoman Connie Sprague says over seven hundred kilos of fireworks will be set off from the Sky Tower. She says at twelve o'clock it will start off with a big bang and there will be five and a half minutes of an absolutely spectacular light show. She expects around 40 thousand people to visit Sky City and many more will watch the fireworks from around Auckland.
Copyright 2002 - 2009, TelstraClear Ltd

Severe weather warning for South Island

2009-12-31T15:26:00.001+13:00

By laura heathcote - NewstalkZB
Metservice is warning a vigorous front is set to bring gale force winds and heavy rain to most of the South Island from tomorrow. It has issued a severe weather warning for Westland, Fiordland, Canterbury, Otago and Southland. The front is expected to move onto the South Island tomorrow night with severe gale force winds likely in exposed inland places from Southland to Canterbury. Rainfall intensities may reach as much as 20 to 30 millimetres an hour during thunderstorms. Meanwhile, further north, a severe weather watch has been issued for the Buller, northwest Nelson and Tararua ranges on Saturday. Strong northwestly winds ahead of the front are also expected in Marlborough, Wellington and Wairarapa.

NZ will go to Delhi despite security concerns - Games chief

2009-12-31T13:44:00.001+13:00

The head of the New Zealand Olympic Committee says plans to send athletes to the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi have not changed despite a report that the English team may not participate. Games officials in England have denied the report in The Daily Telegraph which says English athletes will not go to Delhi because of the security risk posed by terrorists. NZOC president Mike Stanley, who also heads the New Zealand Commonwealth Games Association, says he is monitoring the security situation in Delhi closely and has received no information to suggest New Zealand athletes will be at risk in Delhi. He says India is going to extraordinary lengths to ensure security at the Games.
Copyright © 2009 Radio New Zealand

Increasing numbers use internet before seeing GP

2009-12-31T11:35:00.001+13:00

By REBECCA TODD - The Press
More Kiwis are using the internet to self-diagnose and are challenging doctors based on online information, a new survey shows. The survey, commissioned by the Southern Cross Medical Society, showed more than 80 per cent of members used the internet to find medical information – up 7 per cent on two years ago. However, only a quarter said they trusted that information. Most of those would also check their prescriptions online, and more than a third would challenge a doctor's advice based on internet information.

Wakelin first Kiwi woman to ski to South Pole

2009-12-31T11:30:00.001+13:00

By GILES BROWN - The Press
Twizel adventurer Kylie Wakelin has become the first New Zealand woman to ski to the South Pole. Wakelin, 36, a member of an eight-woman team, arrived at the pole yesterday afternoon. "We are on da home run and if i can keep my thumbs warm, ITS IN THE BAG!" she said in a "tweet" on the Commonwealth women's expedition website just before completing the journey. Each woman has towed an 80-kilogram sled loaded with food, fuel and equipment for the past 39 days – skiing for six to 10 hours a day – to travel nearly 900 kilometres to the pole and mark the 60th anniversary of the Commonwealth. The expedition includes women from Brunei Darussalam, Cyprus, Ghana, India, Singapore and Britain.
-With NZPA

Big marlin hooked by boy

2009-12-31T11:26:00.001+13:00

A Northland boy has hooked in a fish three times his body weight. Sam Marsh, aged 10, of Paihia, was fishing on his father's boat on Boxing Day when he caught a 133kg striped marlin, off Cape Brett. The International Gamefish Association in the United States has been sent the details and should confirm by next month whether the catch is a world record in the category 10 years and under. Sam's father Brian Marsh says the marlin stripped nearly 800 metres of line from his son's reel during the 45 minute struggle.
Copyright © 2009 Radio New Zealand

More asylum seekers intercepted

2009-12-31T11:19:00.001+13:00

Another 48 suspected asylum seekers have been detected in a boat off the north-west of Western Australia. The ABC reports it is the third vessel that border authorities have seized this week and the 61st to arrive in Australia this year. Forty-eight passengers and four crew from the boat intercepted near Ashmore Islands are being taken to Christmas Island for health, security and identity checks. On Tuesday, a stationary vessel was spotted about 260km north of Gove, in the Northern Territory. The 30 passengers and three crew members were expected to be taken to Christmas Island to be processed.
On Monday, an Australian navy ship intercepted a boat believed to be carrying 11 asylum seekers north-west of Ashmore Islands.
Copyright © 2009 Radio New Zealand

Clark tops New Year Honours list

2009-12-31T11:17:00.001+13:00

Former Prime Minister Helen Clark and six new Knights and Dames head the New Year Honours list. A total of 193 people are named. Miss Clark has received New Zealand's highest honour, the Order of New Zealand, which is restricted to 20 living persons. Five Knights and one Dame are appointed, following the reinstatement of the Queen's title awards, which were discontinued in 2000. Dame Lesley Max is honoured for her services to children. Film-maker Peter Jackson is made a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. Other new knights are Douglas Myers, for services to business and the community; Judge Bruce Robertson for services as a High Court and Appeal Court judge; and Professor Mason Durie. Sir Mason is cited for his leadership in Maori health over 25 years.
Copyright © 2009 Radio New Zealand

Shortage of lab scientists looms

2009-12-30T21:58:00.001+13:00

It is claimed that cost saving in the medical industry is coming at the expense of experienced laboratory workers. A new Ministry of Health report shows more than 80 lab workers left Hawke's Bay, Wanganui and Gisborne in the latest round of tenders. Most of those workers took early retirement. Medical Laboratory Workers Union spokesman Stewart Smith says for the sake of saving a few dollars, New Zealand is heading towards a critical shortage of lab scientists and most laboratories are now reporting difficulties in finding skilled staff.
Copyright 2002 - 2009, TelstraClear Ltd

Roll out of Rugby World Cup tickets begins

2009-12-30T20:14:00.001+13:00

Rugby fans worldwide are gearing up for the first release of tickets for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. The initial offering, to be launched on January 1, will be in the form of official travel packages, which mean accommodation, travel and rugby tickets. Two agencies in New Zealand have the franchise - House of Travel and Seasonz Travel. Brent Thomas from House of Travel says the travel packages will sell out. "There's absolute demand from all parts of the world right now and we expect (the packages) to sell out very quickly," he says. Thomas says there have already been enquiries from places like Argentina, South Africa, Europe and the US.
Source: ONE News

Filmmakers seeking extras for The Hobbit

2009-12-30T17:21:00.001+13:00

Makers of the two movies of The Hobbit, expected to begin filming in New Zealand early next year, are looking for extras. The One Ring Net website reported applications for work on the movies as an extra have been announced by MGM Studios in New Zealand. And Jack Machiela, a tour guide for former Lord Of the Rings film locations, says on his Noldor blog principal photography is scheduled to begin as early as March or April. Three Foot Seven Ltd, the company making The Hobbit, has told him it will only consider applications sent by conventional mail, and from people who can legally work in New Zealand, he says. Casting directors will want clear photographs of people before sending out formal application forms with questions about skills and clothing measurements, says Machiela.
NZPA

Update-Bushfires destroy up to 40 homes in Western Australia

2009-12-30T17:15:00.001+13:00

Up to 40 homes have been destroyed by a fire in the Australian town of Toodyay, 80km northeast of Perth. The fire, which started on Tuesday, has been raging through the small community in the Western Australian wheatbelt, burning almost 3,000 hectares of land. Fire and Emergency Services Authority (FESA) spokesperson Allen Gale says the extent of the damage is not yet known. "House after house has been destroyed, in a line, and there are still pockets where the fire is still burning." All roads to the region have been cut off and emergency shelters have been set up for residents fleeing their properties.
Copyright © 2009 Radio New Zealand

White Island to star in Narnia film

2009-12-30T15:24:00.001+13:00

White Island in the Bay of Plenty will provide a backdrop to the latest instalment of the Narnia films. The third movie in The Chronicles Of Narnia series, based on the classic children's books by C S Lewis, will be released next December. White Island Tours marketing executive Patrick O'Sullivan says the filming, which was done without the cast, took place just before Christmas. The main filming of movie, The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader, is understood to be taking place in Australia. The first movie, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, was released in 2005, and was followed by Prince Caspian in May last year.
NZPA