RNZ: The Week In Review

The Labour Party calls for an inquiry as the Prime Minister comes under more pressure over the appointment of Ian Fletcher as director of the country's electronic spy agency, opposition parties and the Council of Trade Unions say a big pay hike for Mighty River Power Directors is yet more evidence that privatising the company is a bad move, Invercargill mayor Tim Shadbolt says his community is going to fight to save the Tiwai Point Aluminum Smelter, Bruce Hutton, the detective chief inspector found to have planted evidence that helped convict Arthur Allan Thomas of double murder, has died, the Motor Caravan Association says it wants to avoid more court action over freedom camping and says confusion on how the law works needs to be cleared up, a flag-lowering ceremony in Bamiyan in Afghanistan has brought to an end New Zealand's longest military deployment, a diary kept by a New Zealand diplomat contradicting events depicted in the film Argo about a 1979 hostage drama in Iran is donated to the Alexander Turnbull Library and a top New Zealand architect says he's disappointed with the designs for the new Christ Church cathedral.

A review of the week's news including... an attack on top cricket player Jesse Ryder leaving him with critical head injuries, the man wrongly sent an email containing details of more than eighty thousand Earthquake Commission claims, says he's prepared to use the information in a dispute over money he says he is owed, Fonterra dairy farmers struggling with one of the country's worst droughts are getting an early cash payout of on average a hundred thousand dollars to help keep them afloat, the Prime Minister admits he's known the head of the Government's spy agency from their school days, but says he wouldn't describe him as a friend, Solid Energy will keep its former chief executive, Don Elder, on the payroll until August, at a cost of more than quarter of a million dollars, an aviation commentator is questioning the sentence given a Pacific Blue pilot found guilty of carelessly operating an aircraft and the head of CAA comments on the case, homeowners who want to be sure they're totally covered will have to pay for annual valuations under changes insurance companies will introduce in June, and a project that stops food from going to waste every day in Wellington has won the supreme accolade at the 2012 Trustpower Community Awards this year.

A review of the week's news... All of the North Island is now officially in a state of drought as the South Island West Coast seeks a Government drought declaration and some of our biggest metropolitan areas come under unprecedented strain through lack of water, opposition MPs are still calling for a full select committee inquiry into Solid Energy despite the appearance of Don Elder and John Palmer at the Commerce Select Committee this week, the 'Keep Our Assets' petition is delivered to Parliament, a class action law suit on bank fees is launched, an opposition inquiry into the manufacturing sector has heard from workers who fear for their future, hints the Government might drop its plans to tax big city carparks, the All Black, Zac Guildford, has admitted publicly he is an alcoholic and proof that you can significantly reduce your salt intake, even on a fairly constrained budget.

A review of the week's news including... about 35 thousand people pre-register for the Mighty River Power share float on the first day of a newly launched website going live, a critic of the Government's plan to sell shares in the country's power companies says the move is a huge strategic blunder, households are taking another hit in the pocket as power companies continue to put their prices up, the Labour Party says there are 389 million reasons why there should be a full select committee inquiry into the financial mismanagement of Solid Energy, the drought is continuing to spread across the country, engineers accused in the High Court of manipulating red zoned house results to please Tower Insurance, the former Secretary of Education has been paid out almost half a million dollars, the Airline Pilots Association says the sentence of community service for shining a laser light at a police helicopter is not the deterrent they were hoping for and packaging that's just impossible to open.

A review of the weeks news including... a man killed in a shark attack at the west Auckland beach of Muriwai is named, it's full speed ahead for the Government's flagship asset sales programme, new e-mails are released on the Hobbit dispute, the Minister of Conservation steps in to decide whether a multi-million-dollar tunnel project in Fiordland National Park goes ahead, the Auditor General publishes a report saying the Ministry for Primary Industries is under-prepared for biosecurity incursions, the head of Kim Dotcom's new cloud storage site Mega and artist Ralph Hotere is praised as a great pioneering artist on a quest for justice at his funeral in Dunedin.

A review of the weeks news, including... Mainzeal Construction goes into receivership, coverage of Waitangi day, a paedophile who police say is part of international child abuse ring pleads guilty to multiple charges, a big fall in employment at the end of 2012 as more than 15 thousand Pacific workers lost their jobs last year, a senior doctors' union denies it's warnings about chronic staff shortages are a shrewd tactic linked to pay talks that have begun, Lucy Lawless sentenced to 120 hours community service and ordered to pay 650 dollars in reparation for an environmental protest and the World premiere of a brand new Sam Hunt poem.

A review of the week's news including: MPs return to work and slanging match begins, Kenyan crash driver turns out to be 18-year old former Bethlehem College student, Defence Force cost cutting: success or failure?, Oamaru facing closure of second biggest employer, Reserve Bank takes aim at rising house prices, Novopay debacle grinds on, Government ignores Ministry of Education and Treasury advice on Wanganui Collegiate, Wanganui District Council's last attempt to control 'terrible smell' before discharging untreated waste into sea, country's most famous broadcaster, Sir Paul Holmes, dies at 62, David Bain going to court for judicial review of Justice Minister's actions, Sevens fever hits Wellington.

A review of the week's news, including... The race for the Maori vote out in the open at Ratana this week, the scramble for Maori Party leadership described as "pork barrel politics" by the New Zealand First leader, the Prime Minister sacks the Housing and Conservation Ministers in a cabinet reshuffle, a high profile economist calls for fewer cats in New Zealand, Kim Dotcom launches his new internet site, calls for the Government to front up over the mothballing of the rail line to Napier, a friend and housemate of disgraced All Black Zac Guildford believes the 23 year-old's been let down by the NZRU, a former New Zealand diplomat describes living in Damascus as a civil war broke out and New Zealanders lag behind in Australian civic education test.

A review of the week's news, including... reaction to a fall in beneficiary numbers, three New Zealanders are dead after a minibus crash in Kenya, the Salvation Army says new Auckland house price figures are further evidence of a growing housing crisis in the city, disbelief at figures showing how many people worked on the Hobbit movies, internet tycoon Kim Dotcom promotes his new website, an outgoing chief executive's comments ignites debate about the so-called tall poppy syndrome, broadcaster Paul Holmes is officially knighted at his home in Hawke's Bay, the British Foreign Secretary William Hague visits New Zealand for the second time in two years and a hill near Helensville in Auckland is soon to play host to a very slippery kind of fundraiser.

A review of the week's news, including... covering up asbestos in quake-damaged Canterbury houses condemned as shortsighted and a potential health hazard, the stubbornly high New Zealand dollar last year has left exporters more exposed than usual in 2013, health and safety experts believe better safety procedures would not have prevented a man getting onto the 54th floor ledge of the Sky Tower, Chatham Islanders hope to cash in on another lucrative resource in their waters, actor Temuera Morrison talks about his new movie - Mt Zion, the Black Caps are not an attractive side to play against according to the Director of New Zealand Cricket, Christchurch employers struggle to fill low-skilled job vacancies, we hear from the man who started the annual Coast To Coast endurance race and from a women who is beginning her 69th year in the workforce.

A review of the week's news, including... an accusation that the US government mislead the courts over pirated material on Kim Dotcom's Megaupload website, a record low six deaths on New Zealand roads during the official holiday period, St John ambulance says it's taking up to 80 thousand people to hospital each year unnecessarily, we talk to a new Knight recognised for his services to broadcasting and the public in the New year's honours list, a homeowner in Lower Hutt says her neighbourhood has turned into a ghetto after Housing New Zealand moved tenants out of the area, a triple-murderer claims to have done away with his alter ego named Hell, a persona he says urged him to kill women, why Americans in Colorado are now officially allowed to use marijuana and New Zealand's most famous sheep is on his final journey to Te Papa Museum, where he will be imortalised at the hands of a taxidermist.

A review of the week's news, including... A warning from Treasury to the Government about the partial sale of three big power companies in one year, a career criminal's successful challenge to the smoking ban in Auckland Prison, another blowout in the Diplomatic Protection Squad's budget, a new Italian fertiliser could help combat the vine killing PSA-v disease, a study finding physical and mental harm from long-term cannabis use has been underestimated, an Antarctic experiment to drill through three kilometres of ice to a 500-thousand year old lake is called off, writer and journalist Steve Braunias goes in search of civilisation in the small towns of New Zealand, London based PR guru Max Clifford vehemently denies historical allegations against him following on from the Jimmy Saville scandal and an end of year look at the latest jargon being used by our bureaucrats and politicians.

A review of the week's news, including... One of New Zealand's youngest ever murderers is sentenced to 18-years in jail, the Secretary for Education quits after barely a year in the job, calls from education leaders in Christchurch to begin the school reorganisation process again, the National-led Government hikes petrol tax to help public finances get back to surplus, Police announce inter-agency agreement on dealing with forced marriage, disappoint that no one was convicted of murder for the death of a Radio New Zealand journalist, Maori Party Co Leader Tariana Turia confirms she will resign from Parliament, Kathryn Ryan talks with Chief High Court Judge Helen Winkelmann and a new book tells the stories ANZAC pilots who risked so much in The Battle of Britain.

A review of the week's news, including... controversy over a report on David Bain seeking compensation for wrongful imprisonment, the Maori Council and Waikato iwi have lose their High Court challenge over water rights, a sobering report on children's health in New Zealand, two survivors of the CTV building collapse call for manslaughter charges to be laid, a public funding drive is launched for the controversial Hundertwasser art museum in Northalnsd and a Southland farmer who loves planes and flying has just taken on the project of a lifetime, restoring a vintage top dressing plane.

A review of the week's news, including... a severe storm and tornadoes that swept across west Auckland killing three people, the sole survivor of the RSA triple murders in 2001 settles a lawsuit with the Corrections Department for 300-thousand dollars, hundreds of teachers voted to strike for a day in February, the oil company Petrobras is quitting New Zealand after just the first stage of exploring for oil and gas off East Cape, the former Government minister John Tamihere isn't saying if he wants to be a MP again after being accepted back into the Labour Party, a New Zealand robotics and computer scientist who has been playing key roles in technology for the Mars rovers, New Zealand waka crews have arrived at Easter Island otherwise known as Rapanui and Spartacus TV show memorabilia up for auction.