A Waikato stud owner Garry Chittick reveals as a New Zealand First donor says he doesn’t care how the money got to the party, as long as it was used to benefit it; and the Green Party wants the ACC to sell off about $1 billion of fossil fuel investments.
1.The Crown is closing its case against the man accused of murdering Grace Millane, telling the jury the defendant “eroticised” the death of the Britsh backpacker. The 27-year-old denies murdering Millane, who died in his apartment after they met on a Tinder date on the night of 1 and 2 December last year.
2.A Waikato stud owner Garry Chittick reveals as a New Zealand First donor says he doesn’t care how the money got to the party, as long as it was used to benefit it. The Electoral Commission is considering a complaint about the use of the New Zealand First Foundation for donations and whether the party has met disclosure obligations.
3.A Black Power life member says the current gang tensions in Napier are not a turf war over the meth trade as the police have characterised the situation. Armed police officers have been patrolling the streets of the city since Sunday’s spate of clashes between the Mongrel Mob and Black Power.
4.One of the Queen’s sons Prince Andrew is stepping back from public duties because of the controversy surrounding his friendship with the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
5.The Cancer Society is being asked to recall all batches of one of its sunblocks because it doesn’t give people the protection claimed on the label. The Everyday Sun Lotion SPF50+ is one of nine different brands which fell short in the latest round of testing by Consumer NZ, which covered 20 products.
6.Donald Trump and senior members of his administration have dismissed testimony by the top US diplomat Gordon Sondland. On a dramatic day of the impeachment inquiry into the President, Sondland told a televised hearing he was ordered by Trump to put pressure on Ukraine to investigate a business linked to the President’s political opponent Joe Biden.
7.A powhiri was held in the Marlborough Sounds this morning to mark almost 250-years since James Cook arrived in the South Island for the first time.
8.The head of Corrections Christine Stevenson has apologised to MP’s for the prison mail botch up. An Independent Review was ordered after the man accused of the Christchurch mosque shootings was allowed to send two letters from his prison cell that should have been blocked.
9.The Health Quality & Safety Commission received almost a 1000 reports of adverse events at DHBs and other health providers in the last year. The annual learning from adverse events report, looks at cases where patients suffered unexpected negative results.
10.The number of complaints by consumers to the Commerce Commission has jumped by 20 percent in one year. In the 12 months to the end of June 2019, the Commission got nearly 9000 complaints and says the increase is almost entirely down to more people complaining about matters under the Fair Trading Act.
11.The Green Party wants the ACC to sell off about $1 billion of fossil fuel investments. ACC holds more than $40 billion in investments, of which about $1 billion is directed invested in fossil fuel production.
12. Sydney authorities are warning that the air quality in parts of the city have reached hazardous levels for the second time this week, as bush fires continue to ravage New South Wales.
13.Customs says more than $40 million worth of social harm has been prevented with the seizure of 34 kilograms of methamphetamine this week. Two Fijians have been arrested in Tauranga after the seizure from a ship that arrived at the port.
14. Five new innovative ways to help eliminate predators have been unveiled at the ZEALANDIA sanctuary in Wellington.
