The Government has announced it will consider giving Middlemore Hospital extra funding to help victims of the Whakaari/White Island eruption – hours after the hospital’s charity arm made a public plea for donations; and the Government’s gun buy-back and amnesty ends today after five months of collection events.
* The New Zealand Herald
In the New Zealand Herald,the Government’s gun buy-back and amnesty ends today after five months of collection events.Police Minister Stuart Nash said more than 50,000 guns have been handed in through the scheme.Nash believes the scheme has been a success and expects the total to surpass 56,000 by the end of today.
In other news, the Government has announced it will consider giving Middlemore Hospital extra funding to help victims of the Whakaari/White Island eruption – hours after the hospital’s charity arm made a public plea for donations.The hospital hosts the National Burns Service and its charity, the Middlemore Foundation, has been flooded with offers of money and equipment since the disaster.
In business news, a $45m Ponzi scheme that unravelled after the sudden death in Auckland of its founder in February is now being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office.In September the Herald broke news of the audacious fraud at East Wind – understood to be the largest Ponzi scheme uncovered in New Zealand since the David Ross affair in Wellington of a decade ago – that largely targeted Japanese nationals with unregistered immigration and financial advice.
* The Dominion Post
In the Dominion Post,Wellington motorists hoping to beat the holiday rush may have already missed their chance.Traffic projections compiled by the New Zealand Transport Agency show Wellington motorists heading away for the holidays are likely to hit heavy traffic from as early as 10am today on State Highway 1, and it is only going to get worse as Christmas Day approaches.
In other news, Wellington City Council forked out almost $12,000 for a guest speaker from Australia and an out-of-town facilitator for its recent away day.Documents obtained under the Official Information Act show the council spent almost $23,000 on the away day, held at Silverstream Retreat on November 5 and 6.
In business news, stocks moved broadly higher on Wall Street in afternoon trading on Thursday following encouraging profit reports from several big companies.Rite Aid, Conagra Brands and Micron Technology rose after posting quarterly results that exceeded analysts’ forecasts.Trading around the world was mostly listless, as markets took a pause after a run higher in recent weeks.
*The Press
In The Press, a politician of Lianne Dalziel’s experience should have known better than to leave the names of her campaign donors off her election return, a political commenter says.But it remains unclear whether an investigation will be launched as Christchurch’s electoral officer, Jo Daly, has been unavailable for formal interviews.
In other news, the Government wants to make greenhouse gas emissions peak at 2020 levels and start falling soon after, with huge changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme planned to force the economy to rapidly decarbonise.This plan includes a ban on new coal-fired boilers for drying milk powder and other forms of heat – and a doubling of the emissions price cap in the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
In business news, a new study says sheep’s milk is easier for humans to digest than cow’s milk.Carried out by the University of Auckland’s Liggins Institute and AgResearch, the clinical trial investigated how the composition of sheep’s milk affected digestion and the body’s ability to make use of milk protein.
