Five Māori women leaders including Dame Tariana Turia have filed an urgent claim to the Waitangi Tribunal alleging that the Government is underfunding and undermining Whānau Ora and they have told the Prime Minister they have lost confidence in Whānau Ora Minister Peeni Henare; and armed police will patrol Hawke’s Bay and East Coast streets as escalating gang violence begins to spill over into open warfare.
* The New Zealand Herald
In the New Zealand Herald, holidaymakers are being warned about dodgy travel agents after hundreds of customers have had their plans wrecked or have been fleeced by a rogue operator. Auckland firm Travel Globe this month went into liquidation after months of issuing customers fake plane tickets and itineraries. It owes an estimated $180,000 to creditors.
In other news, five Māori women leaders including Dame Tariana Turia have filed an urgent claim to the Waitangi Tribunal alleging that the Government is underfunding and undermining Whānau Ora and they have told the Prime Minister they have lost confidence in Whānau Ora Minister Peeni Henare.
In business news, more Eric Watson-linked companies, including the shell of Bendon Group, have been placed in liquidation following the collapse of Cullen Group. Vivian Judith Fatupaito and Luke Norman of KPMG were appointed as joint liquidators of ten Cullen-owned companies by special shareholder resolutions on January 15, according to public notices.
* The Dominion Post
In the Dominion Post, armed police will patrol Hawke’s Bay and East Coast streets as escalating gang violence begins to spill over into open warfare. A senior Black Power member said long-established conventions to avoid confrontation ‘‘seem to have gone out the window’’. Police are investigating several serious incidents and outbreaks of violence in public places that culminated in a street brawl and shootout on Sunday afternoon.
In other news, it’s been 100 days since Wellington’s councils were elected. We take a look at what’s been achieved across the region in that time. Wellington Mayor Andy Foster campaigned on “getting things done” prior to his upset win over Justin Lester on October 12, and will need to get moving over the next couple of months to ensure that happens.
In business news, an Auckland CBD apartment advertised as having “no housing New Zealand folk” has been slammed for being discriminatory. The two-bedroom apartment, listed on Trade Me for $399,000, was described as being surrounded by “high-end” owners and businessmen with “no homeless people…wondering [sic] the streets”.
* The Press
In The Press, the stench of rotting fish and dead animals that’s pervaded several Christchurch suburbs for almost two years is forcing people to sell their homes. The putrid smell has residents in Bromley, Woolston and Linwood barricading themselves behind closed doors to avoid it. Opening a window risks the smell seeping into clothes, curtains and furniture.
In other news, slices of West Coast land, most abandoned after the gold rush, are up for sale for the first time in more than 100 years. Thirty-eight sections in Charleston, 30km south of Westport, are being sold in 13 parcels by the Buller District Council, on behalf of the Crown.
In business news, brushing your teeth and washing dishes is something most people wouldn’t think twice about, but for prosthetic hand users such tasks do not come easy. But a New Zealand company Taska Prosthetics Ltd has created a hand they believed was advanced enough to disrupt the $23.5 billion dollar prosthetic market.
