Sunday Star-Times back issues from March 2008:
Snapshot of a slump
Mar 02, 2008; ... * 21 auctions: no sales * Prices tipped to fall 10% * Five-yeardecline The property market has reached a pivotal point and it's notlooking good. -------------------- IT WAS the week the propertyslump hit the nation's auction rooms - once the fast-beating heartof a booming housing market ....
SUNDAY STAR-TIMES; MARCH 2, 2008
Mar 02, 2008; ... NEWS THAT we are close to signing a major trade deal with Chinashould have provided a brief reprieve for the embattled government. The details are sketchy, but initial estimates suggest the dealwill be worth between $200 million and $400m a year over the next 20years. It is ...
Stanlake verdict after 50 hours
Mar 02, 2008; ... WELLINGTON CANNABIS grower Daniel Robert Moore has been foundguilty of murdering his partner-in-crime, Tony Stanlake, whosehandless corpse was found on a south coast beach more than 18 monthsago. The jury in the High Court at Wellington returned its verdictyesterday afternoon, ...
Audit report slams $1m DHB contract
Mar 02, 2008; ... THE MANAGEMENT of the district health board embroiled in conflictof interest allegations surrounding a government- appointed boardmember has been hammered in an Audit Office report for breachingboard policy when it handed out a $1 million contract. Allegations around the ...
NO DATING PLEASE - WE'RE KIWIS
Mar 02, 2008; ... DATING CULTURE is dead - instead, young New Zealand women areregularly getting drunk and cruising around in packs looking for mento have sex with. That's one of the findings of a TVNZ Sunday investigation intothe sexual behaviour of New Zealand women. The programme makers didthe ...
Junior docs warn of critical staff shortages
Mar 02, 2008; ... JUNIOR DOCTORS are telling the public to "brace yourselves" forcritical shortages in their ranks over winter, with one in every 10positions in New Zealand hospitals already vacant. Figures obtained by National health spokesman Tony Ryall showthat last month, 250 out of 2800 junior ...
Burton faces leg searches
Mar 02, 2008; ... CONVICTED DOUBLE-KILLER Graeme Burton finally has his newartificial leg but he will be regularly searched - and made toremove the limb - to ensure it isn't concealing something sinister. Burton's right leg was amputated above the knee after he was shotby police following his ...
BOLD AS BRAS, AND WE LOVE IT
Mar 02, 2008; ... Kim Knight gets a dressing-down -- in the nicest possible way,naturally. -------------------- TO BE fair, I gave them quite a lotto work with. My E-cups have always runneth over. But a lifetime of binding mybreasts and hoping for the best could never have prepared me forthis ....
AUCTIONS TAKE A HAMMERING
Mar 02, 2008; ... Potential buyers were out in force at auctions but there was nogoing, going. gone. -------------------- THE COOLING property marketwas evident in house auctions across the country last week. The Sunday Star-Times went to auctions in Auckland, Wellingtonand Christchurch and watched ...
Go for room with a view
Mar 02, 2008; ... IF YOU want to ride out the property market squeeze, you've gotmore chance if your house is in a high-quality area or boastsdesirable features such as sea views and all-day sun. Experts say suburbs that are elevated, sunny or close to watercould outperform their less endowed ...
Out-of-pocket investors seek medical help
Mar 02, 2008; ... GENERAL PRACTITIONERS and counselling support services are seeingfallout from the collapse of several major finance and investmentcompanies, with people seeking help for stress-related illnesses anddepression. Investors, many of whom are elderly, have often lost their ...
Risky business for AUT's cheats
Mar 02, 2008; ... HUNDREDS OF university students were caught cheating or copyingwork last year - and one-third came from the business school atAuckland University of Technology. The country's seven biggest universities reported 683 cases ofcheating and plagiarism, with AUT saying 228 of its 6000 ...
THERE'S ONLY ONE SOPRANO
Mar 02, 2008; ... A voice coach agrees with Dame Kiri about our popera stars. LisaBradley reports. -------------------- DAME KIRI te Kanawa is right -our current crop of Kiwi popera stars will never have her voice,says one of New Zealand's leading vocal coaches. And, says Caitlin Smith, the ...
GETTING THE TREATMENT
Mar 02, 2008; ... A series of health board debacles puts the new minister on thespot. Deidre Mussen reports. -------------------- HOSPITALSURGENTLY need to start sharing medical specialists or continue torisk patient safety, some of the country's health experts say. In recent months, three ...
Cyber-fraudster admits charges
Mar 02, 2008; ... A 22-YEAR-OLD Aucklander busted by the FBI for an internetblackmail scam is in jail after admitting internet fraud worth$300,000. Tomasz Grygoruk was awaiting trial for a March 2006 attempt toextort $US10,000 ($13,000) from an American teacher when police lastmonth laid fresh ...
School security service 'abysmal'
Mar 02, 2008; ... THE MINISTRY of Education has spent more than $10 million onschool security guards despite principals' claims the guards aredishonest, ineffective and have an "abysmal" response time. Since 1999 Armourguard has received $2m each year to providethree patrols every night to 250 ...
Honouring a memory
Mar 02, 2008; ... TINA CROSS has revealed she chose Hospice New Zealand as herDancing with the Stars charity after the death of a close familyfriend. Father of two Gavin Fleming, 35, died in 2006 after a 14-monthbattle with endocrine cancer. He was in a hospice for respite careand supported by ...
Falun Gong tactics backfire
Mar 02, 2008; ... A PERSECUTED spiritual movement's efforts to highlight China'shuman rights abuses ahead of the Beijing Olympics are beingundermined by its misguided tactics, an expert says. Falun Gong, a "mind and body cultivation system", has been bannedin China since 1999, where its ...
A HARD CROSS TO BEAR
Mar 02, 2008; ... Tina Cross is dancing for a good friend, says Karen Tay. -------------------- TINA CROSS has revealed she chose Hospice New Zealandas her Dancing with the Stars charity after the death of a closefamily friend. Father of two Gavin Fleming, 35, her husband Wayne Sullivan's"best ...
GOING, GOING, GONG
Mar 02, 2008; ... The row over tycoon Owen Glenn, a major Labour donor who receivedan award in the New Year's Honours list, raises ancient questionsabout gongs and cash. Anthony Hubbard reports. --------------------LABOUR LEADER Norman Kirk wasn't squeamish about asking rich men formoney. He would meet ...
MILKING IT
Mar 02, 2008; ... New Zealand - and most of the western world - drinks a type ofmilk known as the A1 variety. But questions have been raised aboutits link to an increased risk of diabetes and heart disease and somewonder if we should switch to the other kind of milk, the A2variety. The issue is now ...
THE GREAT DEPRESSION FRAUD
Mar 02, 2008; ... ASK AROUND and you'll be surprised how many people will cop tohaving had a brush with depression. Granted, it's not a guaranteedicebreaker at parties but it is nothing like the taboo subject itmust once have been. How do I know this? Nearly every time I'vementioned my own walk with the ...
Honours system must be transparent
Mar 02, 2008 ... IT'S TIME for a radical overhaul of the honours system. The OwenGlenn affair showed up some of the obvious problems, but there areplenty of others. The system is muddy, secretive, and quixotic: nowonder Cabinet ministers are said to like serving on the gongscommittee. There are no ...
Right scores own goal on union's legal status
Mar 02, 2008 ... MATTHEW HOOTON'S commentary on the objection to the EPMU'sapplication to register as a third party under the Electoral FinanceAct (February 24) slithers over the sheer hypocrisy inherent in anardent opponent of the act, on grounds it suppresses free speech,using it to suppress free ...
China's human rights
Mar 02, 2008 ... BILL SUTTON (Letters, February 24) asks: "How many countries hasChina invaded in the past 50 years?'' - do not border clashes withVietnam, India and Russia come under this heading? And as to theinvasion of Tibet, would Sutton have any doubt that, should areferendum of its people be ...
Power reserves
Mar 02, 2008 ... RODGER GALLAGHER'S response to my letter (February 24)demonstrates how easy it is for information on wind energy to bemisrepresented. There is currently around 320MW of installed wind energy in NewZealand with a further 165MW being installed over the next twoyears. We are still ...
Kiri and Hayley
Mar 02, 2008 ... BEING A professional who has had a "career for 40 years'', youwould think that Kiri Te Kanawa would state her "judgements'' moretactfully. Clearly, Dame Kiri's comments about Hayley Westenra's"fakeness'' are pure jealousy at Westenra being the top sellingartist in New Zealand, under a ...
Funding drugs
Mar 02, 2008 ... THREE CHEERS to Dr Sue Walthert on her article, "Enough To MakeYou Sick'' (February 24). I too am a woman with aggressive Her2positive breast cancer. Not only have I and my family faced thestress of this diagnosis but have had to contemplate the addedburden of funding a full course of ...
Political sense
Mar 02, 2008 ... GREAT THAT new Labour MP Louisa Wall understands MMP (Focus,February 24). Great that she is not going to campaign hard for thecandidate vote against Maori co-leader Pita Sharples in TamakiMakaurau. It would be sensible for the Labour Party to get off their ...
Mother MPs
Mar 02, 2008 ... AS THE mother of young children who is also a member ofparliament, I was surprised at Katherine's Rich resignation fromparliament for "family reasons''. I want to assure New Zealand women and girls that it can (andshould) be done - I know from personal experience. Further, ...
Christchurch? Thanks, but I prefer Paris
Mar 02, 2008 ... CHRISTCHURCH AND Canterbury Marketing's Christine Prince(February 24) should take a drive around the city and its touristhot spots. When I was in Europe last year I saw nothing thatreminded me of Christchurch, thank God. Here, a cursory glance will discover streets strewn with ...
BUBBLE TROUBLE
Mar 02, 2008; ... EVER SINCE John Key sauntered into the just-vacated leadershipchair of Don Brash a year-and-a-half ago, Labour has been waitingfor his bubble to pop. No point beating up the bridegroom while he's still on hishoneymoon with the swooning electorate, or so the reasoning ...
Players' rep: put Super 14 franchises on the block
Mar 02, 2008; ... ROB NICHOL represents the game's most glamorous players, but theunion rep for the likes of Richie McCaw and Dan Carter wants mensuch as Russell Crowe and Eric Watson to own a slice of our nationalgame. During a wide- ranging interview with the Sunday Star-Times, theNew Zealand ...
Memo to NZRU: be bold
Mar 02, 2008; ... NEWS BROKE last week that the ever- expanding hordes of peoplepopping anti- depressants are probably wasting their time. A studyrevealed you might as well be sucking on a boiled sweet - they havethe same mood altering qualities. Now I'd be the first to admit this is not generally ...
First no All Blacks, now no say
Mar 02, 2008; ... A REVIEW of the All Blacks' failed Rugby World Cup campaign isn'tfinished yet but is already - some might say inevitably - provingcontroversial. Auckland lawyer Mike Heron and sports funding body Sparc's DonTricker are in the final throes of drafting a report to be submittedto ...
No one to blame but themselves
Mar 02, 2008; ... WARATAHS 15 HIGHLANDERS 12 THEY HAVE without doubt been the unluckiest teamof the Super 14. Two TV decision howlers cost them game one, anankle tap game two. It was enough to lead one to suspect God was punishing theHighlanders for having the worst collection of hairdos in ...
No one to blame but themselves; Ordinary Highlanders dig an even deeper hole
Mar 02, 2008; ... WARATAHS 15 HIGHLANDERS 12 -------------------- Crucial play:Wycliff Palu put his side in front with 20 to go. The big surprisewas it took the Tahs 60 minutes to do so given their massiveterritorial advantage. Big blunder: Michael Delaney kicking the ballin Ben Jacobs' breadbox. The Tahs ...
DONALD: MISTAKES LEADING TO MISERY
Mar 02, 2008; ... Over-hyped and over-rated? The 2008 Super 14 season is goinghorribly wrong for the Chiefs. Stephen Donald takes Greg Ford inside the dispirited camp. -------------------- Crucial play:Rodney So'oialo delivered the killer blow when he pushed the scorefrom 26-19 to 31-19 with his second ...
Bracewell prodigy sparking
Mar 02, 2008; ... Otago import enjoys 'slow pace of life' ALEX GIDMAN assumes it'sdown to John Bracewell that he's spending summer in the deep south. The Gloucestershire all-rounder - likely to make a majorcontribution if Otago are to upset Auckland in today's State Shieldfinal - isn't certain that ...
Wave too precious for glamour attraction
Mar 02, 2008; ... FOR THE second time in three months, New Zealand has lost thechance of hosting the world's best surfers after surfwear giant RipCurl canned plans to host its Search event at Raglan. After a meeting with locals in Raglan last Tuesday, Rip Curlwithdrew its proposal to host the event ...
Silver Ferns to get four shots at revenge on Aussie champs
Mar 02, 2008; ... THE SILVER Ferns will face arch-rivals Australia four times thisyear, twice here and twice over the ditch. The Star-Times has learned that the Ferns international schedulein September-October starts with two home matches against the worldchampions, with venues and dates to be ...
Erakovic now a limbo dancer
Mar 02, 2008; ... WITH NEW Zealand's rising star Marina Erakovic now in the sort ofranking territory that could be her making or breaking, the teenageronly wishes her progress from now on was as simple as ticking offlevels in a video game. Much has been made of Erakovic's rise into the world's top ...
Todd will find it tough to qualify: commentator
Mar 02, 2008; ... A LEADING equestrian expert has warned comeback rider Mark Toddmight struggle with the increasingly difficult technical aspects ofthree-day eventing, saying the the sport has moved on in the eightyears since Todd retired. As a world-class competitor and now a commentator for the ...
Coutts swoops to nab Team NZ grinder
Mar 02, 2008; ... TEAM NEW Zealand has suffered its highest profile home-growndefection. Jono Macbeth has jumped ship and joined rival America'sCup syndicate Oracle. The 35-year-old grinder has been a fixture in the Kiwi syndicatesince he helped defend the America's Cup in 2000. But ...
NRL urged to take over running of dying game in NZ
Mar 02, 2008; ... PHIL CAMPBELL, who has resigned as the vice-chairman of the NewZealand Rugby League, says Australia's National Rugby League shouldseize control of the sport in this country before it dies. Campbell's dire warning comes just two days after NRL financedirector Ed Farish visited NZRL ...
The Winter of our discontent
Mar 02, 2008; ... THERE IS a rampant nostalgia industry in league, which has so farembraced retro jerseys, produced its own comedy character (formerplayer Matthew Johns' beer-swilling oik Reg Reagan), given impetusto an only half- joking "Bring Back the Biff" campaign and even seenthe reintroduction of ...
NZ v Bahrain for U19s
Mar 02, 2008; ... NEW ZEALAND is going head-to- head against mega-rich oil nationBahrain to host the world under- 19 men's championships next July. After slashing costs and posting a small surplus for the lastfinancial year, Basketball New Zealand bosses assured regionaldelegates at their annual ...
REMAINS OF THE DAIS
Mar 02, 2008; ... They are still the ultimate symbol of sporting success. But afterit's been won what does one do with an Olympic medal? Greg Fordfinds out what happens when medals lose their lustre. -------------------- DICK QUAX - many years ago - was ambling to his front gatewhen something odd, ...
Galleons Sunset upsets
Mar 02, 2008; ... THE GREAT tradition of New Zealand trotters winning theInterdominion Grand Final continued last night at Moonee Valley -but from an unexpected quarter. While hot favourite One Over Kenny wrecked her chances with anearly gallop, then struggled to make ground three wide, ...
MYERS NO 'DUMMY' IN DERBY
Mar 02, 2008; ... IT WAS DEJA VU all over after the unorthodox magic of trainerKevin 'Dummy' Myers got C'est La Guerre home an upset winner ofyesterday's $700,000 Mercedes Derby. In a spooky replay of his reaction to Balmuse's giant-killing2004 win over Starcraft in the $1 million Kelt Stakes, the ...
Tears and hugs for gallant champion
Mar 02, 2008; ... A comeback too far for old warhorse THEY CAME one after another.A succession of harness racing's Who's Who to console trainerMichelle Wallis. And each time the tears welled up in her eyes again as she toldhow Sly Flyin was her best mate, the closest thing to a human, ahorse in a ...
THE GOSPEL TRUTH
Mar 02, 2008; ... Followers of Falun Gong say it's a spiritual movement with nopolitical motives. But the community's sometimes alienating methodsof protesting their persecution, and their evasiveness over links tofront organisations, don't help their cause, writes Tim Hume . -------------------- TWO ...
Canada axe clears way for capital option
Mar 02, 2008; ... PLANS TO merge Auckland and Wellington Airports are back on thetable after the government closed the door on a tax structurefavoured by a Canadian pension fund bidding for Auckland airport. But it will be only one of several options for Auckland as itseeks to create value for ...
CATCHUP/The week in review
Mar 02, 2008 ... * NUPLEX INDUSTRIES net profit for the six months to December 31leapt by 185% to $24.6 million. * AIR NEW Zealand posted a net profit of $115m for six months toDecember 31, up 58% on the same period in the previous year. Revenuefrom ordinary activities increased by 10% to $2379m ....
Taxman adds to misery of Blue Chip investors
Mar 02, 2008; ... HUNDREDS OF people who bought investment properties through BlueChip have been sent bills from the IRD for thousands of dollars inback taxes. The taxes have been applied because IRD has disallowed some taxdeductions which Blue Chip advised its clients to claim. Although ...
LETTERS TO THE BUSINESS EDITOR
Mar 02, 2008 ... I REFER to "Power hungry'' (Sunday Star- Times, February 24). As you say, the Tiwai Pt aluminium smelter, near Bluff, wascompleted early 1971. I recall the original agreement was for thesmelter to repay the capital cost of the civil engineering works ofthe Manapouri ...
We're on the right road says the Nav-man
Mar 02, 2008; ... STRIKE ONE, and serial entrepreneur Peter Maire was hot, veryhot. He sold his screamingly successful electronics business Navmanoverseas for squillions. Strike two, and he was wonderfully warm. Award-winning quartzcrystal company Rakon was originally not Maire's baby, but he ...
BLUE CHIP RIPPLES
Mar 02, 2008; ... The aftershocks of Blue Chip's woes are being felt overseas. Greg Ninness reports. -------------------- PROBLEMS WITH thebeleaguered Blue Chip group of property investment companies are nowstarting to affect major overseas investors. A large subdivision being developed at Gulf ...
Prepare to act fast, Reserve Bank told
Mar 02, 2008; ... ECONOMISTS WHO believe the Reserve Bank was too slow to raiseinterest rates to fight inflation are now worried it may be too slowin the opposite direction, and so unnecessarily prolong the currenteconomic slowdown. With economic data and business surveys indicating ...
Switzerland the big tax bogey
Mar 02, 2008 ... THE TAX scandal sweeping Europe has netted hundreds of suspectsincluding several New Zealanders, but the IRD says Switzerland, notLiechtenstein, is still the biggest problem for tax authorities. After German authorities obtained a DVD holding the accountdetails of 1400 people with ...
Opportunity knocks and waits
Mar 02, 2008; ... Businesses who back themselves to take on the world can findenthusiastic support - if they want it. Tim Hunter reports. -------------------- LIKE A meeting of ocean currents, the blend whichforms at the edges of government and commerce can throw up a richsoup of nutrients for creatures ...
Hired gun out for Centro syndicates
Mar 02, 2008; ... MONEY MANAGERS investors, hit by the failure of the firm's FirstStep trusts, face another crisis after the spectacular crash ofAustralian property manager Centro Properties Group. Money Managers has around $100 million of client money investedin 13 Centro property syndicates, but ...
New law no place for old rule
Mar 02, 2008; ... Ludicrous for protection bid to be based on 1978 figures, sayadvisers. -------------------- DRAFT LAWS designed to protect thepublic from shonky financial advisers will not cover wealthy clients- wealthy by 1978 standards that is. The Financial Advisers Bill, tabled in parliament ...
'Trust-bust' test yields scary results
Mar 02, 2008; ... NEARLY 25% of family trusts are being run so badly they facebeing deemed a sham if tested in court, research from trustmanagement business Integrity Trust indicates. In an online survey that has had more than 1000 respondents, only29% were adhering to good trust management ...
Pre-loaded debit card targets gap in market
Mar 02, 2008; ... NZ POST and Kiwibank are to launch a reloadable Visa debit card,which they expect to appeal to those who can't get, or don't want, acredit card. The card, called Loaded, will be launched in the next two weeks,and will run off the Visa system just like a credit card. Its userscan ...