RNZ: The Week In Review

A review of the weeks news including... New Zealand strikes gold and bronze at the London Olympics, the National-led Government has signaled it will NOT wait for a Waitangi Tribunal report on water, major changes to the way disputes are dealt with by the Family Court are on the way following a review of the system, the blueprint for Christchurch's CBD has been unveiled and it is for a smaller, greener and more compact central city, the Pacific Fibre cable project is abandoned, a financial review of the country's 14 ITM Cup rugby unions shows the unions' collective revenues have dropped nearly 20 percent since 2007 - threatening the game, conservationists may have found a way to end the long running battle between the Kea, and high country farmers and a captivated audience of more than five-hundred people has gathered to celebrate the life of author Margaret Mahy.

A review of the weeks news including... a coroners report in to the death of the Kahui twins, a loyalty bonus scheme the Government says will deter New Zealanders from quickly flicking off their shares in state energy companies, MPs are to be asked to vote for or against gay marriage for the first time, opposition parties say the Prime Minister should still consider sacking John Banks as a Minister despite the police deciding not to prosecute the ACT MP over political donations, the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic become the first New Zealand side to win the trans Tasman netball competition, the internationally acclaimed children's author Margaret Mahy dies at the age of 76, part of the wreck of the Rena is to be left on Astrolabe reef where the containership ran aground last October, controversy over Whanganui Hospital's announcement that it is going to offer a natural therapy service for those who want to receive treatments focused on spirituality, healing and strengthening of the mind and young people from all over Aotearoa descend on Whangarei for the fiercely contested Secondary Schools Kapa Haka challenge.

A review of the week's news including... A promise from the Prime Minister to the Maori Party that there'll be no foreshore and seabed-style legislation that extinguishes Maori claims to water while the Waitangi Tribunal considers a demand by the Maori Council that the sale of shares in state-owned enterprises be put on hold until Maori claims to water are resolved, two Piha women who looked after a distraught Iraena Asher on the night she disappeared are furious a coroner has said their actions contributed to her death, the Principal Youth Court judge has asked Board of Trustees members to think very carefully before expelling or excluding students, two former directors and the head of Capital and Merchant Finance are found guilty of fraud charges, police have arrested two and half thousand people in the first nationally co-ordinated operation targeting cannabis growers and dealers, five million dollars worth of New Zealand honey has been rejected by export markets after failing a test used to detect adulterated honey and New Zealand's charities are mourning the loss of the businessman and philanthropist, Hugh Green, who has died at the age of 80.

A review of the week's news: Maori Party reconsidering its role supporting the Government; Northland police commander quits over government funding squeeze; Vodafone buys NZ arm of TelstraClear for $840m; authorities hunting Chinese students in NZ on visas based on fraudulent paperwork; Government not ruling out listing power company shares for sale in Australia; group wanting to save quake-damaged Christ Church Cathedral say they've had breakthrough; Kim Dotcom furious his extradition hearing delayed until March; Timaru's mayor hopeful port workers who lose their jobs will be snapped up elsewhere in South Canterbury's robust economy; Anglican leaders agree to debate gay marriage; club rugby referees getting out of the game because of abuse; oil company given four months to drill for oil on Stewart Island.

A review of the week's news including: a verdict in one of the country's most high profile murder trials, New Zealand condemns South Korea's move to hunt minke whales for science, an independent report on how the kiwifruit vine disease PSA came into the country has found major biosecurity shortcomings, the lawyer for the former chief executive of Pike River Mine wants the Royal Commission into the mine tragedy reconvened to hear three previously unheard witnesses, Auckland Council has decided to spend ten million dollars bringing the Australian V8 Supercar race to the city for five years, Auckland Council is to spend up to nearly a quarter of a billion dollars buying properties needed for its as yet uncertain downtown rail tunnel and our Auckland Correspondent visits the factory in spain where Auckland's new electric trains are being constructed.

A review of the week's news including:rowdy parliamentary session before controversial assets sale legislation becomes law; principals admit they gerrymander zones to avoid poorer areas; calls for review of all foster care placements of youth offenders after CYF apologises for rape; ACC claimants say new agreement is "window dressing"; Royal Commission examines CTV building collapse in February 2011 quake; High Court ruling delivers blow to case against Kim Dotcom; rape allegation against young New Zealand rugby player in Cape Town; Fonterra gets support for contentious new scheme,but farmer-shareholders now divided; 30 percent chance of Alpine Fault rupturing in next 50 years; ministerial review holds first meeting on debt-ridden Kaipara District Council.

A review of the week's news including: "white flight" from schools in low-income neighbourhoods; prime minister floats idea of league tables to rank primary schools; ACC case managers financially rewarded for getting long-term claimants off the books; homicide investigation launched after remains of Jane Furlong found on Waikato beach; Revenue Minister gets grilling from opposition MPs over partial sales of state-owned assets; biggest quarterly increase in economic growth in five years; methane buildup at Huntly East Mine suspends operations and frightens locals; at-risk endemic eels used in petfood; historic and quake-prone Basin Reserve stand likely to go; casino employee gets into hot water over Bible.

A review of the week's news and interviews, including... ACC Chairman John Judge, did he walk or was he pushed from his job? its been revealed in court the man accused of killing Feilding farmer, Scott Guy, misled the police about arson attacks on his brother in law's property, leaked documents from trade talks show New Zealand has agreed to give foreign businesses the right to sue the Government in international courts for policies that cause them financial loss, the Economic Development Minister Stephen Joyce is relaxed and confident over the announcement that the Auditor General's office is investigating Sky City's controversial deal to build a convention centre in Auckland, the legislation paving the way for the partial sale of four state owned assets is steadily making its way through Parliament, an Auckland lawyer warns new Family Court charges could throw fuel on already volatile relationships and one of the country's leading Olympic medal hopes crashes during training and one of the country's more unusual holiday parks is on the market.

A review of the week's news and interviews, including... Delight at the government's backdown on staffing ratio, the Scott Guy murder trial gets underway, should courts be given the power to ban child abusers and killers from having more children? ACC's complaint over a whistle blower has hit a dead end, over-crowding in state houses in a South Auckland suburb is forcing some people to live in caravans, the Green party holds it's annual conference and a Kiwi veteran of Bomber Command in World War Two heads to London for the unveiling of a 70 metre memorial to those who served in Bomber Command.

The week in Review Week Ending June 1st 2012, including... arrest warrants are issued for five people in Qatar over the Doha mall fire, which killed 19, including New Zealand triplets and we hear from the grieving parents, George Gwaze walks free for the second time, found not guilty again of sexually violating and murdering his adopted daughter, the Government's class sizes policy spurs a week long confrontation with Intermediate Schools with the call going out for a boycott of the Ministry of Education, A 31-year old woman has been sent to jail for two years and a month for suffocating her two-month old son in January last year while she was drunk, an interview with Megaupload's founder, Kim Dotcom, who's strict bail conditions were relaxed this week, a Manawatu inventor who's been nominated for a prestigious international award known as the Nobel Prize for food, an amazing story of survival and friendship on Lake Taupo and remembering the American marines who were here in their thousands during the Second World War seven decades ago.

The week In Review podcast for week ending May 25th 2012, including Budget 2012 reaction and comment, sentencing of the Urerewa Four, Shane Jones stood down from Labour's front bench while an immigration decision is investigated by the Auditor-General, suppression orders lifted over an attack on a North Shore teenager, Iwi leader helps end acrimonious industrial dispute, more shaking in Christchurch and ghostly goings on in Dunedin.