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From: CHRIS ROLLESTON 
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Subject: send *.nzn 9/9


NZnews to 30/5/93


Monday May 24


Leaders call up Anzac links to foster unity

The Anzac relationship, forged during
 wartime in Europe, was redefined
yesterday to allow Australia and New Zealand to campaign together to win
trade and tourists 
in the Asia- Pacific. Against the backdrop of the
Remarkables, the Prime Minister,  Mr Bolger, and Australia's leader, Mr
Keat
ing, outlined a wish for trans-Tasman unity that stops only at the point
of becoming one country.

The two men's easy persona
l rapport after past clashes on employment law
underwrote their commitment to a new relationship between their countries. Mr
B
olger said that as two sovereign Governments there would always be
differences, but the two countries would now work more close
ly on major
issues.


Tuesday May 25


Benefit stand-down plan

New Zealand pensioners and some beneficiaries who want 
to emigrate to
Australia may face a stand-down period before they qualify for a benefit.
This proposal is likely to emerge whe
n the Minister of Social Welfare, Mrs
Shipley, meets her Australian counterpart, Mr Peter Baldwin, to hammer out a
pension agr
eement. These talks follow the Australian Prime Minister, Mr Paul
Keating, raising the pension issue with the Prime Minister, M
r Bolger, last
Friday. The discussions between Mrs Shipley and Mr Baldwin will be towards an
agreement on a formula to cover N
ew Zealanders who have lived in Australia
for than 10 years before retiring.

Australia is reimbursed for pensioners already 
receiving National
Superannuation who have emigrated to Australia since April 1989. A senior
Government source said that with 
an increasing trend likely in retirement
across the Tasman, New Zealand may look at a stand-down period for
pensioners.


B
oring image 'Kiwis fault'

Insecure New Zealanders' comparisons of their country with others are
inappropriate and partly to 
blame for old perceptions that New  Zealand is
boring, says the "Observer" newspaper. Alexander Frater, recently named
"Britis
h Travel Writer of the Year" for the third consecutive time, describes
his return to New Zealand, which failed to impress him d
uring his first visit
as a child. At that time he saw it as "the abode of 3 million displaced Brits
bitter about being maroone
d down near the southern ice-cap".

This time he found a country "emerging from a catastrophic recession in
confident mood, o
pen, accessible, and forward-looking, fully geared up for
travellers of all ages and incomes. "And if the old perceptions still
 apply
in Britain - mostly variations on the 'very boring' theme - that's partly the
fault of the Kiwis themselves. Some, stil
l insecure, keep pleading their
cause by invoking better-known places: this bit's like Norway or Switzerland,
they say, that l
ike Wales or Scotland. But the comparisons are
inappropriate." 


Wednesday May 26


Economist fears for long-term jobles
s

Unemployment could become a permanent reality for a "lost generation" of
jobless people who would remain without work even
 if the job market picked
up, an Institute of Economic Research economist, Mr David Grimmond, said
yesterday. He was commentin
g on the institute's "Labour Force Dynamics in New
Zealand" report issued yesterday. The report looks at trends in job flows
b
etween 1986 and 1991, a period that brought a sharp increase in
unemployment. He said that during this period the length of tim
e people were
without work had risen substantially, especially for men. "it could well be
during an upturn in the economy the 
long-term unemployed are not going to be
the people who get jobs," Mr Grimmond said. "There is a possibility of there
being a 
lost generation who continue to stay unemployed even with strong job
growth. The indications are that if you have been unemploy
ed for over six
months there is a strong negative probability of your ability to find work."


Hospital cuts anger Chch grou
ps

Christchurch health groups do not believe assurances from Minister of Health,
Mr Birch, that a planned 2 per cent cut in 
funding for Crown health
enterprises will not affect public access to health services. Mr Birch said
yesterday that in the fir
st year of the Government's health reforms, the
country's 23 CHEs would have an indicative funding level of 98 per cent of
tha
t given to area health boards. The reductions amount to $53.5 million from
a total of $2.6 billion, and are for the financial y
ear starting on July 1,
when health changes take effect.

A spokesman for the Citizens' Health Action Committee, Mr Zbigniew 
Maciaszek,
said last night that the current year's allocation of health funding was
insufficient to maintain standards. Christ
church, as the only city with two
CHEs, would be hardest hit by the cuts. "With two separate management levels,
our health str
ucture would cost twice as much."


Thursday May 27


Doctors may boycott health plan

Doctors are threatening to boycot
t the Government's health changes unless
regional health authorities relax the conditions GPs must meet if they are to
continu
e to receive patient benefits. The New Zealand Medical and General
Practitioners' associations say in a letter to members that 
the draft
conditions, released by the country's four RHAs on May 12, threaten their
independence and the confidentiality of pa
tient information. The New Zealand
Patients' Association spokeswoman, Mrs Marie Buchler, supported the doctors'
demand.


S
oliciting may become legal

The Associate Minister of Health, Mr Williamson, is hopeful but not confident
that soliciting by 
prostitutes will become legal this year. "I'm not sure if
it's a realistic hope but it's certainly a hope," he said yesterday o
f his
plans to introduce a Bill to Parliament allowing prostitutes to proposition
potential customers in some circumstances. T
he aim was to reduce the spread
of AIDS. At present prostitution is legal, but soliciting by prostitutes is
not. This has led 
to Government departments working at cross purposes, with
the Health Department encouraging prostitutes to use condoms, but pol
ice
using possessions of them as evidence of prostitution.


Friday May 28


Health fees drop for low earners

More low
 and middle-income families will pay less for health services as a
result of changes to the charging regime announced by the Mi
nister of Health,
Mr Birch, yesterday. However, the Opposition said the changes showed
National's contempt for the single-pare
nt families, some of whom would pay
higher charges as a result. Single superannuants and chronically ill people
would be no be
tter off, Labour said. The changes extend eligibility for the
community services card. The enhanced level of subsidies paid to 
people in
the lowest income category - group one cardholders - will be extended to
current group two members from July 1, and 
to people at the low end of group
three from February next year. For people brought into the group one
category, the adult GP 
subsidy will increase by $3 and the maximum adult
prescription charge will fall by $1.


Govt rejects move to privatise Tran
spower

Transpower, the national electricity grid, will remain taxpayer-owned.
Cabinet and caucus have rejected suggestions t
hat the grid should be
privatised in the wake of the failure of the original 50-50 split between
generators (Electricorp) and 
supply authorities. Transpower will now be set
up as a 100 per cent Crown-owned company. The paper money merry-go-round
entail
ed in the deal is likely to involve a first-year payment to
Electricorp, the current owner, of about $600 million. It is not cl
ear how
this will be structured and therefore how precisely this will affect the
1993-94 Budget. The Government has argued tha
t the purchase - from an SOE -
would be fiscally neutral over a three year period as Electricorp's debt
equity position is rea
djusted after the separation. Key decisions have yet to
be negotiated over the value of Transpower, which is about $3 billion, 
and
how the unbundling of Electricorp's loans will be affected.


Saturday May 29


PM unveils targets of poll Budget


The Budget will focus on education, ensuring growth in the economy, and
employment, says the Prime Minister, Mr Bolger. The Min
ister of Finance, Miss
Richardson, will present the Budget on July 1. Mr Bolger announced the date
yesterday at the Cabinet's 
two-day retreat at Akaroa, where Ministers met to
plan strategies for continued momentum towards economic growth. "We have been

convinced the policies we have put in place would pay big dividends for New
Zealanders, and that is starting to come through,
" Mr Bolger said. His
comments coincide with the latest "National Business Review"-Insight public
opinion poll, which shows th
e National party surging strongly at Labour's
expense. The responses of 750 people polled nationally put National only one
poi
nt behind Labour - 36 per cent to 37.


Govt order halts native tree felling

The Government yesterday placed a Heritage Or
der on 51ha of native forest in
South Westland that has been threatened with clear-felling by a farmer. Mr
John Cowan planned 
to clear-fell the forest, including dozens of 800 year-old
rimu trees along World Heritage Highway. The Heritage Order absolute
ly
protects the trees from any logging along the 1.5km stretch of the Haast Pass
highway. Mr Cowan began chopping down the tre
es this week, but agreed on
Thursday to suspend logging until after the weekend. Now that the Minister of
Conservation, Mr Mar
shall, has placed the Heritage Order on the property,
no-one can touch the trees until the issue has gone through the full plan
ning
and land-use process set out in the Resource Management Act. "The trees now
have immediate and complete protection," Mr M
arshall said after the order had
been delivered to the Westland District Council yesterday. Mr Marshall had
earlier said that 
using the provisions of the Act would present difficulties.

Mr Cowan began clear-felling his property because he considered t
here was no
point in continuing to negotiate with the Forest Heritage Fund. "They want it
for nothing," he said, after rejecti
ng an offer of $141,000 for the land.

Alan Murray
CSC Operations
University of Canterbury
a.murray@csc.canterbury.ac.nz