Checkpoint for Thursday 12 April 2012

6:52 PM.In Fiji between 30 and 40,000 people are receiving emergency rations because of floods that killed at least six and caused widespread devastation. Audio

6:47 PM.The Maori Affairs Minister has helped set up a community initiative in Wairoa, where the meat company AFFCO has locked out over one hundred workers from its sheep and beef plant; Meanwhile the Meat… Read more Audio

6:40 PM.The Treasury says it has a list of about a dozen schools that could be built in public private partnerships. Audio

6:36 PM.A Christchurch protest group is calling for an independent investigation into whether quake-damaged council buildings had enough insurance. Audio

6:33 PM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

6:26 PM.Nationwide property values have slipped for the first time in a year. Figures from the property valuer, QV, show the average property value has risen half a percent in the last three months, but it… Read more Audio

6:21 PM.Two contractors from the team salvaging the container ship, Rena, have been fired after taking bottles of wine from the wreck. Audio

6:14 PM.The Police are hunting for a P lab cook in Auckland tonight after arresting a man at Queenstown airport they say was part of a drug ring. Audio

6:12 PM.The Government is defending itself against claims it's exaggerating the cost of extending paid parental leave, by highlighting Labour's own election policy. Audio

6:09 PM.The Council of Trade Unions says the Ports of Auckland is using cameras, security guards and other tactics to intimidate workers. Audio

5:51 PM.The Hutt Valley District Health Board says it accepts a coroner's finding that a patient may not have died if doctors hadn't taken five days to find out what was wrong with her. Audio

5:47 PM.The Maori Affairs Minister has helped set up a community initiative in Wairoa, where over one hundred workers are locked out of AFFCO's sheep and beef plant; Meanwhile the Meat Workers Union is… Read more Audio

5:45 PM.A mystery benefactor has stepped up to get a veteran RAF fighter pilot from his Nelson home to a memorial service in London. Audio

5:36 PM.A survivor of a ferry disaster that killed as many as 220 people in Papua New Guinea has told an inquiry the lifejackets were locked away. Audio

5:33 PM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

5:28 PM.Some home owners in Christchurch are furious their previously condemned houses can now be fixed - leaving them out of pocket by tens of thousands of dollars. Audio

5:26 PM.Sir Douglas Graham and three other men are appealing their criminal convictions for misleading investors in the Lombard finance company. Audio

5:23 PM.The police say an eleven-year-old boy who they describe as a recidivist burglar has assaulted his Child Youth and Family caregivers after just one night in their care. Audio

5:21 PM.News from the business sector including a market report. Audio

5:13 PM.The latest talks to solve the months-long Auckland ports dispute have failed amid claims of overkill security on the wharves. Audio

5:08 PM.The Serious Fraud Office has taken just hours to dismiss a complaint of fraud against a union, brought by the Affco meat company amid one of the country's most bitter industrial disputes. Audio

5:00 PM.The Serious Fraud Office quickly rejects a complaint against the Meat Workers Union. Claims of heavy security intimidating wharfies at the Ports of Auckland and an 11 year boy arrested for burglary… Read more Audio