Neu: 2002-04-04 Contents of this issue:
1. Replacement Speaker 2. Second Timer 3. List Closed 4. Facts and Figures 5. Fatty Ban 6. Sports Funding ======================================================================== April 4th, 2002 1. Replacement Speaker: The Alliance of Independents contesting the general election on Niue has announced it will nominate Mr John Funaki (68) for the post of Speaker in the Legislative Assembly. Mr Funaki was the second Speaker of the House after replacing Mr Sam Tagelagi in 1993. He has served as a Commissioner of the High Court since 1991. For the past three years the Speaker has been Niue Peoples Party nominee Mr Tama Posimani (64) a former NZ nurse and postal officer who was a Cabinet Minister from 1990-93. The Speaker often clashed with Opposition members, Mrs O'Love Jacobsen and Mr Terry Coe both of whom were at the centre of police action to remove them from the Assembly. In 1999 after a request from Speaker Posimani to forcefully eject Mrs Jacobsen from the Legislative chamber the Attorney General Warner Banks a former Hong Kong Magistrate was sacked and the Chief of Police NZ detective Andy Lovelock resigned. 2. Second Timer: Former Secretary to the Niue Govenment Bradley Punu is again seeking a common roll seat in the upcoming general election. He's part of the Alliance of Independents team. The 54 year-old who lives in the Niue Peoples Party stronghold village of Hakupu is chairman of the Niue Tourist Authority and backs AOI plans to invest in a designated Niue- Auckland-Niue jet service. In the last election Mr Punu polled 12th in the six seat common roll contest. 3. List Closed: Nominations for candidates contesting the general election on Niue closed at noon today. A full list of candidates will be published when officially released by the chief electoral officer Mr Togia Sioneholo. 4. Facts and Figures: The greater Auckland region's population is now over one million for the first time, with Christchurch the only non-Auckland city featuring among the top five for numbers. One in 10 New Zealand residents lived in Auckland City at the time of the 2001 Census, according to latest figures from Statistics New Zealand. Auckland's population reached 367,737 usual residents, followed by Christchurch (316,227), Manukau (283,197) and North Shore (184,821). Waitakere (168,750), the fourth Auckland region city, headed off Wellington (163,827). Manukau City had both the largest Mäori ethnicity count (44,274) and the highest proportion of Pacific peoples, with more than one in four residents. Auckland City had the second-highest number of Mäori residents at 29,139 and the highest proportion of residents of Asian ethnicity, with almost one in five. English was the most widely spoken language by usual residents. This was followed by Mäori in all except nine territorial authorities where Samoan (Waitakere, Auckland, Manukau and Porirua), Japanese (Queenstown-Lakes District), Korean (North Shore) and French (Wellington, Banks Peninsular and Mackenzie) were the second most widely spoken languages. The Chatham Islands District had the highest proportion of adults in the labour force with four in five. In the Horowhenua District, nearly 9 in 20 adults were not in the labour force. Weekly average household rents were lowest in Mackenzie ($81), Waimate ($86) and Wairoa ($91) Districts. The highest weekly average household rents were recorded in North Shore City ($243). (National Business Review). 5. Fatty Ban: Samoa's Health Department is preparing a submission to Parliament on the impact of imported fatty foods such as mutton and lamb flaps. "The matter has already been discussed in a food safety meeting held last year," according to Director-General of Health Lolofie Dr Eti Enosa. In Fiji, the government has banned the importation of fatty meat flaps, mainly from New Zealand, as they cause serious health problems. In Samoa, the Health Department's Nutrition Unit and the Food and Agriculture Organisation are studying the consequences of these imported products on people's health. Their findings will be submitted to parliament for review along with the Health Department's recommendation. Lolofie pointed out mutton and lamb products will not be "particularly singled out". "We will be looking at all meat with high fat content. Turkey tails could also be another candidate," he said. "We will also be taking into account factors like volume of importation, consumer eating habits and preference. Most importantly, we will be assessing the medical costs of high-cholesterol related illnesses such as diabetes and hypertension. "Health is urging the need to maintain a balanced diet with plenty of exercise." The Tongan government recently called on New Zealand to end these exports in a bid to encourage Pacific Islanders to return to traditional diets of fish and vegetables. In Niue, lamb flaps are no longer imported by traders but tinned corned beef is popular. A high proportion of Niueans suffer from diabetes and many young children are overweight, according to health department officials. In response, New Zealand exporters are saying they are supplying the fatty meats to Pacific Island on demand. ( Samoa Observer/PINA Nius Online). 6. Sports Funding: Niue's national sport body looks set to apply for funding from an Australian based sports development programme for 14 Pacific Forum Island countries. The Sports Development Programme Australia - South Pacific 2006 aims to help athletes in the region prepare for the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia. A total of AU$3 million is budgeted for a six-year period including 2006. The focus is on more resources for grassroots sport development and human resource development. The ASP 2006 has two components: a project fund managed by the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) and a discretionary fund for use by Australian missions in the region. Funding requests are channeled through National Olympic Committees, to the Australian Sports Commission or to accredited Australian missions. (Forum Secretariat). __END__
