NewsRoom Digest: Top NZ News Items for September 4, 2015

This edition of NewsRoom_Digest features 8 resourceful links of the day and the politics pulse from Friday 4th September. NEWSROOM_MONITOR Top stories in the current news cycle include Z Energy engaging in a $71 million standoff with the Customs Department over excise duties dating back to 1986, Nauru accusing New Zealand of undermining the Pacific island’s sovereignty after the New Zealand Government has cut $1.2 million of aid to Nauru’s justice system and a gathering of hundreds of Cantabrians on New Brighton beach this morning to mark five years since the September 2010 earthquake. Note: As well as providing a precis of leading broadcast bulletins each day, our NewsRoom_Monitor service does a daily paper round with succinct ‘news picks’ from the main metropolitan papers emailed by 9am each morning. If you’re interested in a free trial please email monitor@newsroom.co.nz POLITICS PULSE Media releases issued from Parliament by political parties today included: Government: Parents confident in ECE services; New video to help push Healthy Families NZ; Marking International Day of Charity tomorrow; Minister praises huge progress since 2010; NZ electricity market well-placed to drive innovation and efficiency; Family violence review submissions closing soon; $120k to fund social enterprise projects for young people; Trade Minister to co-chair UAE-New Zealand Joint Economic Commission; Minister to attend APEC Ministerial Meeting; High school student triumphs at science awards; New Auckland premises for Framework Trust; Reports shows success of Whānau Ora approach; Students dig deep to get results Greens: Has Minister instructed officials to refuse OIAs?; Green Party Will Seek Leave To Introduce Bill To Increase Refugee Quota Labour: Cable failure on Great Track walk huge potential risk; Emergency bill could save 750 refugees; NZTA blows a year of roading funding on flyover New Zealand First: Speech: New Zealand First Is The Party For Small Business; Silver Fern Farms Has New Zealand First Drafting Bill NZ National Party: Minister congratulates talented youth of Porirua; MP looking for young person to represent Maungakiekie; Young Hutt social entrepreneurs encouraged to go for $120K LINKS OF THE DAY Links of the day have been a feature of NewsRoom_Digest since we first started production in August 2014 at newsroom-nz.tumblr.com. We are currently building an archive of these at:http://newsroomplus.com/resources/resourceful-links/ FAMILY VIOLENCE: New Zealanders have two more weeks to have their say about ways to strengthen family violence laws. The public consultation is open at https://consultations.justice.govt.nz/policy/family-violence-law until Friday, 18 September. GREEN CLEANERS: Manufacturers of laundry balls market them as an “environmentally friendly” cleaning option. But a Consumer NZ test has found you’d be better off saving your money and just using water to do your laundry. For more information, visit http:www.consumer.org.nz/articles/laundry-balls HEALTHY FAMILIES: The Healthy Families NZ video has been launched, encouraging people in their communities to take action against the rising rate of preventable chronic disease. The video was co-created by the communities taking part in Healthy Families NZ and the Ministry of Health. You can watch the video on Youtube athttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB2dRqDgEkE or on the Healthy Families NZ website,http://ww.healthyfamilies.govt.nz NZ ELECTRICITY MARKET: An experts’ electricity forum has endorsed the Government’s market-led approach to regulating the electricity sector. Read the Smart Grid Forum Report here: http://www.mbie.govt.nz/info-services/sectors-industries/energy/electricity-market/nz-smart-grid-forum/publications/first-year-report-to-minister-june-2015.pdf/view PARENTS CONFIDENT IN ECE SERVICES: The 2014 Kiwis Count survey dataset released yesterday by the State Services Commission shows that parental satisfaction in ECE service overall is high. The survey results are available at: http://www.ssc.govt.nz/kiwis-count PROJECTS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE: $120,000 is available to young entrepreneurs under the Opportunities for Young People fund. Read more here: http://www.myd.govt.nz/funding/youth-enterprise-initatives-fund.html And that’s our sampling of “news you can use” for Friday 4th September. Brought to EveningReport by Newsroom Digest. –]]>