Sanlu kept selling tainted milk because of Fonterra document, says chairwoman; Milk payout to be cut today; Pacific Islands Forum rules on Fiji; SIS releases "salacious" files; and more
The chair of Chinese dairy company Sanlu says she continued selling melamine-tainted milk because of information given to her by a Fonterra-appointed board member, the New Zealand Herald reports. Tian Wenhua, who was sentenced to life imprisonment last week, has said she was given a document saying that in the European Union a maximum of 20mg of melamine was allowed in every kilogram of milk. Fonterra CEO Andrew Ferrier has confirmed a document was handed over, but says his company was clear that "the only acceptable level [of melamine] was zero".
The Press carries more bad news for dairy farmers, reporting that Fonterra will cut its milk payout projections today. Having initially forecast $7/kg of milk solids, the dairy company has already lowered its expectations to $6. Westpac economist Doug Steel is picking Fonterra will go to $5.50 or lower today, cutting farm incomes by almost $600 million.
The Press' lead story says that the Security Intelligence Service is releasing redundant files to individuals it has spied on, revealing "for the first time how far the shadowy service reached into the lives of activist and non-activist New Zealanders". Murray Horton, co-founder of the Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa, says, "A lot of it is salacious gossip, with analyses of named people's marriage problems, drinking habits, etc, etc,".
Both APN and Faifax papers were reporting splits in the Pacific Forum's approach to Fiji, prior to last night's vote on how to discipline its coup leaders. The DominionPost quoted Kiribati president Anote Tong saying that small Pacific countries would rather leave the forum than crack down on Fiji. The Herald said that Papua New Guinea prime minister Sir Michael Somare has taken the unusual step of releasing speech notes in which he says "adopting an isolationist approach would be unhelpful". But the Herald was able to get last night's decision in before press time, reporting that Fiji will be suspended from the forum unless it sets a firm election date by May 1 (not available online).
Police Commissioner Howard Broad yesterday visited the family of Halatau Naitoko, the innocent bystander shot and killed by police last week. Broad expressed his "profound sadness" and said he would urge the officers involved in the shooting to meet the family.
The DomPost's lead story says the government has ordered Ministry of Education staff to urgently survey schools to guage national truancy rates. Officials admit the latest truancy figures are three years old, after last year's survey was "ditched".