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Home / New Zealand

The Front Page podcast: Minister orders Sroubek inquiry, and fake news in Northland

Frances Cook
By Frances Cook
BusinessDesk Investments Editor·NZ Herald·
1 Nov, 2018 04:08 AM9 mins to read

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Immigration Minister Ian Lees-Galloway won't say what the new information is that led to an inquiry. Photo / Greg Bowker.

Immigration Minister Ian Lees-Galloway won't say what the new information is that led to an inquiry. Photo / Greg Bowker.

Each weekday The Front Page keeps you up to date with the biggest news in New Zealand. Today it's an inquiry into Karel Sroubek residency, changes for renters, and fake news in Northland. Hosted by Frances Cook.

Listen to "Minister orders Sroubek inquiry, and fake news in Northland" on Spreaker.

Haven't listened to a podcast before? Check out our simple how-to guide.

You can subscribe to this podcast onApple podcasts here, and href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1049-the-front-page-30038501/" target="_blank">iHeartRadio here.

New information has emerged on what exactly prompted Immigration Iain Lees-Galloway to rethink his decision to grant residency to Karel Sroubek.

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The former Czech kick-boxing champ is currently serving prison time for drug-smuggling.

Today Lees-Galloway ordered an investigation of new information, which he says contradicted the information he relied on while deciding Sroubek's case.

The investigation could take up to three weeks.

For more on this story click here.

Newstalk ZB political editor Barry Soper understands what sparked the change of heart centres on Sroubek's now ex-wife, who is in the process of taking out a restraining order against Sroubek.

It's understood the investigation into the new information will look at alleged threatening calls he's made from prison - which would have been recorded.

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For more on this story, click here.

Meanwhile, wedding photos have emerged of Sroubek masquerading under the identity he adopted to fraudulently start over in New Zealand.

It turns out that Sroubek was once the winner of a Fashion Week experience with New Zealand Weddings and suit makers Crane Brothers, which entitled him to a custom made Italian wool suit for his big day.

At the time, he told New Zealand Weddings he was very excited to get a bespoke suit for his wedding, although of course he was quoted under his alias Jan Antolik.

For more on this story click here.

Auckland Airport has had a rap on the knuckles for making more money than it can justify.

Discover more

Opinion

Soper: Immigration NZ used by experts to do dirty work

01 Nov 04:00 PM
New Zealand|crime

Karel Sroubek saga: Drug smuggler's links to covert police op

05 Nov 03:32 AM

That's the result of a Commerce Commission report.

Christchurch Airport got the all-clear on its profits. But the Commission estimates Auckland Airport's targeted returns are about $37 million over its benchmark.

That's an extra 50 cents a passenger per flight.

Airlines aren't happy, and want some of the money back.

For its part, Auckland Airport says its targeted returns are justified, given the risks associated with the significant investment programme it has planned to manage passenger growth.

For more on this story click here

The Child Poverty Reduction Bill is one step closer to becoming law, thanks to a rare bit of co-operation across the political divide.

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The bill passed its second reading in Parliament this morning.

It legally requires successive Governments to set short and long-term targets for reducing child poverty, and requires transparent reporting on poverty levels.

The change was a cornerstone of Labour's election campaign last year, and National has agreed to support the bill, after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and opposition leader Simon Bridges worked behind the scenes to come to an agreement.

For more on this story click here.

An early Christmas present for the third of New Zealanders who rent.

The Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill passed its third reading in Parliament today.

It stops property managers and landlords charging letting fees - which are often as much as a week's rent.

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Housing Minister Phil Twyford says it will put millions back into families' pockets.

For more on this story, click here.

On the subject of housing, there are more signs of astronomical house prices coming off the boil, as the traditional spring boost to house sales, gets off to a slow start.

The latest data from Quotable Value shows nationally house prices have gone up 5.4 per cent this year, but in Auckland, it's just 1.1 per cent.

The most recent trends for Auckland are particularly interesting, with prices dropping 0.3 per cent in the three months to October.

The national average price for a house is now just over $680,000.

For more on this story click here.

The question of whether the slowing house prices means we're heading for a crash is tackled in an interesting opinion piece from Slade Robertson, the managing director of Devon Funds.

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He says it's looking more and more likely that house prices will go down, but the question is when, and how much.

He's pointing to the sharp fall in property prices in Sydney, Melbourne, London, New York, and Vancouver.

Robertson says the Auckland market has historically followed the Sydney market on a 12-18 month delay.

For more on this story click here.

Meanwhile, Porirua's getting a $1.5b housing facelift.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was joined by other ministers to detail plans of the large-scale rejuvenation of the Wellington area.

It'll involve working with the community to redevelop around 2,900 state homes across Porirua, and the construction of 2000 Kiwibuild homes.

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For more on this story click here.

Industrial action by about 50 Ministry of Justice staff this morning, as they walked off the job for an hour outside the Rotorua District Court.

Mediation on pay broke down earlier this week.

Workers' spokesperson Glen Barclay says if the Ministry can't find the money, the Government needs to become involved.

Staff at Auckland District and Auckland High Courts also voted to also strike this afternoon.

For more on this story, tune in to Newstalk ZB.

Z Energy profits have tumbled by 31 per cent as motorists shop around for discounts

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The fuel company has cut its full-year earnings guidance, after rising oil prices and a weaker New Zealand dollar slashed its first-half operating profit.

On top of that, new taxes and reduced purchases at the pump are prompting the company to lower its forecast earnings before adjustments to between $400 million and $435 million.

For more on this story, click here.

A father who smothered his 2-year-old daughter to death with a pillow will be freed from prison, despite still maintaining her death was "an accident".

Philip Murray Kinraid was convicted and jailed for the manslaughter of Esme Claire Kinraid at their Hawera home on June 26, 2015.

On an undisclosed date this month he will be released, after serving the minimum one third of his sentence.

The Taranaki father of two was putting his children, including a crying Esme, to bed and wrapped his daughter in a blanket.

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However, Esme kicked it off, which led to him flipping the toddler over and placing her face down on a pillow. He then pressed down on the back of Esme's head with his arm.

In November 2016, the chemical engineer pleaded guilty to the toddler's manslaughter - but only after a judge ruled evidence for a murder charge was inadmissible.

For more on this story, click here.

'Fake news' about attacks on the elderly is being used to frighten Northlanders into buying personal security alarms from a US website.

The fake online news report claims police are urging the public to buy a safety device after an assault on a 67-year-old woman.

It's designed to look like a genuine news story and has been shared unwittingly by many Facebook users.

It gives a shocking account of an attempted robbery as the victim was doing her grocery shopping and quotes police as saying attacks on seniors have increased dramatically during September, with many suffering serious injury and financial loss.

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The location of the attack is changed to match the reader's location.

It then provides links to a US website selling SafeSound personal alarms, which it claims are ''saving millions of lives''.

The problem is, both the attack and the police advice are fiction.

For more on this story click here.

The Environmental Protection Authority is looking at whether it needs to put new rules around the use of products containing synthetic pyrethroids.

They're insecticides found in some fly sprays, insect repellents, automatic insect dispensers, bed bug treatments, and animal flea collars and treatments.

EPA spokeswoman Dr Fiona Thomson-Carter says want to hear from New Zealand households and businesses on how these products are being used.

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She says they're considering setting new controls on the use of the substance.

For more on this story, tune in to Newstalk ZB.

National's deputy Paula Bennett has put a ban on NZ Herald political editor Audrey Young taking any holidays.

But it's not what you might think. Young's holidays have developed a reputation for coinciding with major upheavals in the political scene, even dubbed the "Curse of Audrey".

The first day of Young's recent holiday coincided with the day National Party leader Simon Bridges released the inquiry into the leak of his travel expenses, pointing the finger at Botany MP Jami-Lee Ross, and unleashing an extremely turbulent fortnight for National.

Young was in Queensland for the collapse of the National-NZ First coalition in 1998. She was in San Diego when former National Party leader Jenny Shipley was rolled by Bill English in 2001, in Bangkok when news broke that Don Brash was about to roll Bill English in 2003, and in Vietnam when John Key took over from Brash in 2006.

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So when Young returned this week Bennett turned up in the Herald's press gallery office with a new members' bill proposal, titled "Holidays (Audrey Young Prohibition) Act".

It proposed an extra clause in the Holidays Act, saying:

"Due to a pattern of unfortunate events that coincide with Audrey Young being on holiday, any person named Audrey Young is prohibited from taking annual leave unless prior authorisation is sought in writing from the National Party of New Zealand, and authorisation is granted by majority vote of the whole caucus."

For more on this story, click here.

That's the Front Page for today, Thursday November 1, making sure you're across the biggest news of the day. For more on these stories, check out The New Zealand Herald, or tune in to Newstalk ZB.

You can subscribe to this podcast onApple podcasts here, and iHeartRadio here.

If you like to stay up to date on social media, you can find host Frances Cook on Facebook here, Instagram here and Twitter here.

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