NEWSROOM: 27 January - 02 February 2007

NZI Sevens "Stars of the Sevens" Parade
02 February 2007 - Source: eventpolynesia.com
 
The New Zealand International Sevens brings thousands to the Capital this weekend, and kicked-off Thursday, with a street parade through the central city.

The parade started at Parliament, moving along Lambton Quay and Willis Street and ended at Civic Square with a civic reception.

Some of the teams were accompanied by cultural entertainers, particularly Pacific Island teams, and others were accompanied by light-hearted performances by actors and musical groups. All teams travelled on floats through the streets.

The street parade was a chance for the public to see the athletes up close before the frenzy of the competition.

ONE Sport has full coverage of the IRB Wellington Sevens:
Friday, 01 February: 12.30pm-6pm and 7.30pm-10.30pm
Saturday, 02 February: 12.30pm-6pm and 7.00pm-9.45pm - Finals Day
 

Pacific success in Modern Apprenticeships
01 February 2007 - Source: New Zealand Government Press Release
 
The Labour-led government has exceeded its target of 14,000 Modern Apprentices by the end of 2008 with more than a year to spare, says Pacific Island Affairs Minister Luamanuvao Winnie Laban, and this has been particularly good news for young Pacific people.

The September quarter statistics show a total of 14,411 Modern Apprentices, of whom 10,534 are still in training and 3877 have successfully completed their apprenticeships.

"It is particularly pleasing that Pacific peoples make up over three per cent of those involved in the Modern Apprenticeships pathway, and the number of Pacific peoples engaging in workplace training has increased 17% in the last year to 8,835 Industry Trainees, creating the skills needed to transform New Zealand’s economy and steer our Pacific communities into the future," Laban said.

The Pacific population is growing faster than the New Zealand average population and will be a considerable larger proportion of the New Zealand working age population in the future.

Last year the Labour-led government launched the Pacific Economic Action Plan and the Pacific Women's Economic Development Plan aimed at lifting the economic potential and prosperity of Pacific people in New Zealand over the next decade. The plans focus on key areas for development including education; workforce development; creative, emerging, and growth industries; entrepreneurial culture and leadership.

"A highly skilled and versatile Pacific workforce is a goal of the plans, which have a specific objective to increase Pacific participation in Modern Apprenticeship training programmes to at least six per cent, and particularly increase participation of Pacific women.”

"The statistics show we are making sure that Pacific people are well equipped to fully contribute to, and share in, the future economic success of New Zealand," Laban said.
"I am proud of each of our Pacific young people who has either completed or are still engaged in their apprenticeships and industry training, and would encourage others to explore and utilise these opportunities."
 

Cervical screening programme targets Maori and Pacific women
31 January 2007 - Source: New Zealand Government Press Release
 
The number of women getting screened to prevent cervical cancer has increased following the launch of a new national campaign, says Associate Health Minister Steve Chadwick.

“An average of 3635 women have enrolled in the National Cervical Screening Programme each month since the campaign was launched by Prime Minister Helen Clark in September last year. That’s an increase of 4 per cent compared to monthly enrolments for the previous 12 months.

“Calls to the Programme’s 0800 information line have also increased by more than 30 per cent during the same time.

“This is great news for women. The initial results from this Labour-led government campaign indicate there is greater awareness of the risks of cervical cancer, and the importance of the benefits of regular cervical smears.”

The campaign includes television, radio and print advertising, and has a particular focus on Maori and Pacific women because they have lower screening rates.

“Feedback shows this campaign has got women talking about the benefits of regular checks. The light hearted use of humour in some of the TV ads seems to have really struck a chord with women.”

NCSP Clinical Leader, Dr Hazel Lewis, says the national coverage target for screening of all eligible women is 75 per cent.

“Before the start of the campaign, coverage was 70.4 percent across all groups. This has increased by nearly 1 percentage point in the first three months of the campaign, which is significant given that more than one million women are now enrolled.”

“It is pleasing to see increases also for Maori and Pacific women. Maori women’s coverage increased by 1 percentage point during the first 3 months, and Pacific women have increased by nearly 2 percentage points. Although it’s still early days, these results are significant and very encouraging,” says Dr Lewis.

The second stage of the campaign, featuring four new television commercials, has now started.

Steve Chadwick says the new commercials are designed to build on the work done so far, “The Labour-led government is committed to motivating even more women to be screened.

“Having a regular smear reduces a woman’s chances of dying from cervical cancer by around 90 percent. All women between 20 and 70 years of age who have ever been sexually active are encouraged to take part in the National Cervical Screening Programme.”

Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women worldwide and the eighth most common in New Zealand.

The National Cervical Screening Programme has already led to a 50 per cent drop in the incidence of cervical cancer, and a 65 percent reduction in deaths from cervical cancer in New Zealand.

The campaign commercials can be viewed on the National Screening Unit’s website: www.nsu.govt.nz
 

Monty Betham takes it to the floor
30 January 2007 - Source: eventpolynesia.com
 
Dancing With The Stars 2008 dancers and judges have been confirmed. The popular series begins screening next month on TVNZ.

The eight New Zealand celebrities including former Silver Fern Temepara George, actor and restaurateur Geeling Ng, radio DJ and musician Peter Urlich, and World Surf Ironman champion Cory Hutchings, will team up with professional dancers for this year's series.

The final four will join the inevitable ex Shortland Street actress Miriama Smith, sports DJ and ‘Game of Two Halves’ panellist Martin Devlin, performer Tina Cross and our very own boxer Monty Betham on a steep learning curve of who can dance to win the 2008 series of Dancing With The Stars.

The celebrities' dance partners are now confirmed:

• Tina Cross and series two winner Aaron Gilmore
• Peter Urlich and Hayley Holt
• Miriama Smith and series three runner-up Jonny Williams
• Martin Devlin and Lauren de Boeck
• Geeling Ng and series two runner-up Brian Jones
• Cory Hutchings and Rebecca Nicholson
• Monty Betham and series one runner-up Nerida Jantti
• Temepara George and series three winner Stefano Olivieri

The couples will start dance rehearsals in the coming week, in anticipation of the series starting on TV ONE in late February.

The judges confirmed are Brendan Cole, Craig Revel-Horwood and Alison Leonard. This year the fourth seat will be filled by actor and dancer Paul Mercurio, who was on the judging panel in series one and two.

The series will once again be hosted by Jason Gunn and Candy Lane.

Many Pacific are cheering for Monty Betham, 30 year old Aucklander who is a professional boxer and former New Zealand rugby league footballer.

Betham’s charity is Plunket.
 

Expo encourages Pacific economic development
29 January 2007 - Source: New Zealand Government Press Release
 
Pacific Island Affairs Minister Luamanuvao Winnie Laban commends an initiative of Tongan church congregations to promote and enhance economic development pathways and education opportunities for Pacific youth, Vahefonua Tonga 'o Aotearoa (VTOA) Education and Training Expo 2008.

"VTOA Expo 2008 engages young people, parents, teachers, church leaders and the wider Pacific community to interact and gather information first hand about the education, training, employment and career opportunities available from education institutions and industry training organisations," Laban said.

Last year the Labour-led government launched the Pacific Economic Action Plan and the Pacific Women’s Economic Development Plan aimed at lifting the economic potential and prosperity of Pacific people in New Zealand over the next decade. The plans focus on key areas for development including education; workforce development; creative, emerging, and growth industries; entrepreneurial culture; and leadership.

"The plans provide a road map for harnessing the potential that lies within Pacific people and communities, to develop sustainable and exciting businesses, careers and educational opportunities," said Laban.

"VTOA Expo 2008 provides the opportunity for Pacific communities to make informed choices about career and learning opportunities to ensure that they are able to fully contribute, and share in New Zealand's future success."

Pacific Island Affairs Minister Luamanuvao Winnie Laban said engagement with Pacific communities, government agencies and private sector organisations is vital to the delivery of effective services and implementation of the plans.

"Pacific churches are known for their ability to mobilise Pacific communities and VTOA Expo 2008 is a wonderful example of churches working together to provide leadership and promote economic development of our Pacific peoples.

"This year's expo follows the successful inaugural expo in 2007 and I congratulate organisers for providing the opportunity to raise community awareness and for playing an active role in supporting young people to explore and utilise career and learning opportunities," said Laban.
 

Historical Māori moko collection features online
28 January 2007 - Source: Victoria University of Wellington Press Release
 
Ta Moko – Māori tattooing – is featuring in a significant new collection on Victoria University’s New Zealand Electronic Text Centre (NZETC) website.

The NZETC has tried to take into account sensitivities around the digitisation of textual taonga – precious books – and significant Māori knowledge.

“Horatio Gordon Robley’s 1896 publication of Moko; or Māori Tattooing is a key historical resource. The copy in the University collection is particularly interesting because it contains handwritten annotations and several letters about the content,” Alison Stevenson, NZETC director, says.

The NZETC was established in 2002 and aims to provide the community with free access to digital copies of important historical books.

“Robley came to New Zealand in 1864 as an officer in the British Army. He was also an artist and became interested in moko design while he was here. Later, he began to collect mokamokai – preserved heads – which he used as the basis for the many sketches and photos included in his book,” she says.

“There are an additional six texts to accompany Robley’s work, including a contemporary essay on mokomokai and a 19th century manuscript produced by Wiremu Maihi Te Rangikaheke for Governor Grey. The proposal to digitise these works prompted thought and debate on the potential for online access to significant Mā-ori material to both offend and inform.”

“The NZETC undertook consultation with a range of academics, librarians, Māori, Ta Moko artists and the general public. As a result, it was decided to provide free online access to the material, but to not include any images of ancestral remains out of respect for those depicted in the collection.”

Robley’s memoirs, organised and annotated by Wellington book collector and historian, Horace Fildes, are also held at the University Library’s J C Beaglehole Room. The NZETC intends to put them online this year.

The collection is available at http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-corpus-moko.html.
 

Air New Zealand to suspend service between Nadi and Los Angeles
27 January 2007 - Source: Securities Commission Press Release
 
Air New Zealand says that it will suspend flights between Nadi and Los Angeles operated by the airline three times per week, effective 26 April 2008.

Instead, Air New Zealand will expand its code-share agreement with Air Pacific from four services per week to six services per week. All six code-share services will connect to and from Air New Zealand’s London services to ensure the flow of Northern Hemisphere tourism into Fiji.

Air New Zealand Group General Manager International Airline Ed Sims said the code-share agreement with Air Pacific announced last year was working well.

Mr Sims said it was pragmatic for the airline to extend its code-share agreement with Air Pacific and deploy its Boeing 767-300ER aircraft onto higher yielding routes, particularly given ongoing operational pressures such as the high cost of jet fuel.

Air New Zealand currently operates services on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, code-sharing the other days of the week. Its last Monday service will be 21 April, the last Wednesday service will be 23 April and the last Friday service will be 25 April. The expanded code-share service will begin with Air Pacific operating a Wednesday service from 30 April, and a Monday service from 2 June.

The new arrangement means that Air New Zealand code-share services between Nadi and Los Angeles will operate every day except Fridays.

Air Pacific operates Boeing 747-400 aircraft on this route with a capacity of 28 business class and 452 economy class seats.

Mr Sims said Air New Zealand remained committed to a strong presence in the Pacific and the airline’s capacity between New Zealand and Fiji would not be negatively impacted by the schedule change.
 

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