24 September - 30 September Page 1 New Zealand government Party of New Zealand to continue the Coolbrands is owned by a consultancy denies financial assistance for Overlander train service, including one firm in the UK, called Superbrands. It Overlander petition signed by 16,000 people pre- started in 2001, CoolBrands is a way September 25, 2006 sented at the Parliament Buildings on of telling how 'cool' a brand is. September 14, 2006. "While there Superbrands defines "brands that have The New Zealand government today have been a number of propositions become extremely desirable among has announced that they will not pro- about retaining the Overlander service, many style leaders and influencers. vide financial assistance to the all of the propositions would require They have a magic about them, signi- Overlander train service between government funding in one form or fying that users have an exceptional Auckland and Wellington, which is set another," said Mallard. sense of taste and style." to stop service on September 30, if no assistance is forthcoming. ONTRACK Mallard said that the government will George Hickton, chief executive of will retain the North Island main trunk only support rail services if it signifi- Tourism New Zealand, said: "This win line, while looking for tourism opera- cantly benefitted the community. is a vindication of the recent work tors to start a tourist rail service. The Government estimates that finan- we’ve put in to the UK market, with cial assistance to the Overlander train the Chelsea Flower Show and our Trevor Mallard, acting Finance 100% Pure New Zealand advertising Minister, said: "In making this deci- service would cost NZ$1.75 million a year. campaign ensuring New Zealand stays sion... Cabinet recognised that there top of mind with potential travellers." was no prospect of the current "Finally, the government does recog- Overlander service becoming commer- nise and value the importance of a "It’s very gratifying to see we are such cially viable. It was not a fuel-efficient viable and efficient rail network in a desirable destination, especially as operation and at an average passenger New Zealand’s transport this poll includes opinion leaders who rate of 50 passengers each way per infrastructure. This was a critical fac- can have an real influence on people’s day, it was used by relatively few tor in the government’s decision to buy travel choices." says Mr Hickton. "this people." the rail network back from Tranz Rail. is the second award New Zealand has The government has also committed received in the UK this September, It is cheaper and faster to travel either with Conde Nast Traveller magazine by bus or plane rather than the 12-hour $200 million to upgrade the national rail network between 2004/05 and also voting New Zealand best destina- train journey. "The fares already over- tion this month." lap with airfares, and the reality is that 2007/08. A further $600 million has the service is just not well-used. It can been provided to upgrade the Editor of Condé Nast Traveler not compete with low-priced air travel Auckland rail network between Magazine, Sarah Miller, called New and coaches. Cabinet considered the 2005/06 and 2009/10." Zealand a "point of authenticity." And regional implications of ceasing the professional nation brander, Wally Overlander service and accepted that CoolBrands: New Zealand Olin, said "New Zealand has been coolest place in the world very, very clever. It has turned its dis- the current bus services run by the September 26, 2006 InterCity Group met the needs of those advantages into advantages." communities," Mallard said. New Zealand has been voted the "Reaping the benefits of its recent There has been numerous petitions coolest place in the world by United marketing campaign, New Zealand is from the public and from the Green Kingdom brand: CoolBrands. apparently the hottest place to be," said If you would like to write, publish or edit articles, visit www.wikinews.org.nz Wikinews New Zealand Page 2 the London News. being repeated in this country." him to court. 650 brands were chosen by researchers TVNZ had originally won the rights to Colin McGilicray, police prosecutor, which were then put before 23 judges screen the footage on August 7, 2006 said: "Macridis has a significant num- and were made available for the pub- after the Court of Appeal dismissed an ber of previous fraud convictions and lic, of which 1,725 people participated appeal made by the French Secret it appeared he was trying to obtain in an online survey. Five percent of Service. A lawyer acting on behalf of money through virtue of his technical the original 650 made it to the finals, Mafart and Prieur stopped TVNZ from knowledge." including Morocco, Maldive and rebroadcasting the footage. Macridis, who represented himself, Australia. TVNZ say they are "overjoyed at the told the court that for 11-years he had New Zealand receives most of its result." worked as a casual security consultant tourists from Australia, closely fol- Bill Ralston, head of news and current and he had worked for Telecom, lowed by the UK. affairs for TVNZ, said: "It has been an police and Department of Internal The top ten destinations included: incredibly long and dogged fight to Affairs. 1. New Zealand bring these pictures to the public. This Macridis thought himself as an honest, is a significant triumph for media free- law abiding citizen as his 1994 convic- 2. Morocco dom and hopefully demonstrates to the tion had 'turned his life around'. 3. Fiji French (and any other Government, Judge Ian Mill said this case was very corporate or individual) that the New 4. Prague unusual and also noted that Macridis Zealand media will not be intimidated ended his offending over 10-years ago. 5. Australia into submission by legal stonewalling. Best of all, a whole new generation of Mill said: "Macridis used his talents to 6. Maldives New Zealanders will now get to be identify security risks and he had iden- 7. Amsterdam eyewitness to a pivotal moment in our tified a grave risk to the Reserve Bank country's history." and its customers. Macridis provided a 8. Brighton report of his findings, requested pay- TV One, owned by TVNZ, will screen 9. Bahamas ment albeit without a contract and for the footage on October 1, 2006 on his troubles was prosecuted. He did 10.Bermuda Sunday. not pass the information on to others and did not use it for personal gain." TVNZ wins court battle to New Zealand Reserve Bank screen Rainbow Warrior court phone hacker unpunished "In my view his intentions were footage September 28, 2006 honourable," Mill added. September 27, 2006 Gerasimos Macridis, 39-years-old, left Mill discharged him without convic- New Zealand broadcast company, the court room discharged without tion on the basis that a conviction Television New Zealand (TVNZ), has conviction after hacking into the New would be out of proportion with his won a 20 year court battle to show Zealand Reserve Bank's phone system actions. court footage of Alain Mafart and and then asking for money for his ser- Toll New Zealand announces Dominique Prieur pleading guilty to vices after pointing out these security the manslaughter of photographer, that the Overlander train flaws to both the Reserve Bank and service will stay Fernando Pereira during the 1985 Telecom New Zealand in May, 2006, September 28, 2006 bombing of Greenpeace ship the and offering to fix them. He had iden- Rainbow Warrior. The Supreme Court tified himself as a security consultant. Toll New Zealand has announced that dismissed the pair's request of appeal The New Zealand Police then raided it will keep the Overlander train ser- and has ordered that they pay vice but on a reduced timetable, the NZ$2,500 to TVNZ. his home and took his computer on 21 September. Macridis told police that service was initially due to stop ser- The Supreme Court said: "The pair he did not think it was illegal, but vice September 30. Toll said that they pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 1985 knew he was not authorised to access reached the decision because of the in circumstances hard to imagine ever the phone systems. Telecom then took huge amount of public support the If you would like to write, publish or edit articles, visit http://www.wikinews.org.nz/ Wikinews New Zealand Page 3 train service received, including a sim in the Ruapehu District, it's about 30 top computer science graduates. 16,000 person petition. bringing 13,000 passengers here." However, at the moment New Zealand The Overlander will originally run for The Manning Group has a proposal would struggle to fill any new jobs. In only three days a week; Friday, out for electro-diesel trains running the past two years demand for comput- Saturday and Sunday during winter on two times a day and stopping eight er science graduates had tripled while the original timetable. But during sum- times between Auckland and supply had halved." mer through to autumn the service will Wellington. Tom Manning said: "[I The New Zealand Game Developers run seven days a week. Toll hopes that am] pleased Toll is looking at upgrad- Association said around 140 people this will cover all the needs of its ing options for the Overlander and I work in the development of video patrons. am still open to working with the com- games in New Zealand. They say the David Jackson, Toll NZ CEO, said: pany to bring better trains to the industry is worth between NZ$8 mil- "We have had tremendous support network." lion and $10 million each year.