Five Big Things: Friday, March 8

March 8, 2024
The Fair Go team.

TVNZ proposes cutting several shows to save costs, five health targets have been set by the Govt, and a man is arrested as well as a thief he reported as stealing his cannabis.

1 Staff 'devastated' as TVNZ proposes cancelling Sunday, Fair Go

TVNZ has announced a proposal to cancel award-winning long-form current affairs show Sunday and long-running consumer affairs show Fair Go as part of cost cutting measures.

1News Midday and Tonight would also be affected by the proposal. Up to 68 roles are on the line as part of wider cuts at TVNZ, including in the newsroom.

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2 Five health targets unveiled by the Government

Faster cancer treatment, improved immunisation rates, shorter emergency department stays and shorter waits for first specialist assessments and elective.

These were all targets committed to by Health Minister Dr Shane Reti in Whangārei today.

He says the targets represent a "vigorous new direction in health from a Government determined to deliver for all New Zealanders".

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3 Kaipara woman, 88, with broke hip waits hours for ambulance

88-year-old Beverly Jepson, the mother of the local mayor, was left lying in her garden with a broken hip for more than two hours.

Her son Craig Jepson says he'll be lodging a formal complaint with the ambulance services and is seeking an apology.

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4 Man calls police on alleged cannabis thief, both get arrested

A cannabis grower called police after a balaclava-clad man stole off with some of his prized plants.

Officers located the alleged thief as he walked away from a green waste bin where he'd dumped the "massive cannabis plant, the size of a big Christmas tree".

While talking to the complainant, police found enough to trigger a search warrant, turning up several more cannabis plants.

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5 Australian convict accidentally released from Sydney prison

Thirty-year-old Corey Hastings was let out by mistake from the Long Bay Correctional Complex in Sydney yesterday afternoon.

He was found enjoying his freedom at a Bondi hotel by police who cut the fugitive's unauthorised furlough short.

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ONE MASSIVE LOTTO WIN

An Otago man plans to buy his “bucket list” car after a couple won $12.3 million in last Saturday’s Powerball draw.

“You’ve got one chance to fulfil your dreams, and now we’re lucky enough to be able to, so we’ve got to do it.”

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ONE STRANGE FLIGHT DELAY

A flight in China was delayed by more than four hours after a passenger reportedly threw "three to five" coins into the plane's engine, according to Chinese state media.

Similar incidents of people throwing coins at planes, apparently for “good luck,” have occurred in recent years in China.

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