Undemocratic Nats.

The National Government would continue with the Asset Sales programme even with a referendum date set.

Though opposition parties will today table 392,000 signatures calling for an asset sales referendum, Bill English said this will not stop the process.

"The sales are going ahead," English told TV3's Firstline. "We've already launched the Mighty River Power float and there will be others.

He said "This is an issue that was campaigned on right through election year, we laid out the policy in detail, the opposition parties had a year to debate it”.

Key added "They've probably taken over a year to get maybe 300,000 names, we've had 285,000 pre-registrations in a matter of days".

Russel Norman said the comments from the National Party were incredibly disrespectful.

5th March: Strike, Fairtrade

Teachers all over he country will be picketing in front of MP’s offices this morning marking 6^th months since the Novopay system was brought in.

NZEI national secretary, Paul Goulter, says teachers will be outside schools and National MPs' offices as a reminder that the issues haven't been resolved.

He said "It's unacceptable six months on, the six month anniversary of Novopay, that the problems just seem to be getting worse.''

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Otago Polytechnic could become the country’s first Fairtrade campus after the governing body voted unanimously to adopt Fairtrade policies.

''Otago Polytechnic has the opportunity to become the first polytechnic in New Zealand to become a fair trade member and be recognised as a fair trade supporter,'' Jean Tilleyshort said.

Several further steps must be taken before the polytechnic can gain ''fair trade'' status: including setting up a steering group to set and monitor goals, committing to selling fair trade products, and selling fair trade tea, coffee, sugar and chocolate drinks and bars at its sales outlets.

4th March: Israeli apartheid, workers rights,

Due to complaints from Israeli settlers who say Palestinians are a security risk, one bus company that commutes Palestinians and Israelis from the West Bank has now made separate buses for Palestinians and Israelis.

Palestinians are already barred from entering the Israeli settlements in their own territory, now they will get buses of their own, starting from the checkpoints Palestinians are required to go through.

Transportation Ministry officials are not officially calling them segregated buses, but rather bus lines intended to relieve the distress of the Palestinian workers. 

But the Israeli newspaper Haaretz says Palestinians have often been treated roughly on the public transport, and the situation could now get worse.

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The Northern Christchurch business Kiwi Pellets Kaiapoi has fired its five labourers, but not after they were forced to train the 11 prison inmates that will be replacing them.

One worker said they were told they were being replaced "due to lack of work and other factors" just days after the company had hired 11 inmates from Christchurch's Rolleston Prison under the Release to Work scheme.

Hare Solomon said he will start mediation with the Department of Labour over the redundancies. He said "I feel this could happen to other employees at other places of work and would not like to see this happen to anyone, it is not a good feeling to lose a job you like.

Ironically, Mr Solomon said the business productivity started plummeting once the 5 workers had lost their jobs.

The Department of Corrections would not confirm whether inmates were working at Kiwi Pallets due to prisoners' privacy, but The Press followed a van full of workers from the company premises to Rolleston Prison.

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