Les 10 premieres nouvelles de l'année, d'après le publique de One TV

2006 People's choice Top 10 stories

By Sarah Pritchett, Jaimee Astle, Kathryn Stewart and Gerard Counsell

What news stories had the most impact on you in 2006? That was the question the news team at tvnz.co.nz asked at the beginning of December.

             

There were some thought provoking responses and stories that our news team would have picked for the top 10 did not necessarily make the cut.

             

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Here are the People's Choice Top 10 news stories for 2006.

             

                Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin dies              

             

The death of Steve Irwin, a seemingly invincible animal lover, shocked not only his home country Australia, but the entire world.

             

On the afternoon of Monday September 4, news websites across Australia and New Zealand - including tvnz.co.nz - crashed under the load, as people the world over scrambled to find out about Irwin's untimely death.

             

The man, known as the Crocodile Hunter was killed by a stingray barb to his chest. While his funeral was private, Australia expressed its sorrow at his death in a moving memorial service at Australia Zoo.

             

                Kahui murder              

             

The most tragic stories are often the ones we remember most clearly and are most affected by.

             

The murder of three-month-old twins Chris and Cru Kahui in June shocked the nation. They were taken to Auckland's Middlemore Hospital with serious head injuries and broken bones and died a few days later.

             

But it wasn't just the Kahui's violent death that created headlines - the revelation from police that family members were stonewalling the investigation to find their killer led to a public outcry.

             

More than four months after their death their 21-year-old father Chris Kahui was arrested and charged with the murder of his twin sons.

             

In November Kahui was granted. He will reappear in the Manukau District Court on January 17 for a pre-depositions hearing.

             

                Coldsnap freezes the south              

             

2006 was a year of unpredictable weather, especially in June when a $100 million snowstorm paralysed much of the South Island - it was the heaviest snowfall in over 60 years.

             

Nineteen thousand customers were left without power, the infrastructure simply could not cope and trains, planes and vehicles ground to a halt. When the weather did clear, the extent of the storm was apparent, but no-one realised how long its effects would be felt.

             

It was three weeks before the last Electricity Ashburton customer was reconnected and even longer for the snow to disappear.

             

Six months on from the storm, the costs continued to be felt.

             

                Maori Queen passes away.              

             

In August the nation grieved as the Maori Queen, Dame Te Arikinui Te Atairangikaahu, died after a long battle with failing health.

             

Te Atairangikaahu was the sixth leader of Maori kingship, the Kingitanga movement, and was the longest serving monarch in its history. Crowned in 1966 as the first female monarch, her mana increased over the years.

             

The high regard in which she was held was exemplified by the huge crowds that turned up to her Tangi to say goodbye.

             

Dame Te Arikinui Te Atairangikaahu was 75.

             

                Don Brash resigns              

             

In November National Party leader Don Brash resigned from his position after three years in the top job.

             

It happened at a press conference where he was expected to clear the way for Nicky Hager's controversial book on National - The Hollow Men - to be published. The book was blocked by an injunction taken by Brash, to stop stolen emails from being made public. However, Brash said he did not resign as a result of Hager's book, but rather because of the distraction allegations swirling around him were having on the party.

             

On the Monday following Brash's announcement the party met to appoint their new leader, and there were no surprises at John Key's appointment.

             

The former Finance spokesperson - a portfolio now handled by new deputy leader Bill English - was a show in for the job - especially following his climb in the preferred PM stakes throughout the year.

             

                Trade Me sold to Fairfax              

             

Trade Me is practically a national obsession - in years to come it will no doubt mentioned in advertising campaigns alongside L&P, buzzy bees, pavlovas and jandals as a Kiwi icon.

             

The online auction site, which is responsible for lost productivity in businesses up and down the country sold to Australian media company Fairfax in March for $700 million. Trade Me founder Sam Morgan stayed on as General Manager.

             

Fairfax chief executive David Kirk, said Fairfax did not intend making any changes to Trade Me, which he said would continue to operate as a stand-alone business. But just weeks later traders were angered when the website increased its fees on auctions.

             

                Beaconsfield mine accident              

             

On Tuesday April 25 a small earthquaketriggered a rockfall at a Tasmanian gold mine, trapping three miners almost a kilometre underground. And so began a survival story that captured the world's attention.

             

Brant Webb, 37, and Todd Russell, 34 survived the rockfall, but their mate Larry Knight, 44, did not.

             

The news of Webb and Russell's survival reached a disbelieving public five days after the cave-in.

             

Then for more than a week we went to bed anticipating the emergence of the two miners, only to awaken each morning to news of more delays as their rescuers insisted on taking every possible precaution.

             

After 14 days underground, trapped in a wire cage about the size of a double bed, Webb and Russell emerged from the mine to a heroes welcome.

             

Wearing yellow jackets and mining helmets with their lamps shining brightly, they walked out of the mine shaft and straight to a large board to remove their name cards and clock off - ending their underground shift.

             

The Beaconsfield story resonated so deeply because it showed what we all desperately want to believe - that in every dark moment there is life at the end of the tunnel.

             

                Telecom forced to unbundle              

             

In Decemberparliament voted 119 to 2 in support of the Telecommunications Amendment Bill which forces Telecom to open up the local loop, therefore opening up the company's lines to greater competition.

             

But the unbundling got tangled up in a tale of intrigue as a cabinet paper outlining the plan was leaked, wiping $2 billion off the share price of NZ's largest listed company.

             

The culprit turned out to be parliamentary messenger Michael Ryan who lost his job, with the PM saying "it was gross and disgraceful dishonesty and such a person cannot continue in the public service".

             

The leak saw the Finance Minister lose his budget centrepiece and his temper when the media focus fell on the large surplus and the lack of tax cuts.

             

                Auditor-General's election spending report and subsequent legislation              

             

New Zealand's General Election of September 2005 came back to bite the winners and the losers in 2006 when it turned out some of the taxpayer's money meant for running political parties' offices had actually gone into electioneering.

             

Labour was accused of misspending on a pledge card featuring Prime Minister Helen Clark. It was left up to the Auditor General Kevin Brady to investigate and rule. And when he came out with his report in October, it painted a sorry picture for every party in parliament except Jim Anderton's Progressives. A total of $1.17 million of taxpayers' money had been unlawfully spent by MPs.

             

Brady said MPs had been fairly warned three months before the election about what was acceptable spending. But he blamed much of the problem on an incorrect interpretation of the rules by Parliamentary Services, the agency charged with overseeing election spending. Brady found the misspending ranged from $768,000 by Labour down to $48 by the Maori Party. New Zealand First had wrongly spent $150,000, the Greens $80,000, United Future $60,000, Act almost $18,000 and National $11,000.

             

Clark maintained Labour spent its parliamentary budget within the rules, but the government would change the law anyway to clarify the rules for the future - and validate past election spending.

             

In the meantime, there were promises from offending parties to pay the money back. Labour had a whip around at its party conference and called for public donations to the kitty. The law change went through in October despite protests by National and Act amid fiery scenes in the House. National said the public will never forgive Labour for a retrospective law to validate its own overspend.

             

                Auckland power cut              

             

On a brisk June morning shortly after 8:30am Auckland was plunged into darkness, when a 110-kilovolt feeder to the Otahuhu substation was lost in rough weather.

             

The power outage left hundreds of thousands of people without electricity, forcing businesses to close early and costing them an estimated $70 million.

             

Supply gradually resumed from 12:30pm, but the outage was the worst since the Auckland blackouts of 1998.

             

It highlighted the vulnerability of Auckland, which accounts for about 16% of economic activity, and 17% of the country's jobs.

             

As if it wasn't embarrassing enough that a problem at one substation cripple what is supposed to be a major city, it turned out that two $7 D shackles were.

             

The shackles normally withstand winds of up to 140 kilometres per hour, but failed under a gust of around 85 kph. The bolts had been installed 40 years ago, but were never replaced despite being inspected by a contractor in 2003.