A 13-year-old boy had to be taken home in the back of an ambulance this week after he spent a morning drinking rum in the back of a Horowhenua College classroom.

A teacher at the Levin school found him with a 750ml water bottle, used to conceal the liquor, on Monday morning.

He was taken to an administration office where he began vomiting and was disoriented, so an ambulance was called.

"He got worse. He was obviously ill, very lethargic, vomiting, not aware of his surroundings, very much in need of medical attention," principal Brenda Burns told The Dominion Post.

Ambulance officers checked the boy's vital signs, put him on a stretcher and took him home.

Another Year 9 pupil had supplied the boy with the liquor, believed to be from his home, Mrs Burns said.

She described it as a one-off incident.

"The child could have been asking for help. They tend to hide binge-drinking on the weekend but, during the week, they are not hiding it so there may be some other issue."

Capital and Coast District Health Board chief medical officer Geoff Robinson said the boy could have easily died.

Real-life read: Cursed by my husband

As her motorbike skidded along the road and slid under a truck, Christine Gregory Subamia thought she and her son were going to die. She also realised her husband's black magic curse had struck again.

Christine, 48, has lost her home, livelihood and health since walking away from her unhappy second marriage, and people close to her have endured horrific illnesses - and even disappeared.

An evil spell

Bizarrely, the Australian-born businesswoman, who's based in Bali, blames evil spells cast by her ex-husband Ida Bagus, a high-ranking politician.

‘It sounds stupid,' admits Christine, who's too broke to pay for treatment for an inoperable tumour. ‘There's no proof it's black magic, but when you've lived in Bali you know it exists.

‘My husband cursed me when I told him I was going to divorce him. I thought I was strong and good would defeat evil, but now I'm not so sure.'

Ida Bagus was best man when Christine married her first husband Anak Agung, who died in an unusual motorbike accident while she was pregnant. Soon after, Ida began courting Christine.

On their wedding day in 2001, the groom was injured. Perhaps that was an omen.

‘Eventually I discovered Ida wasn't divorced,' she says. ‘He had three children and a Balinese wife, who placed bad luck charms around our house.'

Angry and desperate to escape, Christine told Ida she intended to divorce him. That's when he cursed her too - and all hell broke loose.

Staff at Christine's factory began to fall ill with such frequency that local women wouldn't work there. The business went bust and Christine lost her home. Her daughter Jade, 21, needed an emergency operation, and her son Kyle, 14, has been involved in several accidents.

Christine's new boss, with whom she was falsely rumoured to be having an affair, had a stroke. Her boyfriend began having blinding headaches, then suddenly disappeared without explanation. Finally Christine was diagnosed with an inoperable uterine tumour.

‘I can only take so much,' she says. ‘I've been to Hindu priests all over Bali to lift the curse, but the black magic's too strong. I just want to get on with my life and get well and happy again.'

By Jenny Brown

Judge orders retrial in Travolta case

A judge in the Bahamas has ordered a retrial in the John Travolta extortion case because of possible juror misconduct.

Judge Anita Allen issued the order on Wednesday after a local politician said in a speech on television and radio that one of the defendants had been acquitted after the month-long court case.

Allen did not set a date for a new trial.

An ambulance driver and his lawyer were charged with trying to extort $US25 million ($A26.9 million) from John Travolta following the death of the actor's son, Jett, in the Bahamas.

Travolta's lawyer Michael Ossi said he would cooperate in any way possible and testify again if necessary.

Wider competition for ACC to be considered

The Government is open to wider competition in ACC than just the work account if that is recommended by an expert group considering the issue.

ACT and National this afternoon announced they had reached a deal where the minor party will support a government bill making changes to ACC and in return work would start on opening ACC to competition.

The ACC Stocktake Group, expected to deliver an interim report in February, would be asked to look at the competition issue. Two new members Bryce Wilkinson, a former Treasury policy analyst and Michael Mills, director of consulting firm Martin Jenkins and Associates who has previously done a report on ACC, had been appointed.

ACC Minister Nick Smith said the group would look at introducing competition to the work account, which covers personal injuries in the workplace and is the only profitable account for ACC, but also other areas in which the private and non-government sectors (including iwi) could be involved.

Prime Minister John Key said: "The primary focus they will have will be on competition in the work account."

However, he admitted the group had a wider brief.

"Of course they will look at other aspects of the scheme and how it operates."

Labour leader Phil Goff said any change towards competition in the work account or other areas would not be durable. The work account was opened to competition between 1998 and 2000 until a Labour government re-nationalised it.

"Labour is opposed to privatisation we will fight that tooth and nail and we will reverse it."

He said insurance companies would take the profitable work account and the taxpayer would be lumped with the bills for other accounts.

"It's clear the big winners on this will be the large Australian insurance companies, the losers will be ordinary hard working New Zealanders who will be paying more for their ACC and getting less," Mr Goff said.

"That will be the experience, they are doing this for reasons of blind ideology and to look after their mates."

Mr Key said competition would not go ahead if the group did not recommend it but "I am confident we will get that (positive) response".

Dr Smith said implementing the "anticipated decision" following the group's final report next June to open up the work account to competition would be done as "soon as reasonably practicable" with legislation introduced as soon as possible.

Mr Key expected competition to bring benefits to the financially strapped ACC.

"As a general rule we like competition in the economy, we think it delivers better outcomes and cheaper premiums for New Zealanders."

He said the group would need to consider whether competition would leave the taxpayer with a bigger burden.

"I am confident we can get around that issue and tackle that issue, obviously if we couldn't that would be a real stumbling block."

ACT leader Rodney Hide said there was no intention to allow insurance companies to cherry pick.

"We're not blindly going down that path, we actually want to see the analysis, see that it has merit and if it doesn't have merit we won't be supporting it."

Mr Goff said work by PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Treasury showed little benefit and increased risks in opening the worker's account.

National last week announced changes to ACC, including cutting some entitlements and increasing levies, and needed the support of either ACT or the Maori Party. While the Maori Party agreed to support the first reading, ACT has now committed to pass the bill which gives the Government the numbers it needed.

Maori Party MP Rahui Katene said the party wanted to hear views at the select committee stage. Previously co-leader Tariana Turia has raised concerns about privatising the work account but recently said there could be opportunities for iwi.

Mr Key said today's deal did not cut out the Maori Party.

"We always work in a constructive way with our partners where we can. I think it's far too early to say that they can't get policy gains as we look to rework ACC."

It's been a while but the caption comp is back

Well folks, it's been a couple of weeks since our last competition so first of all I apologise, I've managed to get away from the office for a quick little trip.

Now that we have the formalities out of the way let's get in to the fun stuff.

In light of the new squad announcements and the coaching shuffle in the All Blacks I thought it would be a great idea to pop a picture of Head Honcho Henry and his recruits in to the mix first.



And the best I can come up with is:

"You might be smiling now but you wait til we get to training tomorrow!"

And here's number two for you.

As you know I love to take the mickey out of rugby and so when I came across this pic of Mark Gasnier in a pink strip I couldn't resist.



And here's my caption:

"Proving white men can't fly, Aussie import Mark Gasnier does his best impression of a pink flamingo."

I'm sure you've got some crackers out there so let's get in to it.

Good luck and check back next week when we'll crown the winners and get set for another competition.

"The war is won" - Louise Nicholas

Rape victim advocate Louise Nicholas says she feels a war has been won with the release of a sexual violence report.

Justice Minister Simon Power released the Taskforce for Action on Sexual Violence (TASV) report today, saying it confirmed sexual violence was one of the most costly crimes for the health, social and justice sectors.

Mr Power said there were a number of recommendations to consider, but the process would not be rushed and the Government was unlikely to respond before the end of the year.

The report recommended legislative amendments, work on alternative pathways to the criminal justice system and monitoring the recommendations to ensure action was properly targeted.

Te Ohaakii a Hine -- National Network Ending Sexual Violence Together (TOAH-NNEST), which was represented on the taskforce, thanked those who had contributed to the report, in particular sexual violence survivors who gave their time and knowledge.

TOAH-NNEST said the taskforce was created in response to the public outpouring of concern for rape survivors going through the criminal justice system, following Mrs Nicholas' high profile case in 2006.

Mrs Nicholas was the complainant in the historic rape case against former police officers Brad Shipton, Bob Schollum and Clint Rickards, who were all acquitted.

It was revealed later that Shipton and Schollum had been convicted in 2005 of the pack rape of another woman in Mt Maunganui in 1989.

Today, Mrs Nicholas said the report's release was a cause for celebration for survivors.

"As a survivor of childhood and adult rape my journey alone has been one filled with too many injustices, too many questions and not enough answers," she said.

"I have been through the judicial system seven times in the past 15 years seeking those answers but have always come up against barriers...

"From the age of 13 I found I had lost many battles, but today I feel a war has finally been won."

Mrs Nicholas said the report was a huge step towards ensuring that what she and many others had had to endure would now help future victims.

"Thank you to all members of the TASV, who have shown amazing commitment and dedication to this report and for finally bringing hope and allowing our voices which have been silenced for too long to finally be heard."

Along with taskforce recommendations TOAH-NNEST made others, including:

* a whole-of-government group to work with TOAH-NNEST on ongoing prevention;

* funding for specialised sexual violence prevention services and programmes;

* a focus on six key areas -- including protecting children and Maori-led solutions;

* legislative changes to ACC to support the best practice of rehabilitation and treatment;

* government funding for a Maori offender pilot programme.

Dangerous murderer escapes from prison

Police are hunting a convicted murderer who escaped from a central North Island prison early this afternoon.

Staff at Tongariro Rangipo Prison south unit noticed Christopher Thomas Watkins was missing about 1pm, acting senior sergeant Neale Saunders of Turangi police said.

Watkins, who was serving a life sentence for a 1988 murder, had last been seen at midday.

Police considered Watkins dangerous and he should not be approached, Mr Saunders said.

Police had not idea where he was heading at this stage and asked anyone travelling through the central North Island to be wary of hitchhikers.

Any residents in the area should be vigilant with securing property and vehicles, Mr Saunders said.

Police want to hear about anything suspicious.

Watkins was described as an average build Caucasian male, about 165cm tall.

He was last seen wearing a green polar fleece and a denim jacket.