Friday's headlines: life savings wiped out at Ross Asset Management; Government officials told to head back to Wellington; lack of light rail decried in draft transport plan for Christchurch.
NZ Herald
The New Zealand Herald leads with the fast-tracking of visas for wealthy Chinese visitors. The paper reports the Government is facing renewed pressure over its relationship with SkyCity, after claims the casino operator lobbied it over a deal with China Southern Airlines to reduce visa requirements.
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters on Thursday produced internal Immigration New Zealand emails revealing concerns the deal would allow criminals into the country.
Waikato Times
The Waikato Times leads with a former Inland Revenue employee admitting to creating false credentials and stealing more than $200,000.
She pleaded guilty on Thursday to 163 fraud-related charges in Hamilton District Court. Crash investigators are pictured inspecting a fatal crash at Taupiri. A woman died at the scene, after a Subaru car crashed through a fence and landed upside down on a trampoline.
Dominion Post
The Dominion Post says hundreds of affluent New Zealanders could have chunks of their life savings wiped out as investigations continue into Ross Asset Management, whose offices were raided by the Financial Markets Authority earlier this month.
Only $10 million of $449 million has so far been confirmed as existing.
A merger of two Wellington primary schools has been condemned as more of a takeover, after only two staff at one of the schools got jobs at the combined entity.
The Press
Top story in The Press is an opinion piece on the Christchurch draft transport plan. A staff writer says there shouldn't be many disgruntled city users and commuters if the proposed principles are anything to go by - unless they're fans of light or mainline rail.
In a separate story, Mayor Bob Parker describes the lack of light rail in the plan as short-sighted.
The only other story on the front page says Government officials were told in fiery language to head back to Wellington on Thursday, as tempers flared at a hearing on the future of Canterbury Regional Council.
ODT
The Otago Daily Times describes the decision on Hillside as a "body blow". Workers told the paper that the railway workshops managed to survive two World Wars and the Great Depression but not the current Government.
Police and the Civil Aviation Authority are investigating the death of an Italian man in a skydiving accident in Wanaka on Thursday.
