Friday's headlines: Qinghua Group of China assessing several big mining projects in the South Island; shoppers will be encouraged back into central Christchurch in $100,000 marketing blitz; shooting range temporarily closed after stray pellets reached a car park.
[]h NZ Herald
The front page of The New Zealand Herald is dominated by a special investigation by the paper which says taxpayers have spent more than $500 million over the past decade subsidising Hollywood movies and tv series.
The figure includes more than $220 million in rebates, paid from a fund for big budget productions, as well as tax breaks claimed by movie companies.
Dominion Post
The Dominion Post leads with Thursday's national memorial for the Pike River coal miners.
It describes the grief-lined road to memorials and funerals for West Coast miners as 'well trod' and says the wrenching tradition continued with a poignant and deeply moving service at Omoto.
A young woman has serious injuries after being hit by a bus on Wellington's new Manners St bus route - the third casualty in five days.
About half of the farmed oysters due for harvest next year have died mysteriously, prompting urgent testing by aquatic disease experts.
The Press
The Press says the memorial service was a day for 'weeping and holding each other,' as about 10,000 people gathered to pay tribute to the missing 29 men.
Powerful speeches, prayers, hymns and songs were at the heart of the event.
In other news: Canterbury District Health Board says a Kaiapoi rest home must compensate families it wrongly charged for care.
Shoppers will be encouraged back into central Christchurch in a marketing blitz costing $100,000.
A Christchurch shooting range has been temporarily closed after stray pellets reached a car park.
ODT
The Otago Daily Times says dark green fern leaves, a symbol of the West Coast, were heaped on to 29 tables at the Pike River Coal mine remembrance service by weeping loved ones, mine staff and dignitaries.
In a separate front page story: the Qinghua Group of China - which has more than $12 billion in mining assets - is assessing several big projects in the South Island, with the potential for generating thousands of jobs.
