1Party Lines Tomorrow, Telecom New Zealand will open up its books to a list of potential buyers. Brierley Investments Limited (BIL) have said they are interested, as are several big international operators - AT&T, the Bell companies from the United States, British Telecom, Nippon Telegraph, and Telephone. Some say it is like selling off the roads, that New Zealand is selling off the chance to belong to a growth industry that could be the new oil. A recent poll shows a significant majority of New Zealanders oppose the sale of Telecom. But it has also divided Government Caucus, as they argued about, and now defend, what could be the Labour Party's version of 'Think Big'.

2A British proposal to give full passports to 50,000 talented Hong Kong residents and their families has caused bitter debate in the British House of Commons. Conservative Government MP Norman Tebbit led dozens of his colleagues to cross the floor. His justification: that "The Bill would allow for a great wave of immigration by people who do not share the British culture, and who could destabilise Britain." The British Nationality (Hong Kong) Selection Scheme has been sold to the public as a way of preventing an exodus of talent before China takes control of Hong Kong in 1997. The Labour Party also dismissed the Bill, but not for the same reasons as Tebbit.