1Spare the Rod Physical punishment of children - should smacking be made illegal? An outline of the current debate raging in NZ. Includes interview with the Minister for Children, Laila Harre. Correspondent: Kim Webby Producer: Max Adams It is often called a loving smack - the physical disciplining of our children. There is a law that lets parents hit their children, use physical discipline, as long as its reasonable. But that law's abhorrent to most child welfare advocates. New battlelines are being drawn on the homefront - this time over the age-old debate of whether it's right or wrong to smack children. Some parents fear their children will end up behind bars if they 'Spare the Rod' and spoil the child. So how far can we go with physical discipline? One Auckland man who smacked his problem six-year-old stepson with a belt was reported to police and was found guilty in court. Yet in Hawkes Bay, a similar case where a boy was disciplined with a piece of kindling wood saw a jury reach a Not Guilty verdict. Correspondent Kim Webby talks with the man convicted of assaulting his child with a belt in the name of discipline, and looks at a law which, if repealed, some say could turn loving parents into criminals. [08/07/01]

2Last Place on Earth The last refuge on earth for the orang-utan - deep in the jungles of Indonesia there is a desperate struggle to save the orangutan from extinction caused by corrupt loggers and miners and the apathy of a profit-hungry world. Correspondent: Scott Pelley Producer: Randall Joyce They are, quite simply, magnificent, but sadly they are slipping towards extinction. Once, Orangutans were everywhere, from China to the South Pacific. Today, they're cornered on two Indonesian islands, Borneo and Sumatra. What we know about them is largely due to one woman, Dr Birute Galdikas. She came to Borneo 30 years ago and made their home hers. Her work revealed to the world the complex skills and extraordinary intelligence of these shy jungle giants. But, as Scott Pelley reports, the woman who discovered how they live must now watch helplessly as the apes who seem so human lose 'Their Last Place On Earth'. [08/07/01]

3The White Mouse Nancy Wake - a cold hearted killer or a frightened NZer who parachuted into France to fight the Gestapo with the Resistance? She shares her story. Correspondent: Mike Valintine Producer: Melanie Jones She may look like anyone's granny, but 88-year-old Nancy Wake could and did kill with her bare hands. She is the most decorated Allied heroine of World War II yet Nancy Wake is virtually unknown here in New Zealand, the country of her birth. Known as 'The White Mouse' (a code name the Gestapo gave her) because of her amazing ability to evade capture, Nancy's story is a truly remarkable one. This woman parachuted into occupied France and took charge of 7000 French Resistance fighters. Her theory was the only good German is a dead one and she says "the deader the better." Corespondent Mike Valintine caught up with Nancy in Australia, where she lives alone - and financially stretched, in a small apartment in the seaside town of Port Macquarie. The feisty heroine may be turning 89 next month, but as Valintine discovered, she's still a mouse who can roar. [08/07/01]

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