Due to the live nature of Tonight, we apologise for the lack of captions for some items. Tonight ` has the about face resulted in a loss of face for the Education Minister? A U-turn over planned cuts. The power's slowly coming back on in Christchurch, but the snow and icy conditions are prompting a warning for motorists. A hair-raising ride for this unlucky pedestrian, but wait until you hear the driver's excuse. In a massive backtrack today, the government has decided not to increase class sizes ` a U-turn from its announcement following the Budget a fortnight ago. The controversial move was wildly unpopular with the education sector and the public alike. Matt McLean with today's developments. Just 48 hours ago, a defiant education minister was adamant ` cuts had to be made. Half of all schools are actually going to be gaining. A flip, though, this afternoon. We are reversing the decision in respect of class ratios. We will maintain them as they are now. The move would've seen teacher numbers cut and class sizes increased. As expected, parents and teachers were outraged. ALL CHANT: Heck no, Hekia. Heck no, Hekia. Hekia Parata told Close Up tonight she wasn't expecting the backlash. It was never our intention that this particular component of our overall education plan would affect parents and kids in the way that it has. Ms Parata says the initial plan was meant as a trade-off ` save money by increasing class sizes ` and pump those savings into improving teacher quality. Parents have said it's not a trade-off that they're prepared to accept. And so have teachers, and we have heard that. Today, parents were breathing a sigh of relief. It's a great relief, fantastic. I hope they don't renege on that. And common sense prevails. Schools, too, celebrating the back down. I'm thankful that they've thought about this and they've taken into consideration the feedback that they've received from the community across NZ. Labour says this has been a complete humiliation for the government. All the way from John Key, who chaired cabinet, who should have known about the impact this would have, through to the minister, this has been a total botch-up. A bad week, too, for Hekia Parata, who was seen as a rising star of the National Party. She says, though, she's staying put as education minister. I'm passionate about ensuring that the one in five students who are currently being left behind are not left behind. But with our latest polls showing support for National has slipped, the government will be hoping this hasn't been too little too late. Matt McLean, ONE News. Linesmen have been hard at work in Christchurch ensuring that less than a hundred homes are without power tonight. Much of the city and large areas of the South Island are still blanketed in snow, prompting a warning for motorists. Lisa Davies reports from Christchurch. The early morning serenity that only comes with snow showcased in Hagley Park. This igloo is a little too close to reality for some Cantabrians who haven't had power since yesterday. Just... soldier on. There's no power and no phone at the Inksons' farmhouse. It does make you feel isolated, but you get used to it. Forced to cook on the log fire. But making the best of it. It'll be hot. Just outside their place, work's underway to try and sort out their power situation. It's just one on a very long list. Lots of reports of branches on lines, trees on lines, smoking trees, smoking power lines. Orion are working round the clock to restore power where it can. That's correct. Its cut-off customers are mainly understanding. Usually they say, 'Would you like a cup of tea? Oh, actually, I haven't got power.' < Yeah, no pressure (!) That happens most of the time. It might look idyllic out here ` a country road covered in snow ` but the people I've spoken to are a bit over it, really. They're facing another night without power, according to Orion. Icy roads are another unwelcome development. Our ONE News truck was one of 15 vehicles on the receiving end of icy collisions in the city. All of a sudden lost all traction. His van slid over on to the wrong side of the road, knocking our cameraman to the ground. Just so sudden, your car's out of control. We could've killed your cameraman today. Even those on foot were in peril, with ambulance crews called out to 20 separate incidents of people falling on icy paths. Perhaps the toboggan was the only sensible mode of transport. Snow on Sumner Beach ` DOG BARKS an unexpected treat. The only treat the Inksons are after is their power back on, please. And the freezing temperatures are prompting concern for the hundreds still living in temporary accommodation after the earthquake. Residents in badly affected areas are angry, saying more should have been done to help those suffering as a result of this week's heavy snowfalls. This is sort of symptomatic of what happens in Canterbury, is that we talk a lot about the things that are happening, but we don't actually seem to have a very good grasp on it. So for me, there is a frustration that we knew the snow was coming. We should have learnt from last year. Cancern's backing calls for emergency accommodation to be provided the next time a major snow storm hits Christchurch. And the NZ Transport agency will look at reopening alpine passes on the West Coast of the South Island in the morning. Crews worked all day to clear the roads of snow, but State Highway 73 that winds through Porters and Arthur's passes remain closed tonight. There was trouble for trampers as well. Two women were airlifted out of the St James walkway after getting caught in the deep snow. The sister of dead farmer Scott Guy says she wondered how the accused, Ewen Macdonald, knew her brother had been shot so early on. Nikki Guy says Macdonald was so adamant he even corrected the man who found his body. Simon Bradwell is covering the trial. Nikki Guy says she was shocked and disbelieving when she heard her brother Scott was dead. It didn't enter my head that he'd been killed. I thought he must have died in his sleep or some kind of natural causes. Nikki Guy rushed to the murder scene where family were gathering. I was really focused on just comforting my mum, and I can remember Mum saying, 'Not my baby, not Scotty.' And I remember Ewen being slightly off to the side. Ewen MacDonald's accused of murdering Scott Guy with a shotgun, and it was what he said moments after she arrived, that stuck in Nikki Guy's mind. I remember thinking, 'How did Ewen know that he'd been shot when he was down at the cordon?' In fact, Nikki Guy said Ewen MacDonald was so insistent Scott Guy had been shot that he contradicted David Berry, who found the young father's body and told a 111 operator that his throat had been cut. As Scott Guy's neighbour Bonnie Fredriksson told the defence, locals had heard shots that morning. Give us the sequence. Bang, bang, bang. > In that timeframe? As well as I can remember. > But the Crown says no one knew Scott Guy had been shot when family were at the cordon ` not even police. Nikki Guy says she broke the news to Ewen MacDonald's wife, Scott Guy's sister, of the murder. She just kept saying 'You're joking, you're joking.' Nikki Guy added that Ewen MacDonald was upset and crying at the murder scene. Nikki Guy told the defence she had a special bond with her younger brother, who had recently gone to Invercargill for a conference with Ewen MacDonald, and the pair had got on well. Everything seemed really good between them at that time? Yes. Yep. > Another witness said he thought that he might have been the killer's target ` the second neighbour of the murdered man to raise the possibility of mistaken identity, fitting the defence case that police have the wrong man. Simon Bradwell, ONE News. Taking children from serious child abusers isn't getting much support from the National Party's coalition partners. And a family involved in one of this country's worst child abuse cases doesn't like the idea either. Political reporter Michael Parkin has details. Neither Chris Kahui nor Macsyna King were ever convicted for the death of their twin boys. But their sons' deaths have been singled out by the Prime Minister as a reason why the courts should have the power to stop abusive parents from having children. If we are really serious about saying we want to see an elimination of the Kahui twins and those kinds of horrific beatings and murders of children, then in my view we have to step up and do more than we are currently doing. Chris Kahui has a new wife and another child. We put Paula Bennett's proposal to his new family. Without forgiveness there can be no restitution, and so, for me, we... we can't become too drastic. Associate Social Development Minister and Maori Party Co-leader Tariana Turia says such proposals are a slippery slope. Do we then make sure that every man who rapes is sterilized? Do we then chop fingers or hands off people who steal, as in other countries they do? You know, where do we stop? If a law change is required the government will need either the Maori Party or United Future. Peter Dunne says removing someone's right to have children is too extreme. If you start to get to a position where kids are being forcibly removed from parents, it's got all of the trappings of the dictatorship states that we don't think we're part of. Just last week United Future and the Maori Party were openly criticising National's now abandoned plans to change school funding. But despite their protests today, neither party is prepared to walk away from the coalition. Nor would ACT. Its leader can see an argument for state-sanctioned confiscation of children. Every child deserves to live in a loving home. No child deserves to be punished and abused and even killed, so we have to look at that. But this proud grandfather says it's a problem for families to solve, not government. Michael Parkin, ONE News. If you're flying from Auckland to, say, Masterton or Queenstown, you're about to pay more. From next month, fees for domestic passengers will go up to $5.55 ` an increase of $1.32. The airport company's spending $28m patching up its domestic terminal before a new one's built in the next five to 10 years. A massive piece of debris from last year's tsunami in Japan has turned up over 8000km away off a beach in the United States. The wreckage is a pontoon about 20m long and 5m wide and was mistaken for a barge when it first turned up. A commemorative plaque showed the dock came from the port of Misawa, on the northern tip of Japan. It's very interesting to go up there, and you can see the name 'Japan' on the wheels. It's sad. It's bittersweet, you know, but it's a piece of history right here in front of us. The bulk of the debris from the tsunami is not expected for another few months, but some fast moving items, including a football that landed at Alaska, have already washed up. Just ahead ` find out what excuse this driver gave when she took an unwilling passenger with her. And it took six long days to climb this mountain, but much quicker to jump into the record books. Come on, Seymour. Come on, Seymour. DOG BARKS Yes, dear? Yes, dear? Hello, there. Did you know NZ TV's going digital? Is that right? Is that right? Yeah. It'll be heaps better. With old TV... Well, let Seymour show you. But with digital ` DOG BARKS DOG BARKS better pictures, better sound and more channels. DOG BARKS APPLAUSE To find out how you can see more and enjoy more, visit goingdigital.co.nz 1 Money set aside by the world's second-largest stock exchange to repay Facebook investors is already being labelled 'paltry'. The Nasdaq's putting $52m into a fighting fund to compensate people for last month's bungled float. It's blaming computer glitches for the two-hour delay on the social network's market debut. But a top Wall Street trader says the money's not enough and is hinting at legal action. Hundreds of Australian workers could soon be out of a job, with Shell announcing it's closing its Western Sydney refinery. Shell will move its fuel operations to Asia, where the cost of production is cheaper. Around 700 workers could be let go. Shell has made the commitment to its employees it will support them through this transition. It will provide counselling, it will provide training. The Caltex refinery in the area is tipped to follow the move. It used to be one of the most secretive and repressive regimes in Asia, but Burma, or Myanmar as it's also known, is increasingly coming in from the cold. Australia is the latest country to announce it's lifting sanctions against Burma, from where the ABC's Zoe Daniels reports. The isolated capital, Naypyidaw, is a symbol of military rule. But now, under a reformist president, there's change. A few months ago, Thein Sein was removed the list of those not allowed to travel to Australia under sanctions. Now 126 other members of the military and former junta will also have travel restrictions and limitations on financial activity lifted. Australia had imposed limited sanctions on Burma since about 2007, penalising those seen to be profiting from the regime. Suspending sanctions is a recognition of the recent political reforms that have seen dramatic political change here and the government's view that engagement will work better than coercion from here on. Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was recently elected to Parliament, is supportive, as long as sanctions can be reapplied if needed. The government says they can. I believe that sanctions have had great effect politically. If they had not had such effect, the government of Burma would not have been so eager to have them removed. Australia will also double foreign aid to Burma by 2015. A Scottish woman's been jailed for four years after this shocking incident last June. The woman drove her car into a pedestrian and continued driving for 300 metres. The driver was trying to escape from a shopping centre security guard. She blamed her behaviour on hormones, saying she thought she might be pregnant. The victim later said he thought he was a goner. A man in China is being hailed as a hero after he climbed up the side of a four-storey building to save a toddler. The boy slipped through a railing and was only caught by his head. The man supported the boy until rescue services arrived. A Russian has leaped into the record books with the world's highest base jump. And it wasn't just Valery Rozov's jump that was an amazing feat. The effort of getting to one of Mt Shivling's peaks in the Himalayas was a sight to be seen. ABC's Nick Watt reports. There's a mystical Himalayan mountain 21,500ft high. And there's a man. Hello. I am Valery Rozov. Rozov just spend six gruelling days climbing that mountain, then strapped himself into a wing suit and jumped ` the highest base jump ever attempted. A little Wagner, please. 'RIDE OF THE VALKYRIES' Now, Rozov, a 47-year-old Russian, was also the first guy to jump off this mountain in Antarctica; the first guy to jump into this Russian volcano; a member of the bravado band of base jumpers testing limits and flirting with the fate of Icarus. My own favourite, Gary Connery, just jumped out of a helicopter in a wing suit, but without a parachute, aiming for those cardboard boxes to break his fall. He made it. < Tell us how it was. Um, I am in a strange space, if I'm totally honest. Now back to Valery Rozov, 90 seconds after his leap, miraculously drifting safe to terra firma in the Himalayas and that new world record. Safe and sound after a feat that one of his brave brethren is no doubt already planning to beat. Just ahead ` the fresh faces who'll pull on the black jersey against Ireland on Saturday. And I'll be back with your forecast for Friday. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEPING INCREASES Could I have a price check on TENA bladder weakness liners, register 7? Well, it's just a slight weakening of the pelvic muscles. It's no big deal. One in three women have it, so one of them probably has it. I'm fine with it. Do you have a loyalty card? It's no big deal with TENA. Now to the most-viewed stories on our website today. Two inmates with extensive criminal histories have escaped from Waikeria Prison in Waikato. John Key was off to Germany for talks about Europe's debt crisis after meeting the Queen at Buckingham Palace. And One Direction were alarmed to hear a fan had hidden in their dustbin for four hours in an effort to meet them. The new era of All Black rugby is officially here, with the naming of the team to play Ireland this weekend in the first Test at Eden Park. Wing Julian Savea and halfback Aaron Smith are the new caps in the backline. Veteran Dan Carter is set to surpass Andrew Mehrtens' record 70 Tests at first five. In the forwards, young chiefs lock Brodie Retallick gets his first cap, with Victor Vito preferred over Adam Thomson. To the reserves ` Hika Elliot is poised for just his third cap. Ben Smith will cover the back three. Stephen Stuart reports. The new coach and his new caps. Steve Hansen's confident he has the right mix ` seven starters from last year's World Cup final and in-form youngsters. You just can't keep the same people forever and ever a day, but the more experience you have, the easier it is, because you've been there before, you've done it. Chiefs lock Brodie Retallick is the only newcomer in a pack boasting 353 caps. They're always there to give you a pointer and help you out and give you an opportunity to do something different. Retallick only turned 21 last week ` the same age as his middle row partner Sam Whitelock when he made his debut. It seems to be going that way a little bit, but Brodie's being playing really well this year. And making a real impression on his teammates. He's a big kid, isn't he? Big? > He eats the house down. He's pretty unhygienic too. Haven't roomed with him, but you can just tell. Williams is preferred ahead of Ma'a Nonu to start just his eighth Test, after an outstanding Super 15. We know he's a freak, so he can do whatever he wants with the ball. Having that extra understanding just makes him go up three or four levels. Also elevated is Highlanders halfback Aaron Smith, who insists his lack of size has advantages. My job's to be there ` clear the ball, sort of thing, so it's no good being 6ft something and trying to bend down pretty quickly. You need a good pass, and Aaron's got exactly that. So, you know, hopefully that will give us a little more time and space for us to really control the game. And move the ball to another of the 21-year-olds ` rampaging Hurricanes wing Julian Savea. Sort of eager to get out there. And obviously makes my own job easier when you get those boys outside you or inside you and around you. I know Jules. He's a confident little boy. Well, not little. He's a big boy, actually. Dagg's the most experienced of the outside backs, with 12 caps ` and a new hair cut, courtesy of Smith. Stephen Stuart, ONE News. Weather time now, with Renee. Thanks, Greg. Road snow warning for snow on the Milford Road for the next couple of hours, and then again from early Friday through to early Saturday morning. Up to 20cm could accumulate. But the silver lining from the recent snowfalls is that it's shaping up to be a good skiing season. Mt Hutt and the Coronet ski area are opening this weekend. The Remarkables, next weekend. The cool south-west flow over us tends north-west over southern districts tonight as the fronts close in. Those fronts will then make their way up over the South Island tomorrow, dragging some rain or showers with them. More snow flurries about the mountain tops. For weather, see tvnz.co.nz And that's your weather. See you tomorrow. That's it from us here on Tonight. Thanks for watching. Goodnight. Captions by Jessica Boell and June Yeow. Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air.