Thursday's headlines: First shots fired in the 2011 election campaign; emergency landing at Dunedin airport after bird strike; Student Job Search advertisement sought to recruit 15 students to test a brand of cigarettes.
NZ Herald
'Sale of the Century' is the headline of The New Zealand Herald which outlines Government plans to partially sell some assets, including power companies, potentially releasing up to $10 billion.
Critics say the move will lead to higher electricity prices and put too much control of strategic assets in foreign hands.
And a boy, aged 15, has been released into the care of his parents after a close female relative was shot dead while he was playing with a gun in the Far North.
Dominion Post
The Dominion Post reports Air New Zealand has the green light to provide a commuter service between Paraparaumu and Auckland from October.
The airline's subsidiary, Air Nelson, will operate 18 return weekday flights and three return weekend trips.
And the paper says the first shots have been fired in the 2011 election campaign with John Key and Phil Goff offering starkly different choices.
It says Mr Key took his biggest gamble yet by signalling the partial sale of the power companies, while Mr Goff made his pitch to traditional Labour voters by pledging to hit the wealthy with higher taxes.
The Press
The Press says Mr Key is banking on what it calls his huge personal popularity to overcome traditionally stiff public opposition to asset sales.
Also on the front page: scientists are said to be divided over whether or not an earthquake fault lies beneath Christchurch as the city continues to shake.
An attempt to recruit Christchurch students to test cigarettes has sparked a investigation by the Ministry of Health.
A Student Job Search advertisement sought to recruit 15 students to test a brand of cigarettes and provide feedback.
ODT
The Otago Daily Times also features the privatisation plans and says that although Mr Key says no final decisions have been made, brokers believe work is already well under way.
A full emergency landing was declared at Dunedin international airport on Wednesday after a bird was ingested into a plane's engine shortly after take-off.
