Monday's headlines: Compensation recommended for David Bain; bus fares to rise 5% in Waikato; new format for New Zealand Herald.
NZ Herald
The New Zealand Herald debuts its new compact format with a souvenir edition which is wrapped with a picture of the sun rising over Auckland City and a headline describing the transition as a 'new dawn'.
Inside, the front page leads with details of a confidential report on David Bain's claim for wrongful imprisonment. It concludes he is innocent of murdering his parents, brother and two sisters and recommends the Government pay him compensation.
Waikato Times
The Waikato Times leads with a large picture of a wrecked milk tanker upside down across a paddock beside a quiet country road. The driver was taken to Waikato hospital with extensive leg injuries and possible back injuries after the smash on Roto O Rangi Road.
The paper also reports a fare rise is expected to drive some people from buses back to their cars. Waikato Regional Council's finance and audit committee will discuss the proposal on Tuesday, which would see fares increase by 5% over all bus networks in the region.
Dominion Post
The Dominion Post reports education is shaping up as a political battleground, after Labour revealed it would give parents the power to withdraw their child's school from national standards.
More than $1.15 million has been spent on the unsolved murder of Fielding farmer Scott Guy.
The Press
The Press says the Government is sticking to its guns after announcing that regional council elections would be postponed until 2016. Public pressure is ramping up over last Friday's announcement, which some say is a huge blow to democracy in Canterbury. The paper also features a picture of The Bats] rock band filming their latest single inside the central-city red zone.
ODT
The Otago Daily Times also leads with the report into David Bain's quest for compensation. It says Cabinet will be faced with a dilemma over Justice Binnie's findings, both because of the polarised views about Mr Bain's innocence and because his case falls outside the 1998 guidelines for compensation for wrongful conviction and imprisonment.
