Wellington  - New Zealand's newly elected conservative minority government ran into conflict with its indigenous Maori Party supporters Wednesday as it tried to push one of its first pieces of legislation through parliament.

Prime Minister John Key's National Party-led government - sworn in only a week ago - declared that a law change which will allow employers to sack workers in their first 90 days on the job was a priority which it wanted passed before Christmas.

The five Maori Party members of parliament, who promised with two other parties to support the Nationals after they failed to win an overall majority in last month's election, decided Wednesday to vote against the move.

Wellington - An earthquake measuring 7 on the Richter scale was recorded Tuesday in the South Pacific, nearly 1,000 kilometres north of New Zealand, the US Geological Survey reported.

The quake, at 0624 GMT, was centred about 215 kilometres south of Raoul in New Zealand's Kermadec Islands, a volcanic chain spread over 250 kilometres of ocean.

The islands are all uninhabited except for Raoul, where the Department of Conservation maintains a field station with about 10 staff. Radio New Zealand said there had been no reports of damage or injury from Raoul.

Wellington  - New Zealand's newly elected conservative government promised workers Tuesday it would cut their income taxes in each of the next three years, but immediately sparked a row with labour unions over tough new employment laws.

As the new parliament was officially opened with traditional pomp and ceremony, the National Party, which ended nine years of rule by a social democrat-led government in last month's elections, moved to rush radical new policies into law before Christmas.

Wellington - New Zealand's newly elected conservative government pledged Tuesday to cut income taxes in each of the next three years to spur workers into raising productivity and revive the lagging economy.

A single-minded concentration on economic growth was the main feature of the National Party's policy programme, outlined at the official opening of the new Parliament following last month's general election.

The programme was set out in a speech prepared by Prime Minister John Key but read, according to tradition, by Governor-General Anand Satyanand, the representative of Queen Elizabeth, who is New Zealand's head of state.

Wellington, Dec 8 : US producer and director Greg Bonann, the creator of the hit TV series Baywatch, is looking for a Kiwi actress that he could turn into Pamela Anderson for a new New Zealand TV drama.

Bonann, who launched Anderson and her co-star David Hasselhoff into stardom, has plans for a new drama in New Zealand and wants to do the same with three Kiwi girls in a show dubbed "Southern Lakes".

He has started work with some of Hollywood''s well-known writers to develop a script for the show, and hopes to shoot a pilot episode in Queenstown next year.