Those struggling to afford their first home say the government's housing package does not go far enough to help them get a foot in the door.

As health authorities probe how a cleaner become infected with Covid-19, one returnee fears "too relaxed" standards among hotel staff could be to blame.

The Auckland managed isolation worker who tested positive for the virus last night is asymptomatic, which seems to show the vaccine is working, an immunisation expert says.

Tourism operators on both sides of the Tasman are cautiously optimistic about the return of travellers with hopes a bubble will open sooner rather than later.

Measures to deter property investors are expected to have only limited impact initially but may cause many would-be and small investors to reconsider.

A man has been killed in a crash at Ōhau, while further north two men have been injured in a two-car crash in Central Hawke's Bay.

A prominent businessman who claimed complainants made up their claims of abuse has been found guilty of indecently assaulting three men and trying to bribe one to drop his case.

Ian Robert Wilson is the only Dilworth-linked man to admit his offending so far. Seven other men charged in relation to indecency against boys at Dilworth School are due to go to trial next year.

A controversial satellite from Rocket Lab has successfully launched today from its Māhia site.

A man wanted by police after they were shot at last Friday has been found and taken into custody.

Gambling figures for 2020 were the equivalent of every adult New Zealander spending $572 - split between casinos, pokies, Lotto and the TAB.

Attempts to restore a war memorial in Napier have been described as an ongoing "failure of democracy".

The two men on trial over the Red Fox Tavern shooting and robbery appeared to have money to burn after the crime, and the Crown says that points to them being the offenders.

A suite of changes designed to "tilt the balance" toward first-home buyers have been unveiled by the government today, so what are they?

Three members of the Covid-19 positive MIQ worker's family have tested negative, and one has returned a weak positive result, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says.

The government plans to help first-home buyers into the market, by increasing the caps for financial support, and extending the bright-line test to 10 years.

The Islamic Federation is questioning what it calls "inconsistencies" in a review of the Security Intelligence Service (SIS) such as why it did not do more before March 2019 to detect lone wolf attackers.

The worker at a managed isolation hotel in Auckland with Covid-19 had been vaccinated against the virus, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says.