A woman admitted to an overcrowded Taranaki mental health unit says she felt dehumanised and unsafe when she had to sleep on a mattress on the floor of a lounge.

The pause for quarantine-free travel with Victoria is being lifted at 11.59pm tomorrow.

South Aucklanders whose homes have been red stickered after a tornado say they have no idea where they will be living long term.

A plan to introduce an hour's free parking in the New Plymouth CBD has got vehicle and business owners scratching their heads.

A heavy rain warning for Wairarapa has been lifted but Wellington Water warns reservoirs supplying the area had dropped to low levels.

A union representing paramedics says WorkSafe "lobbed a grenade" into their collective negotiations with Wellington Free Ambulance.

When flood waters swept away a caravan from Rick Whaitiri's property in Tokomaru Bay on Sunday morning, he thought the house might be next.

The Burial and Cremation Act is one step closer to being overhauled after the Ministry of Health released a report detailing public submissions.

Schools will need more vaccinators and sufficient time if they are to vaccinate their students successfully, the Secondary Principals Association head says.

The man who died after an altercation near a Blenheim nightclub has been named.

Medsafe has given the all-clear for New Zealanders as young as 12 to receive the Pfizer vaccine, but they cannot book in for a jab just yet.

A psychiatric nurse who worked at Lake Alice psychiatric hospital in the 1970s has described the use of electroconvulsive therapy on children as cruel and barbaric.

Police have charged a 25-year-old Wairoa man after the assault of two people at a house in Napier yesterday.

Police are investigating the incident in which two people were reported to be injured.

A 26-year-old with ties to Hamilton is being sought in relation to an operation that targeted users of an FBI-run encrypted app.

A former pilot has been convicted after knowingly flying a damaged aircraft with six tourists on board from Milford Sound to Queenstown.

Yesterday's flood-swollen rivers in Tokomaru Bay, north of Gisborne, triggered memories of the destruction caused by Cyclone Bola in 1988, East Coast MP Kiri Allan says.

A British doctor says she feels let down by a government which pleaded for healthcare workers but has now gone silent on how they can become residents.