Convincing the public in south Auckland of the merits of congestion charging will be an uphill battle for the government, says a transport commentator.

A student engineer posed as a structural expert for years, signing off on 30 earthquake assessments on buildings, even though she did not even have a degree.

Tauranga by-election candidates are upset and feel insulted about Te Pāti Māori's decision not to stand a candidate for safety reasons.

The Department of Conservation said the demand for bookings was strong with the figures showing New Zealanders were keen to get into the outdoors despite borders reopening.

Thousands of new cases of Covid-19 are being reported every day in NZ, but this is likely to be half of the number of actual cases, Dr Ashley Bloomfield says. Watch the latest Omicron briefing here.

The extremely rare gravel maggot - named after the Lord of the Rings character - has been detected for the first time in the Hautai Marine Reserve in South Westland.

Analysis: The PM reveals when the border will reopen and the Police Minister announces a pre-budget law and order boost, but David Seymour steals the show at question time.

One person has died and another has moderate injuries following a crash on Ohaupo Road south of Hamilton.

There have been 7441 new community cases of Covid-19 and another 29 further deaths reported today, including five people aged under 40.

The person accused of a triple stabbing at a Cambridge restaurant that left two people in critical condition has been named.

New Zealand scientists say anchors of large ships are doing similar damage to the sea floor as bottom-trawling.

As immunity wanes, people who have already had Covid-19 could get it again, modeller Michael Plank says.

Wellington residents and business owners who have to pay to use their own garages are furious at the city council's proposal to double their fees.

Canterbury District Health Board is still grappling with high numbers of Omicron cases weeks after it thought it would be over the worst.

The lawyer for a woman whose fake bomb threats caused eight graduation ceremonies to be called off says his client deserves permanent name suppression.

Police have serious concerns for the safety of a missing Northland woman.

The lack of a public bus between Nelson and Motueka led a community trust to establish its own minivan service to transport people between the two centres.

A number of fire engines were called out to Wellington hospital today but there is no fire threat.