Auckland Council is cutting back on red tape, approving many substituted building products on site to help get the industry through a plaster board supply crisis.

GPs say people are having to travel hours just to get a 15 minute doctors consult, amid a doctors shortage that has seen some clinics close not take new enrolments.

More than 1000 Pakiri seabed sand mining protesters are expected at an event at Mangawhai Heads ahead of company Auckland company McCallum Bros' resource consent application hearings.

What started out as a plea for skateboard donations has now become an ongoing charity, being run by a pair of 12-year-old schoolgirls.

A man who had a secret family in Vietnam while married to a New Zealander has been deported.

Turbulence is brewing in Hawke's Bay with accusations the region's airport is more focused on commercial business interests than actual aviation.

New safety barriers alongside a state highway near the Horowhenua town of Levin are making residents feel anything but safe.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis can reduce the risk of being infected with HIV by up to 99 percent - and Pharmac's move to overhaul prescription criteria is being welcomed

The striking sunrises and sunsets in recent weeks may be caused by leftovers from the Tongan volcano eruption.

A major tourism company is being taken to court over unconsented moorings in Milford Sound.

There are 5554 new cases of Covid-19 in the community, and there have been 11 further deaths.

The seal silly season is back with reports flooding in of adventurous kekeno turning up in unusual places.

Another Christchurch school rebuild was officially opened today, with more than half of the Ministry of Education's $1.3 billion programme now complete.

A brother who raped his younger sister "numerous" times throughout their childhood has now been convicted of the crimes but the punishment imposed will see him continue to lead a relatively normal life.

A damning independent review found ACC's privacy culture was poor, its policies outdated and its staff not well informed.

As the Samoan government reviews its RSE scheme in New Zealand and Australia, a local NGO says infidelity is one of the issues within the scheme causing family members to seek social support.

A Nelson man has been sentenced to more than two years in prison after he was caught with material depicting the sexual exploitation and abuse of children.

Pharmac is widening access to a safe-sex drug common to men who have sex with men and some people in the trans community.