Police have begun testing a new way of weighing up harm and risks when they take emergency 111 calls, which will see fewer responses by officers to social harm calls.
The family of freed New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens say they are "extremely grateful and relieved" he has been released and will soon be reunited with them.
New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens has been freed from more than 1 1/2 years in captivity in West Papua, Indonesia, local police announced on Saturday.
An "evil" criminal element combined with the social media "sensationalism factor" are contributing to an increasing level of violence seen at illegal street racing, road police say.
Two injured climbers trapped in a hut on Aoraki/Mount Cook will have to wait at least another night for help, as bad weather has hampered the rescue effort.
Two new laws set to replace the RMA will have private property rights at their core and "ditch rules that invite every Tom, Dick, and Harry to vexatiously object to peaceful use and development of private property," the govt says.