The Nelson Tasman region remains under a state of emergency, with evacuations, widespread flooding, slips, power cuts to 13,000 homes and businesses, and pleas to conserve water.
The country is losing new graduates and existing workers as statistics show the highest migration rate to Australia since 2012, a Massey University professor says.
Documents show Oranga Tamariki pays nearly $2m to 14 communications staff - after cutting five staff and $500k in the past year - while other workers are banned from speaking to media without authorisation.
Pensioners camped out in a Waikato carpark are facing an uncertain future after years of living there, and the owner says most can't afford to go anywhere else.
Rotorua police are planning a crackdown on illegal dirt bike riders, with a senior officer warning it may only a matter of time before someone is killed in the city.
A senior lawyer at a big law firm who grabbed a junior colleague’s penis at a Christmas party and made other lewd comments about people he worked with has been suspended for 15 months.