Stories by Katie Scotcher

Many children in state care were shocked with electricity, kept in cells, and beaten with bits of rubber in the 1970s, the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care has been told.

Career criminal Arthur Taylor has told the Royal Commission investigating abuse he never would have messed with the law if he hadn't been placed in state care.

Survivors of abuse in state care have shared harrowing details of the harm they suffered by those who were supposed to be looking after them.

Over the next fortnight, the inquiry investigating abuse in both state and faith-based care will hear evidence from abuse survivors, advocates, academics and lawyers.

An inquest has been told the police failed to tell a doctor a young man had hit his head more than two hundred times against the walls and floor of a police cell he later died in.

South Auckland police officers are reluctant to take injured prisoners to Middlemore Hospital as they are often turned away, an inquest has heard.

A lack of detox centres meant a young man was held in a South Auckland police cell which he'd later die in, an inquest has heard.

The Greater Wellington Regional Council scrambled to remove ads promoting a career in bus driving after it discovered a string of racist tweets by one of its poster boys.

The country's mayors have made more trips to China in recent years than they have to all other countries combined.

The Justice Minister says universities are in a difficult position, as stickers promoting a white supremacist group appear on campuses across the country.

Hundreds of university staff have signed an open letter declaring racism and white supremacy have "no place" at Auckland University.

A senior lecturer at the University of Auckland says management needs to take a stand against white supremacist propaganda on campus, or it runs the risk of scaring away future students. Video

The government is seeking advice after multiple high-level calls to give the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Christchurch mosque shootings more time to complete its investigation.

The commissioner embroiled in the latest scandal at the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care says he won't be stepping down. Audio

A 17-year-old who downloaded videos of the Christchurch mosque shootings and showed it to other students at his school has been discharged without conviction.

Robyn Malcolm, who protested against the treatment of New Zealanders working on The Hobbit, says recent changes to the 'Hobbit Law' will protect those working on Amazon's Lord of the Rings series. Audio

A group representing migrant workers says the government's overhaul of work visas has failed to remove a clause that means they can be treated like modern day slaves. Audio

The government has announced a funding boost for more than 20 underfunded mental health services and is allocating $30 million for the creation of new frontline services.

The American government has alerted travellers about New Zealand's measles outbreak, as the number of cases tops 1000.

The man accused of assaulting teenagers at a Young Labour summer camp has pleaded guilty to two charges of assault on the third day of his trial.

A jury has been told there was "excessive drinking" at the Young Labour summer camp on the night four teenagers say they were assaulted.

A man who claims he was assaulted at a Labour Party youth camp last year has told a jury it "screwed up" his life.

The Catholic and Anglican churches are still considering quashing legal agreements that may prevent abuse survivors from giving evidence to the inquiry investigating historical abuse in care.

The Muslim group assisting the Royal Commission into the mosque attacks has had its first meeting in Christchurch.

The Islamic Women's Council has received financial assistance from the Royal Commission into the Christchurch Mosque Attacks to help it pay for legal representation.