Stories by Katie Todd

A High Court jury has listened to recordings of police officer Matthew Hunt's final radio communications and heard of the chaos when the young constable was shot dead on duty in Auckland.

Paramedics have described arriving at a chaotic scene in Auckland last June, after the shooting of two police officers who had been carrying out a routine traffic stop.

The killer of Auckland police constable Matthew Hunt denies attempting to murder another officer, despite shooting him four times.

A rule introduced last month in managed isolation and quarantine prohibits any exercise that creates heavy breathing or perspiration while returnees are out of their rooms.

The government splashed $37.6 million on private security guards for MIQ hotels in eight months after announcing it would use its own guards instead.

Schools are offline and more than 100 North Island kindergartens have reverted to pen and paper due to a major international ransomware hit.

Almost 2000 managed isolation rooms sit empty each day, while New Zealanders trying to get home say they are struggling with an ongoing lack of vouchers.

Officials are trying to track down more than 14,000 people who have automatically had free stays in MIQ.

Anti-plastic campaigners and plastic producers are both critical of the four-year plan to phase out the harmful packaging, saying it falls short on plastic bottles and PVC. Audio

Officials have told the government they are sometimes struggling to identify who needs to pay for their managed isolation stay.

The government is being asked to rethink its Covid-19 vaccine plan now Medsafe has given the green light for children as young as 12 to receive a Pfizer injection.

Contractors will be out in force again today in Papatoetoe, where the ripple effects of a quick, devastating and deadly tornado on Saturday morning are still being felt.

Central Auckland business owners say officials have been complacent in the 'decimation' of their livelihoods, during City Rail Link construction.

An Auckland mother will spend 14 years in prison after killing her 21-year-old boyfriend Brendon Hamilton in his Dominion Road flat.

Critics have hammered the Climate Change Commission's agriculture goals, saying it has missed the mark on methane targets.

The managers of Auckland's Jet Park Hotel say turning their business into the country's main quarantine facility was nothing short of terrifying.

Farmers near burst stopbanks in Mid Canterbury return to find piled-up debris, fences washed away and waterlogged winter feed.

Hundreds of Mid-Canterbury residents spent another night next to packed bags, ready for evacuation, after floods that left motorists stranded and 'dangerous' scenes on the roads.

Random checks of 13 MIQ hotels in February and March found staff shortages, PPE supply problems, returnees left to mingle and bus drivers not complying with PPE rules.

Migrants have hit back at the government's immigration reset, saying it uses them as a "scapegoat" for problems with housing, infrastructure and worker welfare.

A union is worried that MIQ is a difficult place to speak up when workers see something wrong.

A man wanting to visit New Zealand for his mum's funeral is among hundreds of travellers in limbo either side of the Tasman sea, during a partial 48-hour pause of the travel bubble.

A lawyer fighting cannabis prosecution cases says she's seeing a surge in the number of people being taken to court for using or supplying the drug as a medicine.

A Waikato man who claims he was giving cannabis free to elderly people for pain relief has been raided and charged by police.

The government did not consult surrounding businesses before approving hotels for use as MIQ facilities.