Sarah Robson

The latest assessment of the quake-prone Galbraith Building at Middlemore Hospital has been discussed at a closed meeting of the Counties Manukau DHB today.

Added extras to alleviate poverty are unlikely in this week's Budget - and social welfare advocates say the previously-announced families package will not help those most in need.

Pregnant women won't be turned away from Middlemore Hospital if the DHB is forced to remediate or rebuild the quake-prone Galbraith Building, the board says.

Dentists in despair over the growing number of children with rotting teeth say the only real cure is ending poverty.

An announcement on the government's welfare system overhaul can be expected in the next three to four weeks, Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni says.

The mayors of Taupō, Rotorua and Ruapehu District will today meet with Health Minister David Clark over the possible loss of rescue helicopter services in the region.

Pressure is building on the government to step in and ensure that rescue helicopter bases remain in Taupo and Rotorua.

Hundreds - potentially thousands - of little blue penguins have washed up dead on beaches along the east coast of the upper North Island in recent months.

Rescue helicopter bases in Taupō, Rotorua and Te Anau are under threat as part of a proposed re-design of air ambulance services.

Marama Davidson says it is the greatest honour of her life to be elected as the new female co-leader of the Green Party.

An Immigration New Zealand pilot programme that profiles overstayers could unfairly target Pasifika people and is being called racist.

There are now more than 6000 children in state care, and Oranga Tamariki is struggling to recruit enough caregivers to keep up with demand.

British popstar Ed Sheeran welcomed with a pōwhiri, says he's looking forward to seeing another part of New Zealand next week.

The Ministry of Social Development is backing away from a proposal to collect young people's names and other details as part of a national health survey.

Jordan Williams' defamation case against the former Conservative Party leader Colin Craig will be heading back to court, but it won't be a full retrial.

Government spending on food hardship grants jumped $10 million last year, with Work and Income handing out more grants than ever before.

Researchers have been given special permission to enter the Waitākere ranges on the hunt for tiny long-tailed bats, to provide the first data on them in a decade.

Trade Me is putting tougher rules in place around the sale of bees and beehives on its site, to make sure people are complying with the law.

Gaps in security camera coverage, poor rub-down searches, access to contraband and the influence of gangs have all been identified as problems at Manawatū Prison by independent inspectors.

The number of food parcels being handed out at the Salvation Army's foodbanks has jumped 12 percent in the last year, according to the organisation's latest State of the Nation report.

Now is not the time to be making decisions about the future of New Zealand's deployment of military personnel in Iraq, the Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.

A meeting between Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Australian counterpart Julie Bishop is under way amid heavy rain on Waiheke Island.

Four months into the job, some new taxpayer-funded budgeting service providers were falling short of meeting the number of financial advice and mentoring sessions they were contracted to provide.

One of New Zealand's most famous brands, Tip Top, is importing icecreams from Europe.

A Piha resident says he wasn't entirely surprised by the flash flooding caused by yesterday's torrential downpour.