Ruth Hill

Wellington Night Shelter is making an urgent plea to ratepayers for extra money to keep the service open. Audio

Dozens of high-profile New Zealanders are lending their star power to the pro-flag change campaign, with just two weeks to go until the binding referendum. Audio

The Government is considering a ban on cosmetic products containing plastic microbeads which are polluting waterways, two decades after scientists first sounded the alarm. Audio

The Government is refuting reports that a date has been set for signing of the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement next month in New Zealand. However, opponents of the controversial trade deal say the… Audio

New Zealanders are getting fatter, less active and drinking more dangerously. Audio

Workers on foreign-owned fishing boats contracted by New Zealand companies are being forced to sign away their rights to complain about conditions. Audio

Principals could be allowed to run more than one school and schools will find it easier to adjust their opening hours, under a proposed law change tabled today. Audio

Some Syrian New Zealanders fear reports that at least one of the terrorists behind the Paris atrocities may have posed as a refugee to enter France could prompt a backlash here. Audio

Families and lawyers of Christmas Island detainees say they've been crammed into holding cells and left without enough food or water. In the aftermath of the riots, five New Zealanders are being… Audio

The country's largest polytechnic, Auckland's Unitec, is axing jobs in student services and contracting them out to a private multinational. Ruth Hill reports. Audio

Asbestos dust has been found in corridors and clinical rooms in Dunedin Hospital, and staff and patients, including pregnant women, may have been exposed. Ruth Hill reports. Audio

Almost 80 riverside homes and businesses in Lower Hutt will be bought by the regional council and the land used to construct a new multi-million dollar stopbank to protect against flooding. Audio

New data shows about 2000 children on any one day are living in households where their parents have lost up to half their benefits because they've failed to turn up to an appointment in most cases. Audio

Legal experts say the New Zealand and Australian governments have a responsibility to help a preschooler facing deportation and hundreds of others in the same situation. Audio

The gaffe-prone National MP Maurice Williamson has apologised after his sexually explicit jokes at a conference awards dinner prompted several delegates to walk out. Audio

Senior doctors say the Government is being dishonest by trumpeting increases in elective surgery while ignoring the growing numbers of people who don't even get in the front door of the hospital. Audio

Thousands of children have been affected by benefit cuts in the past two years because their parents have missed an appointment at Work and Income or failed some other condition. Audio

Dairy farmers say bank credit is drying up faster than Fonterra's milk payout and accuse banks of tough tactics. Audio

Thousands of people are having their benefits cut off because they are not filling in the complicated paperwork required. Audio

A child rapist with an intellectual disability who has spent 45 years in mental hospitals and prisons has won a landmark ruling from the United Nations Human Rights Committee that his detention is… Audio