While rivers are receding in Canterbury, residents are being warned the risk is not over and some are still on standby to evacuate should the situation change.

The South Island iwi is taking legal action against the government - saying it has been shut out of discussions about the protection given to ecologically important land.

A jury has heard a man who died in a police station would have likely survived if he had received the medical treatment he needed.

A former James Hardie manager says he wouldn't have bought a house clad with the company's product over his fears it would leak.

A home care provider has been found in breach of the Health and Disability Code after failing in its care of a woman with a skin condition.

Computer services remain offline at all Waikato DHB hospitals nearly two weeks after a ransomware cyber attack brought it all to a grinding halt.

A Hamilton woman has been banned from owning horses for a year, after her elderly Chestnut Gelding starved to death.

Although rain is easing off in Mid and South Canterbury, it's unlikely some key roads including State Highway 1 will reopen today, Waka Kotahi says.

The government is trying to speed up the process of deciding whether large tracts of ecologically important land should be given high protection status.

In Ashburton, river levels have been falling but it could take two or three more days to drain and people need to keep their bags packed in case stopbanks burst, mayor Neil Brown says.

Nearly half of the group that is being sought for testing in New Zealand after arriving from Melbourne Airport, during the period the state discovered a community outbreak of cases, have tested negative for Covid-19 so far.

The three board members who resigned from NZ Opera last week are denying it is linked to a new unruly tourists work.

Ashburton readied itself in case the unthinkable happened and its main river burst its banks yesterday. Conan Young spoke to residents as they prepared to evacuate.

The plan to slash emissions to tackle climate change is being given to the government today.

Timaru District Council has sent out an emergency alert to residents in the Coopers Creek catchment north of the Orari River. Read back through updates here.

The world's only mountain parrot adapted over time to steer clear of people, a study has found.

It could take two days to evacuate more than 300,000 Aucklanders, if a volcanic eruption is imminent, according to new research.

Thousands of Cantabrians are on high alert tonight, as rain continues to fall on the waterlogged region.