Wellington's mayor has declared a state of emergency for the south coast, with homes in Breaker Bay ordered to evacuate.

With the government considering compulsory QR code checkins, businesses seem sceptical about how it would be policed, saying it's up to customers to remember.

A state of emergency has been declared for Wellington's south coast, with some residents told to evacuate immediately.

Returnees at Novotel Auckland Airport will leave managed isolation as originally planned, after in-facility transmission of Covid-19 was proved unlikely, Ministry of Health says.

A Nelson heavy vehicle engineer whose unsafe work sparked a huge recall of trucks and trailers has been sanctioned for acting negligently.

Whangārei District Council is pulling out of the government's three waters reforms after a scathing debate between elected representatives.

The Children's Commissioner wants police to investigate an incident at an Oranga Tamariki care facility, in which he says excessive force appears to have been used on young people.

The man who killed British backpacker Grace Millane has lost his bid to appeal his conviction for her murder.

A long-running stoush over the last piece of land needed for the covered stadium is over, with agreement to move the NG building.

The next nurses strike could be for 24 hours at the end of next month, if nurses agree to it in a vote.

A Defence Force sailor is in a court martial on charges of sexually assaulting three colleagues while they were on an international deployment.

Police have arrested 19 members of feuding gangs in Auckland and seized three firearms.

Documents from the health board have been released onto the dark web after the ransomware attack that crippled five hospitals' IT systems in May.

A police officer used excessive force when he put an intoxicated woman in a headlock and pulled her to the ground in Invercargill last year, the Independent Police Conduct Authority has found.

Wellington will move back down to alert level 1 from midnight tonight, and Cabinet has agreed in principle to resume travel with some Australian states from Sunday.

The Ministry of Health is reporting no new cases in the community and four in managed isolation and quarantine facilities.

Making it mandatory to use the Covid tracing app would push more people to scan QR codes, says digital tracking expert Andrew Chen.

Some prisons are banning a newsletter that offers inmates advice on human rights and peaceful protest out of fear the pamphlets pose a threat to the security of the prison.