Stories by Alex Ashton

The Detail; a daily podcast helping you make sense of the news. Presented by Sharon Brettkelly and Alex Ashton. Debuts Monday April 29.

The man who built the Al Noor Mosque will return to pray today, even though he says it's now been smeared with blood.

Line workers are being told they have a strong case for proving they are employees, not contractors, and could be in for a windfall.

Line workers are trapped in a sham contracting model, they say, which has them working six days a week and still not breaking even.

About 10,000 KiwiBuild homes have been contracted to be built by 2028 - just one tenth of the government's 100,000 target.

About 10,000 KiwiBuild homes have been contracted to be built by 2028 - just one tenth of the government's 100,000 target.

A mother who gives her son medicinal cannabis to treat his violent seizures is terrified they will be without medicine, following what growers call a massive aerial cull of the crop. Audio

Immigration New Zealand mistakenly detained the stepfather of murdered schoolgirl Karla Cardno because it did not have the right paperwork.

A Wellington pharmacy has won an expensive legal battle with the government over the right to sell kombucha.

Destiny Church says the Department of Corrections is breaching the Treaty of Waitangi by refusing to let it into prisons.

New Zealand Post wants to shut its last 79 shops, but will not say when the last branch will close its doors. Audio

Kiwibank customers are outraged at news their local branches are being shut.

The Minister of Education is adamant she first heard about the use of seclusion rooms in July, despite a family saying they complained to her a year earlier. Video, Audio

Farmers have hit back at claims of widespread mistreatment of bobby calves, after footage emerged of calves being thrown and dragged. Video, Audio

A real estate company suggested housing homeless people in tents and warehouses in an urgent report for the government. Audio

A woman who has been renting garages and single rooms to families in South Auckland is kicking her tenants out. Audio

Would-be buyers are struggling to find affordable homes in Auckland's Special Housing Areas - and so did Checkpoint. Video

Work and Income has admitted it directed desperate people to garages and houses where entire families crowded into a single room. Audio

A woman borrowing money to stay in a motel says her family is being forced into homelessness by Work and Income. Audio

Work and Income is owed $180 million from former and current clients who have defrauded the system - and that amount has doubled in five years. Video, Audio

A couple who just spent their life savings on an Auckland home are so furious with the council's plan to pack more houses into their suburb, they want to sell up.

A boy faces once again being trapped inside his home or spending months in hospital while he waits for Housing New Zealand to find a house with wheelchair access. Audio

People who were abused in state care are suing the government for $740,000 for what they say is a failure to act when they asked for their personal records.

Beneficiaries who were underpaid by a day's worth of benefit are now getting their money, some receiving hundreds of dollars in back pay.

Tickets are still available for seats at the Rugby World Cup final at Twickenham, with prices ranging from $1300 to an eye-watering $18,000.