Stories by Anusha Bradley

Hastings resident Joseph Auga Matamata, 65, denies 24 charges of human trafficking and slavery between 1994 and 2019. The Crown closed its case against him today.

The region's farmers and leaders are urging the government to declare a drought as parts of the region experience the driest period on record.

A Samoan chief on trial for slavery says he paid for five men to come to New Zealand to perform at his mother's birthday party, but they ran away and became overstayers.

A Hastings-based Samoan chief on trial for human trafficking and slavery has denied tying up a teenage girl and locking her in a room after an escape attempt.

A Samoan man, who the Crown says was trafficked to New Zealand and used as a slave, says the accused threw a pair of secateurs at his 12-year-old cousin so hard they stuck in his arm.

A Samoan man the Crown says was trafficked to New Zealand and used as a slave says he was put to work within hours getting off the plane and was constantly beaten for working too slowly.

A Hawke's Bay school is believed to be the first in the country to join a global campaign to discourage bullying and improve the mental health of its students by doing up its loos.

Hawke's Bay fruit and vegetable growers say they'll be hit hard by a ban on taking water from two rivers, as levels drop in hot, dry weather.

A lack of air conditioning at Hawke's Bay Hospital is leaving staff and patients sweltering in 30C heat that unions say is unsafe.

Hawke's Bay police have stopped carrying arms as gang tensions in the region appear to settle and rival gang leaders prepare to meet to discuss a way forward.

Napier residents called for more action from the government to stop young people joining gangs, a week after shots were fired during a large gang brawl.

A woman with a disability was told she could not have any home help for two weeks over the Christmas break because her assigned days fell on public holidays.

Hawke's Bay District Health Board is reviewing its communication policy after a "disappointing" letter was sent to hundreds of disabled elderly last week, the board's new chair says.

Whakatāne fishing and tour operators are losing thousands of dollars a day due to restrictions put in place following the Whakaari/White Island eruption.

Some 160 new homes to be built in Hastings over the next 18 months will simply replace those demolished under the previous government, the Housing Minister says.

A lack of representation for Napier and Central Hawke's Bay on the newly appointed Hawke's Bay District Health Board is "concerning" and "disappointing", their mayors say.

A decision on whether to demolish Napier's civic building and library has been put off after doubts were raised about whether it was severely earthquake-prone as previously thought.

The unsafe bridge that has forced families to carry the bodies of their relatives nearly a kilometre on foot for burial at their urupā is a step closer to being repaired.

The outgoing chair of the Hawke's Bay District Health Board says he's disappointed and embarrassed his future role as chair is being played out in the media, with no communication from the Health…

A two-month wait for a new chair for the Hawke's Bay District Health Board is unacceptable, says Tukituki MP Lawrence Yule.

Ngāti Kahungunu says it was "tricked" into supporting a water project - funded by the Provincial Growth Fund - they vehemently oppose.

A new plan more than six years in the making to manage Hawke's Bay's fresh water is being slammed as fundamentally flawed, with accusations it favours irrigators over the environment.

Gang-related incidents in Napier on Sunday have left two people injured and a medical centre sprayed with what appears to be shotgun pellets.

The closure of the only bridge with car access to three urupā near Wairoa is forcing relatives to carry the bodies of their loved ones on foot nearly a kilometre for burial.

Emergency call outs to one of Napier's most vulnerable suburbs have significantly fallen since a safety programme in te reo Māori was introduced into a local school.