Stories by Craig McCulloch

Australia is being overly sensitive over New Zealand's offer to take Manus Island refugees, the Prime Minister says.

The public campaign to legalise euthanasia had a rocky start with a lone protester attempting to derail the launch.

The Ministry for Vulnerable Children is having "vulnerable" scrubbed from its title, with the new government saying it stigmatised young people.

The government is "confident" efforts to re-enter the Pike River Mine are well on track, despite its officials highlighting a host of dangers.

Donald Trump's move to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital will make it more difficult to reach peace in the region, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says.

New Zealand is being urged to follow Australia's lead and crack down on foreign espionage and interference in politics.

The government is to release more details this morning about exactly who will be eligible for a year of free tertiary education.

The Green Party has cast doubt on suggestions it can be relied on to support National's bill to create the Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary.

Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has denied Dame Susan Devoy's claim than he once suggested she was overweight, saying "her memory is failing her".

Government plans to put a royalty on bottled water exports could be in jeopardy after a top trade negotiator warned MPs it would breach trade deals.

The government says $20 billion of planned Defence Force spending has not specifically been included in future budgets.

The National Party has welcomed the government's move to make paid parental leave more flexible, following the opposition party's repeated lobbying.

The government has buckled under pressure and released the total cost of its plan to boost student allowances and loans to cover living costs.

A former Labour MP who spearheaded the extension of paid parental leave supports National's proposal to let both parents take those weeks off together.

The government is leaving the door open to making paid parental leave more flexible, but won't support an opposition proposal to do so this evening.

National MPs will make a bid in Parliament to make paid parental leave more flexible, by allowing both parents to take time off together.

The National Party is accusing Labour of being dogmatic in its refusal to allow both parents of a child the option to take paid parental leave at the same time.

A refashioned Trans-Pacific Partnership has been met with both jubilation and trepidation in New Zealand. Audio

The Trans-Pacific Partnership has been put at peril by one country after leaders came achingly close to striking a deal last night.

Any overhaul of the country's abortion laws won't happen until well into next year - at the very earliest, the Justice Minister says.

Jacinda Ardern is making a flying visit to Australia this weekend in her first official overseas engagement as prime minister.

The former Foreign Minister has wished the new government "good luck" trying to get a better deal for Kiwis in Australia.

The mega-ministry will be split up under the new government, into forestry, fisheries and agriculture.

The New Zealand First board and its MPs will resume their discussions tomorrow about whether to form a government with National or Labour.

It's crunch time for Winston Peters as he pushes into the final day of talks over forming a new government, and he says today will be the most substantive yet.