Stories by Lauren Crimp

After a heart-wrenching 42 hours fearing her teenage daughter was dead, Amy Walsh has received the best Christmas present of all: "I have my girl."

Family members and friends have embraced Maia Johnston who has been carried out of the bush by search and rescue, and loaded into an ambulance.

Laid-off public servants have been slogging it out on a months-long job hunt, and for some that will continue into 2025.

One of the men accused of supplying drugs on social media following police raids in two affluent Wellington suburbs will keep his name secret for now.

Scientists have now tested about 1000 samples, but with symptoms taking up to 21 days to develop, there is plenty more testing to come.

It's an earthquake risk - though some experts disagreed - and council staff deemed the $85m strengthening cost too high.

Staff told RNZ they were shocked, some were crying, and they say patients would suffer if the team, who make beds, tidy wards and replenish supplies, were gone. Audio

"It's also such a hard way to end the term, really disheartening for our kids to come into school," one principal says. Audio

Employees at risk of losing their jobs say the restructure process has been gruelling and decisions being made will impact the quality of care for patients.

It comes on top of more than 500 voluntary redundancies already accepted at Te Whatu Ora, and would be biggest public sector cut to date.

Community Housing Aotearoa says developers could sell the homes at the end of a lease contract, removing them from the social housing pool. Audio

Staff have been called in to meetings to discuss a new proposal to disestablish more roles at the government agency.

A mammoth effort from volunteers has seen the majority of the pod refloated.

Tenants struggling to pay rent are scared they'll become homeless, while their landlord sits on a multi-million dollar fund designed to support them. Audio

And those who have kept their jobs say they are exhausted dealing with the workload. Audio

It could be another 18 months before investigators can say how the Cook Strait ferry grounding might have been prevented. Audio

There is no "us and them" at Whakamaru, Wellington City Mission's new $50 million facility.

Four of the White Ferns squad are all former Tawa College students, and there were bleary and teary eyes at the Wellington school this morning as the team took out the T20 Cricket World Cup for the…

The investigation is looking at whether contamination occurred on the vessel or in the supply chain.

The fuel damaged the ship's fuel injectors, leaving it drifting more than two hours, Bluebridge owner StraitNZ says.

In a memo to all staff, the transport operator said the move was part of an attempt to reshape its business.

Despite this, Resources Minister Shane Jones says Mobil told him there is no problem with the fuel itself.

The Connemara blacked out in September after leaving Wellington and drifted for more than two hours, and has faced more issues since then.

Julia DeLuney is accused of killing her mother, Helen Gregory, in a "brutal and financially motivated murder".

Some farmland could be out of action for three months, while businesses on the outskirts of Balclutha had machinery and offices destroyed.