Phil Pennington

The military had already sourced bomb-clearing robots from Israeli firm Roboteam before the Gaza conflict.

Drones will be used to check on what is needed before linesman head up power poles.

In April, President Donald Trump ordered a 'list of priority partners' for arms transfers be drawn up within 60 days.

It says it was an individual's actions that caused the death.

"The effects are coming through": Up to 5000 New Zealand troops were in Afghanistan over 20 years and many were exposed to fumes.

Parliamentary Service admits the old, leaky pipework is at risk, but says the building's fire protection remains fully operational and compliant.

Police were rated the worst out of 16 agencies Cabinet put on watch to do better in 2023.

It needed to get rid of 45 workboats, jetboats and dinghys out of its fleet of 68.

Treasury gave police the worst score out of 16 agencies in one measure.

US foreign arms sales are surging, and it is more likely high-tech American systems will be sold in New Zealand, where billions of dollars in extra defence spending has been allocated.

The multimillion-dollar debate was taken off the table at a major firefighting conference in Christchurch last month.

A review has found the 'Auror' system boosts crime fighting, but there's been limited internal audit of how police are using it.

Thousands more theft reports are being loaded every month into police investigation systems that are already under stress.

RNZ in 2020 first exposed that police for years were wrongly collecting photos and fingerprints from the public, particularly young Māori.

Could it be that a solution to New Zealand's poor and dangerous record with machinery is in sight? Audio

Life-saving helicopter flights are being increasingly used by Fire and Emergency, but one of its top aviation roles is so vague it has been described as "fairy dust".

NZTA says it is testing the potential use for combating fraud by illegal garages issuing warrants of fitness. Audio

It had been working on them for several months.

A US army commander visiting NZ has praised how the US and NZ Defence Force are developing an integrated network, at the same time as the latest example of this integration comes to light. Audio

Manatū Taonga is going ahead with cutting the jobs of most of its historians.

The new US Space Force strategy for international partnership calls for partners to engage in missions, wargaming and joint planning. Audio

The deficit for the recently-ended financial year was expected to be $1.1 billion.

Meanwhile the government also wants to up its own game in supplying international markets with high-tech military systems.

The increased budget means troops can now move past being only partly equipped, says defence secretary Brook Barrington.

The organisations said "irreplaceable" expertise would be lost in order to make only modest savings.