Phil Pennington

Big questions are being raised over whether hospitals are accurately reporting their massive spending on often highly paid contractors.

There's a warning the health reforms could make the public… Audio

Two leading Māori social workers are scathing of Oranga Tamariki's attempts to fix huge gaps in support for children who have suffered sexual violence.

The child protection agency has spent millions… Audio

Oranga Tamariki has failed to meet with Māori to design new sexual violence services for children as unmet demand ratchets up.

The agency says it is still in a relationship-building phase with Māori… Audio

Construction companies beset by Omicron are increasingly poaching workers off each other.

One major steel fabricator blames the Government for overcooking the market with too many projects.

RNZ's… Audio

Omicron has brought a grinding halt to a giant tunnelling machine boring its way under Auckland.

The hold-up at Watercare's massive new Interceptor tunnel is just one casualty from the virus variant… Audio

More trucks are being fitted with safety systems, and handbrake testing is changing, to guard against potentially fatal accidents.

Several people have been killed in recent years by runaway trucks… Audio

The increasing number of applications for helipads on Aotea Great Barrier Island is causing alarm among locals. But the current rules mean they don't have to be notified or consulted about them. The… Audio

Māori on Aotea Great Barrier Island have told the Auckland Council to stop helipads being put in, and to start taking them seriously as kaitiaki.

But the council says the complete absence of sites of… Audio

Aotea Great Barrier Islanders fear they will go the same way as Waiheke Island with lots of helicopters buzzing their skies.

The isolated island has had five applications for helipads in five months… Audio

Newly released data shows a nationwide police operation to cut down on high-risk driving and road deaths has gone badly.

Most police districts missed most of their targets most of the time, reports… Audio

Firefighters are refusing to work on a firetruck that lost power to its big ladder while crew were battling a blaze last week that destroyed a Wellington house.

The critical equipment failed despite… Audio

New figures show one in seven Catholic clergy who work for a bishop have had abuse complaints laid against them.

The Catholic Church has for the first time publicly released the figures, which show… Audio

Excavation of contaminated soil begins shortly at a Ponsonby school a year after a fire spread asbestos around the neighbourhood.

The soil already had asbestos in it before the fire which destroyed… Audio

The police say they have fixed how they investigate fatal road crashes to make sure the fraught experience of two families in Otago is not repeated.

The families of Wayne Brenssell and Toby Waitokia… Audio

Police apologised for a crash investigator's 'lack of empathy and compassion' towards two widows ... but went on using him anyway.

They have also apologised for their 'narrow' and deficient work on… Audio

Oranga Tamariki failed to spend millions of dollars especially set aside to protect and help child victims of sexual violence.

Figures obtained by RNZ show it set aside $11 million but only spent $7… Audio

Firefighters have been struggling with equipment failures that are putting them at risk.

Fire and Emergency has an ageing fleet of big ladder trucks ladder hoses, pumps or controls leaked, and has… Audio

A change to a key part of the housing intensification bill has been enough to alarm supporters, but too little to placate critics.

The bill is up for debate at its second reading in Parliament on… Audio

Vital hospital building projects in Auckland are being delayed for months by questions over fire designs - and especially the safe evacuation of smoke-filled rooms.

Stroke, rehabilitation and baby… Audio