Stories by Phil Pennington
News
Speed ticket numbers soar
Officers issued almost 290,000 tickets in the first nine months of the year - up by about 60,000, police say.
Space race puts pressure on New Zealand Defence Force
New Zealand is in a group of allies the US has asked to stump up more money for military satellites.
Fines issued for mobile phone use triple over four years
The number of mobile speed camera fines and seat belt offences have also shot up.
Police settle claims over staff treatment after Covid-19 vaccine refusals
The claims were lodged in May 2022 on behalf of 91 staff after the High Court ruled a vaccine mandate for police was unlawful.
Private healthcare pushing Auckland labs to the brink
Rocketing demand from private health practices in Auckland has been pushing public pathology services to the brink. Audio
NZDF not part of US military's plan to flood Asia-Pacific with drones
The United States military is pushing ahead with its plan to flood the Asia-Pacific region with drones - but New Zealand's military is not on board with it.
Redacted OIAs: How much information is kept from the taxpayer?
Analysis - How much is the taxpayer entitled to know? The 26,000 OIA responses from 99 public agencies suggest how many lawyers were in the room when they were signed off.
The private landlord that wants to home public hospitals
A multi-billion-dollar company wants the government to hurry up and help it build hospitals, in what could be a seismic shift in health infrastructure.
Modelling reveals Te Ngākau Civic Square flood risk
Wellington City Council is hopeful buildings in Te Ngākau Civic Square will be fine in a big flood - but that could be up-ended by fresh climate change data.
Wellington Hospital risks losing right to train radiologists
The hospital is a national centre for training and has just months to fix the problems or lose its right to train juniors.
US EdTech deeply embedded in NZ school system - documents
Papers show the Education Ministry is deepening its ties with big US tech firms.
Police hide assessment of system for reporting security threats
Police have blanked out virtually the entire contents of an assessment of a new public reporting system for security threats.
Nearly $50m of repairs to SH1 between Auckland and Hamilton delayed further
Almost $50 million of repairs to State Highway 1 between Auckland and Hamilton are mired in delays and question marks.
Government considering different funding models to build new hospitals
The coalition deal with ACT commits the government to investigate build and lease-back arrangements.
Project to reduce court cases backlog hit with 'staffing and resourcing challenges'
A new way to unjam the country's logjammed courts, the Backlog Project, has helped a bit - but ran into its own shortages, of staff, communications, targets and direction, even of police cells.
Proposed 'Five AIs Act' may fire up military intelligence cold war with China
US lawmakers are considering a bill that would involve New Zealand joining in on military artificial intelligence to beat out China.
Govt seeks to halt extra pay for public servants fluent in te reo Māori
Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says she will ask for advice on to stop the extra pay being negotiated into future collective agreements.
Transmission Gully wrongly claiming international accreditation for sustainability - certifier
Waka Kotahi has been making exaggerated claims about how 'green' its highways are. This has come to light amid investigations into Transmission Gully's impacts on fish, streams and Porirua Harbour.
No mistrial if High Court guidelines had been available - police
The police say they probably would not have caused a mistrial at a murder trial if they had had High Court guidelines.
Wellington central library $189m rebuild on track
Wellington ratepayers can breathe a sigh of relief that the central library rebuild is not going the way of the Town Hall upgrade.
'Inadequate' fire safety at Rotorua lodge triggers inspection at other boarding houses
Urgent inspections have taken place at Rotorua boarding houses after one was evacuated, and later shut down.
'Our members are pretty grumpy' - Nurses taking legal route over late pay
Te Whatu Ora is months late in changing the pay rates for nurses who are now taking legal action seeking compensation.
USAR teams warn of 'crisis' over 'failing' rescue vehicles - documents
Urban Search and Rescue teams are relying on just three trucks, two of them so old they keep breaking down and pose risks because they lack basic stability control.
USAR specialists warn poor vehicle fleet 'slows response' to emergencies
The country's fleet of specialist search and rescue vehicles is so bad that the rescuers have begun rebelling.