Stories by Andrew McRae

More than 500 people in Afghanistan eligible to come to New Zealand may have been left to their own fate as the overnight bombing at Kabul Airport has put an end to further NZDF evacuation flights. Audio

The Aotearoa Afghan community says evacuees from Kabul will be traumatised and it's important they are given extensive support once they arrive and go into MIQ.

The actions of a couple who teamed up to sexually abuse children aged between three and 14 have been described as sickening and depraved and offending that grossly violated society's norms.

The water quality of the Waikato River is still deteriorating despite many actions to improve it, a new report reveals.

A Samoan man who came to New Zealand at about the age of four has told the Royal Commission of Inquiry that too many in his community are being left to live their lives with no social support.

A man who was abused by a Catholic priest at school in the 1990s says it came as a real shock to him.

A man told an inquiry he suffered all forms of abuse while in care, but the stripping of his cultural identity hurt him the most.

The shame of having been abused while in care and the consequences it has on a survivor's family has been outlined to the inquiry into abuse in care.

Staff at Lake Alice's infamous child and adolescent unit in the 1970s enjoyed treating children badly, survivor Leota Scanlon says.

The inquiry into abuse in care has been told that a lack of cultural recognition in the treatment of mental health patients is a form of abuse.

A man who suffered a catastrophic brain injury as a child in 1974 has outlined abuse at various schools and residential care facilities while growing up.

A former student of Wesley College has spoken emotionally of physical abuse, including severe beatings, bullying and extreme violence at the boarding school near Pukekohe.

A witness at the inquiry into abuse in care has revealed seeing a boy being beaten to a near pulp at the Ōwairaka Boys' Home in 1970.

The umbrella term Pacific Islander or Polynesian has been criticised as degrading and insensitive at the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care's Pacific inquiry.

A life of abuse from an early age has been outlined to the inquiry into abuse in care by a woman of Tongan and Palagi descent.

A Samoan man was robbed of his cultural identity after spending time in state care, he has told an inquiry.

Impacts of the Dawn Raids still show themselves in form of violence and depression, Polynesian Panther Tigilau Ness says. He's calling for the government's apology to be a full acknowledgement of what…

The theft of his name led a Pacific Island boy down a path of state care, where he was abused.

The first-ever investigation into abuse in care of Pacific people in this country opens today.

Microplastics have been found in high levels in shellfish across the Bay of Plenty prompting concern for both the marine environment and human health.

DHB chief executive Dr Kevin Snee hoped patients would be contacted within the next week, but said their well-being was paramount.

The Abuse in Care inquiry has wrapped up its public hearing looking at abuse of young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital in the 1970s.

The Solicitor-General has acknowledged the courage and persistence of survivors of abuse at the Lake Alice Psychiatric adolescent unit in the 1970s.

Clinical psychologist Victor Soeterik says he was an outside observer at the Lake Alice unit, though survivors describe him as the right-hand man to the unit's head.

Police are hoping to release a decision in early July on whether charges will be laid over allegations of abuse in the adolescent unit at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital in the 1970s.