Stories by Farah Hancock

Nearly 85 percent of classrooms across the country don't have their own carbon dioxide monitors, potentially increasing the risk of students catching Covid-19.

Plans to introduce more fresh air into Auckland's bus fleet to reduce the risk of Covid-19 transmission were abandoned due to cost.

How much of the air you're breathing is air someone else exhaled? And in the midst of a pandemic caused by an airborne virus, where are the riskiest places to be?

Cameras along a 160 metre length of bus lane in Auckland's Newmarket generated $4.3 million in fines during 2021.

Thousands of people who have recovered from Covid-19 are still being counted as active cases because updating data is an "administrative burden" on public health units.

KFC refuses to say if it will sign up to the "Better Chicken Commitment" its competitor Domino's Pizza has adopted which promises a switch from fast-growing "Frankenchickens" to slower growing breeds.

More than 20,000 people were turned away by legal aid lawyers in one year according to new research from the New Zealand Law Society.

The number of New Zealanders eligible for legal aid has plummeted from an estimated 1.2 million in 2007 to 400,000.

Hourly rates for legal aid lawyers haven't increased since 2008 and there are now almost no lawyers prepared to do civil legal aid work in some parts of the country.

Some of New Zealand's poorest citizens now owe a share of $177 million in legal debt - and the government's charging them 5 percent interest.

A Southland farmer already in mediation over land clearing is now under investigation after being accused of trying to drain a wetland.

Explainer - Dairy is New Zealand's biggest export earner, but the industry producing liquid gold for the economy is frequently accused of polluting our fresh water.

Greenhouse gas emissions are a big issue dogging dairy, our export earning powerhouse. Intensification of farming has increased export revenue but also the number of burping cows.

New Zealand has exported $80,000 worth of stuffed toys, almost $20,000 worth of chocolate and a staggering $1.5 million worth of alcohol to Antarctica since 1990.

People are going hungry even though New Zealand produces enough food to feed 40 million - and it's spurring calls for the country to 'feed the five million first'.

If you feel like red meat is more expensive than it used to be, you're right.

Our feline friends are dining on a range of imported food, but purrfer the cuisine of one country over its competitors.

Ministry of Health staff were as perplexed by a graph unveiled by Chris Hipkins as the public were, documents show.

We've reached 'peak milk' and are entering the era of 'flat milk' according to Fonterra's chief financial officer.

United States citizens and companies are buying up New Zealand land for farming, forestry and wine-making, an RNZ analysis reveals.

For an export most have probably never heard of - and some would rather forget exists - the pizzle has notched up impressive growth since the mid-2000s, even surviving Covid-19.

It should have been clear 10 to 15 years ago that New Zealand would end up in a difficult diplomatic situation if it traded itself into reliance on China, a foreign policy expert says.

There are only 5 million people in New Zealand but we produce enough food to feed about 40m. Who's gobbling all our goods?

The fate of Pakiri's sand is again at the centre of a fight between sand mining companies who want to ship it to Auckland, and locals who want to keep it on their beach. Farah Hancock reports.

Marlborough's wine industry is booming, but there's no industrial-sized solution to deal with its waste.