Stories by Katie Scotcher

Police officers are not mental health experts and ideally others would respond to an increasing number of crisis call-outs, commissioner Andrew Coster says.

Former Green Party chief of staff Tory Whanau has confirmed she'll run for Wellington's mayoralty in next year's local body elections.

Half of all mental health-related callouts in the past year were not attended by police, as they were called out to other higher priority situations.

Aucklanders will find out this afternoon when they will be able to leave the city, but the hard boundary will likely be gone by the middle of December.

It is looking increasingly likely the whole country will move to the Covid-19 traffic light system before every district health board has hit 90 percent fully vaccinated.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is making plans to travel to Auckland early next week.

Some Auckland secondary school principals want students back in the classroom next Tuesday.

School staff who work with children and students must be fully vaccinated by 1 January 2022.

The government will soon receive a business case for Auckland Light Rail from the working group tasked with reviving the project.

The government is set to expedite thousands of residence visa applications, RNZ understands.

Oranga Tamariki has been described as not fit for purpose and in need of transformative change by the panel appointed to be the Children's Minister's eyes-and-ears on the agency.

Businesses are launching their own vaccination campaigns to reach people they say are being overlooked by the government's messaging.

In an interview with media outlet Newsroom, Trevor Mallard revealed staff, the public and the media may not be allowed on the Parliamentary precinct if they were unvaccinated. Audio

A group of interpreters stood outside Parliament for hours on Monday, hoping to meet with the minister of immigration. No-one from the government showed.

Why could a recently released prisoner cross the Auckland boundary and how was he infected? Political reporter Katie Scotcher traces his steps.

Kindergarten relief teachers aren't being paid in lockdown because their government-funded employers can't afford it.

Opposition parties want Parliament to resume but it is still not clear when exactly that will happen.

ACT leader David Seymour wants border restrictions to begin easing at the start of next year, even if rates of vaccination aren't high enough.

New Zealanders returning from a short overseas holiday could spend less time in managed isolation once most of the population is vaccinated.

New Zealand is a step closer to banning gay conversion therapy, with legislation criminalising the practice passing its first hurdle in Parliament this afternoon.

Youth wing are "deeply disappointed" National's caucus has decided to vote against legislation banning conversion therapy.

The Foreign Affairs minister says she spoke to former Prime Minister Helen Clark about the evacuation of a United Nations official infected with Covid-19 from Fiji to New Zealand.

The government's ban on conversion therapy will cover religious groups, but they will still be able to freely express their beliefs.

The government considered asking churches to help pay for the Royal Commission into historic abuse in care as it grappled with the inquiry's skyrocketing spending, new documents show.

The Children's Commissioner is warning the inability of the the Royal Commission to look at recent cases will result in the need for a second Abuse in Care inquiry.