Stories by Matthew Theunissen

With no new cases of Covid-19 at the weekend and just two over the past seven days, New Zealanders are beginning to wonder if the country is ready to move down to alert level 1.

Pubs and bars are reporting a sluggish first day back after the lockdown, with the fear of going out, or perhaps the joy of staying home, thought to be a reason for the low numbers.

The glasses are being polished and the beer barrels tapped as New Zealand's pubs and bars prepare to reopen today. Audio

Two National Party MPs will challenge Simon Bridges and deputy Paula Bennett for the party leadership, Bridges says. Audio

The first few days of life under alert level 2 has started with a hiss and a roar for retailers, restaurants and cafes, but some fear the spending splurge will be short lived as recession starts to…

The consumer watchdog is this morning lodging a complaint with the Commerce Commission over Air New Zealand's ongoing refusal to refund passengers from all its cancelled US flights.

A new economic report is forecasting that three times as many jobs could be lost in central Auckland by next March than during the Global Financial Crisis, with GDP also expected to take a huge hit.

Genetic scientists mapping the spread of Covid-19 say that as few as 35 cases may have led to the outbreak here.

Small businesses around the country are having to adapt in order to trade under the alert level 3 restrictions.

Police are dishing out dozens of warnings for drivers who have been caught breaking lockdown rules at checkpoints set up around the country.

Workers looking after people who are disabled are unhappy with government guidelines around their job and some are sewing their own face masks to keep themselves safe from Covid-19.

Under the level 4 alert lockdown, the country's gone quiet, but behind every door, people are dealing with one of the most extraordinary and frightening events in our country's history.

Leaders from essential businesses are assuring customers they will be able to get what they need as the the country heads into full lockdown.

A man who stabbed one of the country's most notorious murderers more than 40 times in prison has been sentenced to preventive detention.

A new front has opened up in Auckland's tree saga, with a Ngāti Whātua representative rebuking the Waitematā Local Board over a failure to consult.

A woman who stabbed and killed her abusive partner in their South Auckland home has been found not guilty of his murder but guilty of manslaughter.

A jury has retired to consider its verdict in the case of a woman accused of murdering her abusive partner in their south Auckland home.

The lawyer of a woman accused of murdering her abusive partner says it's a textbook example of what the government was trying to prevent with new domestic violence laws.

Residents of the small Bay of Plenty community of Omanawa are shocked and scared after two people were found dead at a property, with fears of retaliation should the killings prove to be gang-related.

Helicopter pilot Tom Storey, who was among the first to respond to the Whakaari / White Island disaster, wants to know if the people he helped rescue have survived.

One person was stopped from boarding the Air New Zealand flight from Wuhan this morning after being screened pre-flight because they were unwell.

New Zealanders stranded in Wuhan due to the city's deadly coronavirus outbreak will later today undergo rigorous testing before boarding a government-chartered plane to fly home.

Oliver Dobbin says it's impossible not to think of the eruption which killed 20 people when he looks out at the island from Ōhope Beach.

A Tongan woman who became paralysed after undergoing surgery in New Zealand is to be deported, despite her doctor saying sending her back to Tonga would be a death sentence.

Armed police have left empty handed after raiding the home of a far-right activist who they suspected of having an illegal firearm.