Stories by Phil Pennington
News
Education Ministry takes charge of school expansions as faith in PPP falters
The Education Ministry has taken back the job of financing, designing and building several school expansions, after companies said the public-private-partnership approach was too difficult.
New Zealand quietly added to US military trade law
The US has included New Zealand in a law without the New Zealand government's involvement.
Company with NZ prison contract advocates for AI use behind bars
An American conglomerate with a major New Zealand prison contract has been advocating the use of AI to monitor inmates talking to each other.
Oranga Tamariki may cut unit that looks after children's critical records
Abuse survivors have used the records to find out life-changing information about their family - and even their true ethnicity.
What police use number plate images for
Police mostly used the AI-driven tech to corroborate existing evidence, place vehicles at times and locations for an investigation, and as supporting evidence in criminal cases.
Spy data centre: Govt wanted a bargain and control of sensitive info
The government wanted sovereign control of sensitive data, but also a bargain when planning for a high-security data centre in Auckland, documents show.
Overhaul of health systems to better catch Covid-19 and measles months behind
An urgent overhaul of health systems to better catch and control communicable diseases, from Covid-19 to measles, is months behind schedule - but authorities are promising to "avoid gaps".
Police hope to use new fingerprint tech on roadsides
Portable biometric recording devices or scanners have been used by UK and US police forces for more than a decade.
WorkSafe not prosecuting FENZ over Muriwai landslide deaths
WorkSafe has found shortcomings at Fire and Emergency over how two firefighters died in a landslide in Cyclone Gabrielle, but will not prosecute.
Waka Kotahi pays PWC to merge systems, then again to pull them apart
The Transport Agency wanted to see if it could combine two vehicle-spotting technologies. It couldn't.
Police look to expand fingerprinting system
After being forced to destroy thousands of fingerprint records, police are looking for a way to capture 600,000 crime-scene print images and 50,000 from arrests. Audio
AUKUS could 'crush' Australia's defence industry - report
An Australian Strategic Policy Institute report says Pillar Two could raise the industry to state of the art capability - or "crush" it "under the weight of the globe's biggest player".
EV demand on power grids must be regulated, Vector says
New Zealand's largest electricity distributor is warning the country to hurry up with controls around charging electric vehicles or face unnecessary bills running into the billions.
What's being done to prevent more power shortages?
Officials are looking at better ways of choosing who gets the power during shortages amid relentlessly growing demands.
Archives NZ says it has enough space - for now
Its new building in Wellington will not be nearly big enough for all its records, and it has also run out of money to build its new storage facility in Levin.
Cabinet mulls creation of mega spy agency
The agency, first floated after the Christchurch mosque attacks, is under "active consideration".
Bill for junior doctors covering shortages doubles in a year
Big roster gaps have forced Health NZ to virtually double the rate it paid per shift.
Government quiet on costs, building plan for Waikato prison expansion
The extra beds would take longer than the four-years covered in this week's budget announcement to deliver, the Corrections Minister told RNZ.
Tech to medically check pilots had a dozen major disadvantages - CAA papers
Aviation officials have found big problems with software they tried to impose on doctors doing medical check-ups on pilots and air traffic controllers.
Auckland Transport in talks with NZTA to share costs of congestion charge
AT could introduce charges for using strategic roads from early 2026.
GCSB foreign spying capability under scrutiny
The Government Communications Security Bureau denies hosting a foreign spying capability flagged by the watchdog, differentiating it from the system recently criticised.
'We weren't informed': Apprentice working on school unaware of asbestos
The Education Ministry is promising to do more about asbestos problems in schools, with tighter controls over detection and removal.
Police intelligence roles have increased by 23% since 2017
Police say the numbers of staff working directly in intelligence roles has grown by almost a quarter in the last seven years, and that their core tech is old but still functioning.
Will we learn more about NZ and AUKUS tonight?
Analysis - The United States has unveiled plans to boost the weapons trade with Australia and the UK, on the same day that Winston Peters is expected to sketch NZ's position on AUKUS.