Stories by Phil Pennington

Out in Pakowhai, one local 'superhero' is doing his best to brighten spirits in a flooded and muddy community.

A Pakowhai truck driver struggling to save three family homes says he has already lost all his belongings and pets to the Cyclone Gabrielle floods and does not want to lose the houses as well.

A shearing contractor says he is having to reassess his whole business after Cyclone Gabrielle swept through.

Devices which convert motive power into electric power are noisy, spit fumes and are experiencing a huge surge in demand thanks to Cyclone Gabrielle.

Liam Harvey was in a truck laden with traffic cones heading through hills outside Napier to close off roads in the dark when trees started to fall, blocking his path.

A 30-metre boat ride across a once flooded river inland of Napier is all that is keeping hundreds of Rissington farming families in food and vital fuel.

Tales of resilience and recovery, spirit and sweat continue to emerge from the slip-scarred valleys of Hawke's Bay.

The big job of repairing the roads and bridges comes with big decisions for central and local authorities - which ones get fixed first?

Jo Cox believed her daughter and grandchildren were dead when they lost contact after the Tūtaekurī River enveloped their home, with the family huddled on the roof. Audio

Families cut off for days in the hardest hit part of Wairarapa after Cyclone Gabrielle have been flown out by chopper.

Some stations are seeing progress in reopening, and one company says the government only has to ask and it can dispense fuel straight off the tanker.

Almost 3000 of the most vulnerable children are not enrolled with a doctor, and GPs say Oranga Tamariki has never asked them for help fixing that. Audio

A trial on some Auckland buses has found drivers falling asleep at the wheel and an "undeniable" risk of fatigue.

Inspectors charged with making sure the aerospace industry is safe are so overworked it has been causing them health and safety problems.

Fresh from an official reprimand for loose spending over the town dump, Horowhenua faces a tight call on what to do next with its waste.

Frustration is building over government promises to make it easier to do business abroad without hitting privacy tripwires.

The damage happened after Fire and Emergency was warned two years ago the air intakes were set too low and should be shifted higher.

What was meant to be $7500 of consultancy work ended up costing Horowhenua ratepayers $895,000.

The ban cut out about 10 percent of possible blood donors.

Oranga Tamariki shut down the 10-bed Te Oranga care and protection house two years ago after video leaked of a boy being held in a headlock.

The national archive will not have enough space to store vital records even after its new $290 million building is ready in Wellington.

Expensive and intrusive earthquake strengthening work on the landmark Carillon bell tower is being weighed against cheap and easy, but less durable, options.

Mega-company Amazon asked Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern for help over billion-dollar data centres it is building here, and to have input on policy.

Oranga Tamariki is warning children might be put in danger by changes to the Privacy Act.

The national archive, fresh from apologising for one privacy breach, admits a second psychiatric hospital was caught up in it.