Stories by Phil Pennington

Changes to a $60 million programme to help sexually abused children have been badly mismanaged by Oranga Tamariki, an independent review has found.

A fire investigator is accusing Fire and Emergency of trying to whitewash his inquiry into a firetruck breaking down.

The pollution watchdog has won new funding to help track the riskiest chemicals, though it is small scale.

Emails show senior Fire and Emergency managers played down the risks to crews and homes when a dodgy firetruck froze up at a big house fire in Wellington.

Newly released documents reveal the LynnMall knife attacker was assaulted twice in prison by other inmates, and blamed for starting a third fight.

Hutt Hospital's Heretaunga block is just the latest of many medical facilities around the country deemed at risk of a seismic event.

The Hutt City Council says it did not treat the local health board any differently to any other building owner.

Documents show the major hospital block about to be shut in Lower Hutt due to earthquake weakness was ruled not earthquake-prone just one year ago.

The steel industry says it's no bad thing if more scrap steel from the new Clean Car Upgrade Scheme gets sent offshore.

The country's car fleet is getting heavier. Here's what that means for emissions - and safety ratings.

A man accused of child abuse says it is a "lottery" whether a family gets a proper investigation by Oranga Tamariki (OT) or not.

A mishandled allegation of abuse has revealed shortcomings in how Oranga Tamariki uses one of its most powerful tools for keeping children safe.

A Wellington family have been waiting three months to get back into their home after fire gutted the house next door.

A law lecturer says the failure of one of the Whakaari White island tragedy prosecutions erodes another charge against a government agency.

Another major highway project is suffering significant delays, with the Pūhoi-to-Warkworth Ara Tūhono motorway not opening until next year.

Auckland councillors have argued over whether the city is getting bang for its buck from $306 million of planned spending on cycling. Audio

The government has been warned that planning law changes may erode Auckland Council's already limited ability to control helicopter flights.

The workhorses of the country's fire truck fleet are beset by a new range of mechanical faults.

Auckland streets are much more dangerous to get around in compared to leading European capital cities.

The Christchurch City Council is being sued by the owners of a badly flawed building whose engineer has been sanctioned.

An engineer whose design of a multistorey in Christchurch's main shopping precinct was so flawed and "incompetent" the building was immediately an earthquake risk, has been deregistered.

A Christchurch car dealer claims mistakes with emissions data in the Clean Car Scheme have cost him $100,000 and counting.

Recommendations to make skydiving near water safer have yet to pass their first hurdle, four years after a jumper drowned in Lake Wakatipu.

An overhaul of the Holidays Act has thrown up a new, curly problem that could cost employers.

There won't be a fight over electricity to power green hydrogen in Southland, a Fortescue Future Industries director says.