Stories by Phil Pennington

Devonport, on Auckland's North Shore, tops a list of the most polluted Defence Force bases in the country.

The Marsden Point refinery shutdown raises the chance the environment will improve, but it comes at a cost for the community that has reaped tainted benefits from it.

Police have disagreed with the Independent Police Conduct Authority about the threat to public safety from tow trucks on Auckland motorways.

The public should be worried about road safety in light of a damning report into the police's mishandling of tow trucks, an investigations overseer says. Audio

Contractors working for the government on pandemic programmes are making millions of dollars from some agencies, and little or nothing at others.

The widow of a firefighter has been stymied in her efforts to get easier ACC cover for fire crew, with the government saying this would be unfair to others.

Health board investigators have yet to release their findings months after undertaking an inquiry into allegations of abuse and neglect at a Lower Hutt resthome.

The oil refinery in Northland has run prohibited training exercises using thousands of litres of firefighting foam containing chemicals linked to cancers.

Newly released documents show officials believed Rio Tinto wanted to sideline the clean-up of Tiwai Point aluminium smelter.

Plans to close NZ's only oil refinery may leave country exposed to global uncertainty, experts are warning.

The Defence Ministry is years overdue for a legally-required audit of how the military is controlling dangerous materials such as rocket fuel and tonnes of old ammunition.

Police computer systems have been ill-prepared to cope with a disaster like a major hack.

The government has been told Southland could start producing green hydrogen as early as 2023, documents show.

The Education Ministry is not counting how many school buildings are meeting a key earthquake goal.

Truck drivers' fatigue and mental and physical health has emerged as a "serious concern" in a study on what might be increasing risks on the road.

A Palmerston North coachbuilder who helped raise alarm over truck cab cutouts warns he is finding motorhome cabs that are a threat to road safety.

Motorhomes and horse trucks are being forced off the road under rule changes by the transport agency Waka Kotahi.

A Kāpiti district councillor is warning residents have lost control of their rubbish, with tonnes of it ending up in a controversial landfill.

A deal to shut the controversial Levin rubbish dump, located near one of the country's most polluted lakes, is floundering.

MBIE is juggling two reports on Marsden Point's handling of the country's energy supplies that seem to lay out opposing views - but the ministry denies they are contradictory.

The government's first-ever plan for upgrading hundreds of unfit - and sometimes unsafe - hospital facilities is encountering a lot of delays.

The SIS is not seeking to have district health boards included in a programme where it sets out what agencies must do to cope with information security threats.

Only one out of more than 150 buildings used by the Ministry of Social Development nationwide needs earthquake upgrades.