Stories by Phil Pennington

House builders are being deterred from offering fixed prices on jobs by escalating prices and critical shortages of materials.

Pink Batts insulation is not the only building material that is running short as alert level 4 in Auckland cuts off both manufacture and distribution of all but essential building supplies.

The former head of Auckland's water services says ratepayers face hikes in charges that are wrong and unnecessary.

Thousands of building sites are reopening today amid warnings common products could run out within days.

Intelligence systems meant to back up investigations into identity fraud, money laundering and other threats became so degraded at the Department of Internal Affairs that most staff avoided using…

A major government ministry has hauled back on extremely high rates of staff churn.

Nearly two years on from the SkyCity convention centre blaze, the country's largest fire trucks keep breaking down and no new ones have been ordered.

As resignations continue at Veterans' Affairs the Defence Force has begun an internal review of "workplace culture", but there is no formal investigation.

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.