Stories by Sarah Robson

The government hasn't done enough to lift the country's poorest families out of poverty and many are still struggling to find secure housing, the Salvation Army says.

The America's Cup has forced a colony of threatened red-billed seagulls to up sticks and find a new home on Auckland's waterfront. Video

More than 1000 people receiving government help with their housing costs have been underpaid because accommodation supplement area boundaries weren't properly updated.

The mop-up is underway for residents in flood-hit Mataura, but it could be a while before some people can return to their homes.

The swollen, brown Mataura River is still thundering under the road and rail bridges in Gore.

The skyrocketing demand for hardship grants means Work and Income case managers haven't been able to spend as much time getting people into jobs.

Drones are being flown amongst the gannets at Auckland's Muriwai Beach, much to the alarm of birdwatchers and conservationists.

A doctor who landed on the island in the aftermath of Monday's eruption says there was a strong smell of sulphur in the air, a thick yellow stain running out to sea and thick smoke. Audio

Former Conservative Party leader Colin Craig has received an apology from Jordan Williams as part of a confidential settlement that brings an end to their long-running legal saga.

Advocacy groups have banded together, asking Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to prompt changes to the rules around relationships in the welfare system, which they say are punitive and harmful.

The trial of the man accused of murdering British backpacker Grace Millane begins today in the High Court at Auckland.

A top-level review of the Ministry of Social Development's fraud investigation tactics found gaps in training, weak oversight and a failure to update procedures.

The number of people on the jobseeker support benefit has jumped by 10 percent in the three months to September, compared to the same quarter last year.

The government has no plans to change the rules to allow debt write-offs for beneficiaries struggling to pay back loans to cover basic living costs.

About half a million people are experiencing food insecurity, according to new research from the Auckland City Mission.

The government is being told it should be more willing to write off debts run up by beneficiaries to pay for basic living costs such as school uniforms, power bills and car repairs.

There were 39 physical assaults on Oranga Tamariki social workers in the year to June, but the Ministry for Children suspects some assaults are going unreported. Audio

An empty paddock next to a big box shopping development is the last place you'd expect to see a New Zealand dotterel nest - or is it?

Despite the government's promise to overhaul the welfare system, beneficiaries say they're still struggling to make ends meet.

The government is not moving fast enough to reform the welfare system and it must make urgent changes to lift children and whānau out of poverty, advocates for the country's poorest families say.

Bus company Ritchies has been fined $210,000 over the 2016 Christmas Eve bus crash that killed three people from Tonga.

A High Court judge has found that Rachel MacGregor was defamed by her former boss, Colin Craig.

Bright light, loud noise and even a garden hose could be used to try and keep a curious leopard seal away from Auckland's marinas.

As flights at Hong Kong's international airport were disrupted for a second day, a New Zealander caught up in the delays says passengers got little information when flights were suddenly cancelled.

Ellen Mather knew something wasn't quite right with one of the fossils she was looking at.