Stories by Phil Pennington
News
Plan to build more cost-effective classrooms coming soon - education minister
The government says it is in the final stages of a plan to build more school classrooms more efficiently. Audio
Cost-cutting halts 100 new classroom builds
More than 100 new classroom builds are in doubt in a cost-cutting exercise that's already forced the Secretary of Education to apologise, following the Minister's intervention.
Cancer patient has to go to Australia for urgent test
A man was forced to go to Australia for an urgent scan, because NZ's only producer of radioactive medical material had shut down for two weeks.
Transmission Gully: Environmental impact reports had no input from DOC
The Department of Conservation has not had any input into reports on Transmission Gully motorway's environmental impacts or what to do about them.
'Tight' electricity supply situations may become more frequent, govt warned
The government is being warned 'tight' electricity supply situations could become more frequent, especially on cold winter mornings and evenings.
PM Christopher Luxon warned New Zealand is a 'target' for foreign interference
Officials have stressed the importance of protecting critical infrastructure, in their overarching briefing to the Minister for National Security and Intelligence.
New seismic hazard model could cause building standard changes
The impacts of a new model of seismic hazards on the design of buildings nationwide is about to become clearer.
Officials suggest hubs of consultants inside agencies to cut costs in public sector
Officials are looking at cutting costs in the public service by creating hubs of consultants inside agencies, instead of relying on external ones.
Officials have pitched benefits of AUKUS for months
As the Defence Minister meets her counterpart in Melbourne to raise the prospect of joining the alliance, documents show officials have talked it up.
Forged fire safety certificates exposed in Christchurch
Building control officers in Christchurch have caught a private company's compliance manager forging fire safety certificates, including for a school.
Government births, deaths and marriages IT project halted
The Department of Internal Affairs has stopped the $150m plan that aimed to take key data into cloud storage.
Speed ticket numbers soar
Officers issued almost 290,000 tickets in the first nine months of the year - up by about 60,000, police say.
Speed ticket numbers soar
Officers issued almost 290,000 tickets in the first nine months of the year - up by about 60,000, police say.
Space race puts pressure on New Zealand Defence Force
New Zealand is in a group of allies the US has asked to stump up more money for military satellites.
Fines issued for mobile phone use triple over four years
The number of mobile speed camera fines and seat belt offences have also shot up.
Police settle claims over staff treatment after Covid-19 vaccine refusals
The claims were lodged in May 2022 on behalf of 91 staff after the High Court ruled a vaccine mandate for police was unlawful.
Private healthcare pushing Auckland labs to the brink
Rocketing demand from private health practices in Auckland has been pushing public pathology services to the brink. Audio
NZDF not part of US military's plan to flood Asia-Pacific with drones
The United States military is pushing ahead with its plan to flood the Asia-Pacific region with drones - but New Zealand's military is not on board with it.
Redacted OIAs: How much information is kept from the taxpayer?
Analysis - How much is the taxpayer entitled to know? The 26,000 OIA responses from 99 public agencies suggest how many lawyers were in the room when they were signed off.
The private landlord that wants to home public hospitals
A multi-billion-dollar company wants the government to hurry up and help it build hospitals, in what could be a seismic shift in health infrastructure.
Modelling reveals Te Ngākau Civic Square flood risk
Wellington City Council is hopeful buildings in Te Ngākau Civic Square will be fine in a big flood - but that could be up-ended by fresh climate change data.
Wellington Hospital risks losing right to train radiologists
The hospital is a national centre for training and has just months to fix the problems or lose its right to train juniors.
US EdTech deeply embedded in NZ school system - documents
Papers show the Education Ministry is deepening its ties with big US tech firms.
Police hide assessment of system for reporting security threats
Police have blanked out virtually the entire contents of an assessment of a new public reporting system for security threats.
Nearly $50m of repairs to SH1 between Auckland and Hamilton delayed further
Almost $50 million of repairs to State Highway 1 between Auckland and Hamilton are mired in delays and question marks.