Receivers of the company that owns the Pike River mine say it is unlikely the bodies of the 29 workers will ever be recovered.

A proposed Pike River mine stabilisation plan doesn't allow for the recovery of the miners and won't guarantee the future of the mine. The Receivers of Pike River Coal Limited presented their mine stabilisation plan to the Commissioner of P

A proposed Pike River mine stabilisation plan doesn't allow for the recovery of the miners and won’t guarantee the future of the mine.

Labour leader Phil Goff has accused John Key of "passing the buck" on whether to permanently seal the Pike River coal mine. Receivers have been given until 5pm today to come up with a plan for stabilising the mine.

Police are disgusted after a crashed driver stole a car belonging to an elderly couple who had stopped to help him.

Last year was a 'bitterly disappointing' year for farmers, with the number of deaths nearly doubling to 17, Federated Farmers says.

Overseas tourists claimed $1 million from the ACC in the last financial year, but the payouts benefited New Zealanders, the organisation says.

The families of the 29 lost Pike River miners say they are "gravely concerned" that the Government and police are abandoning recovery efforts at the mine and are calling for the decision to be reassessed.

The Pike River mine will be sealed and there is little or no chance of the bodies of 29 men killed being recovered in the near future, says Prime Minister John Key. He said it was "not an issue of money or time or commitment."

A Wellington coroner has recommended a local church overhaul its carpark layout after a second child was killed in the L-shaped lot.

Northland campers ran to the aid of a man whose foot was severely injured by an outboard motor propeller.

The Pike River Mine will be handed back to the company's receivers, Police Commissioner Howard Broad announced yesterday.

No bodies have been found in a mass of cars washed under a Queensland town's rail bridge where authorities feared they would find several people dead.

Police Commissioner Howard Broad has announced police are all but giving up hope of recovering the remains of the 29 Pike River miners.

The truck driver killed in a head-on collision in the Bay of Plenty this week has been described as "the rock everybody looked to".

The heads of police and the Department of Conservation will deliver news in person today to the families of the 29 dead workers in the Pike River mine.