A big new Auckland office block, planned and developed during last decade's financial slump, last night picked up the Property Council's supreme award.

Prime Minister John Key continues to back John Banks as "an honest man" and says he still has "options" despite being found guilty of knowingly filing a false electoral return.

Self-styled public watchdogs Penny Bright and Graham McCready claimed their biggest scalp yesterday as Act MP John Banks was found guilty of electoral fraud.

Today's guilty verdict has ended John Banks' 34-year political career at least three months earlier than he would have hoped.

The rescue of a man was delayed by about an hour by live power lines, a coroner has heard.

Danielle Wright visits the National Youth Theatre Company at rehearsal.

Challenge Gerry Brownlee to sit in one of the downtown Customs St bus stops at peak hour and breathe deeply of the noxious fumes, writes Brian Rudman.

An Auckland real estate agent accused of posting pooh to a rival agent has pleaded not guilty.

Air quality in New Zealand has continued to improve over the past decade, but winter smoke from wood and coal burners is still seeing safety guidelines breached in some parts of the country.

First it was the Aotea Centre, then The Edge. Now the organisation is changing again. But can a new name and logo bring more big entertainment acts to Auckland?

Auckland City Missioner Diane Robertson has said her staff have reported a rise in clients showing symptoms of solvent abuse.

High pollution readings indicate air at the bottom of Auckland's Queen St valley risks failing World Health Organisation standards designed to prevent respiratory and heart disease.

An alleged kidnapper who escaped police custody in Auckland has appeared in court this morning handcuffed and flanked by two police officers.

Police hunting a suspected kidnapper who escaped custody are door-knocking his known associates.

A 23-year-old man arrested over the violent kidnapping of an Auckland woman has escaped custody.

A woman was kidnapped and driven from Auckland to the Coromandel last night, with the offender assaulting her several times during the ordeal before she escaped.

Dozens of residents in pockets around Auckland remain without hot water following last week's bruising storm, while 500 homes on the West Coast still have no power.

Auckland residents who went without hot water for four days can finally take warm showers again, but some remain upset at how the issue has been handled.

Some Auckland residents have made a cold and dirty start to the long weekend, after being without hot water since Thursday night.

Blue skies and sunshine greeted the thousands of happy visitors who streamed into the Coca-Cola Easter Show yesterday.

It's costing $1.4b and by 2017 should help give drivers from Manukau to Albany with an alternative to SH1 and the harbour bridge. So how's it going?

A 28-year-old chef has appeared in court over an attack on woman in a central Auckland cemetery.

With over 10 volcanic craters and cones, Mangere is packed with adventures, writes Diana Clement.

A downtown Auckland shopping centre was shut down as emergency workers worked to stem flooding from a burst water pipe.

Dionne Christian joins tourists on the Breeze for a trip back into Auckland's coastal trading history.

A Go West bus had to pull over on an Auckland motorway in peak traffic this morning after a passenger suffered a medical event.