A new fight may be developing between Government and iwi over fishing rights, this time in the Marlborough Sounds.

A grassroots environment group is ramping up a lobbying campaign for more stringent "bottom line" rules around freshwater quality.

The very health and safety changes which the Pike River disaster prompted make re-entering the mine difficult, Prime Minister Bill English says.

Critics have slammed the Ministry of Social Development for rejecting a clause to establish special family violence leave saying they were "disappointed" and "saddened" by the decision.

Fewer than half of councils have enough staff trained to respond to marine oil spills.

Proposed new marine protected areas, rules for polluters and changes to commercial fishing methods have been revealed in a long-awaited master plan for the Hauraki Gulf.

The Ministry of Social Development is awaiting sentencing on breach of health and safety legislation after the 2014 Ashburton Work and Income office killings.

Further proposals to reduce the risk and harm of dog attacks has been given a tentative thumbs up from local animal welfare advocates

COMMENT: Technology is advancing at such a pace there is a risk our lawmakers, unless they are up to speed, will founder on legal and ethical decisions.

The Government will urgently pass quake recovery laws which allow landslips in the South Island to be cleared into the ocean without consent.

It has been more than 20 years since the first major effort in New Zealand to promote legalised euthanasia.

Labour MP Louisa Wall says her proposed law change to legalise assisted dying in New Zealand will not go into the private member's bill ballot.

MP Louisa Wall championed the right of everyone to marry. She has now tabled a Bill that sets out a process for terminally ill person to legally end life.

Constellation Brands, the alcohol giant that sells Corona beer and Svedka vodka, is considering a new approach to livening up its beverages: marijuana.

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters is calling for tough new laws around looting after three houses were burgled in the aftermath of this morning's quake.

The spying watchdog has urged Parliament to "tighten up" the warranting regime for New Zealand's intelligence agencies.

A major inquiry into euthanasia is taking place, but the Govt has already concluded it will not lead to any changes in New Zealand.

Concerns over the impacts of new health and safety legislation have seen the cancellation of a popular school gala day and fireworks display.

Thousands of US servicemen have been told to pay back enlistment bonuses, a decade after signing up for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Two investigations are under way into the suspected suicide of a mental health patient who had fled a psychiatric hospital and was missing for weeks.

New food safety laws are forcing childcare centres to stop providing food for kids, or increase fees, the Early Childhood Council says.

COMMENT: Geoffrey Palmer and Andrew Butler reply to concerns written document would be ponderous undertaking.

Kiwi claimants are pressing on with their bid to have a hip maker punished.

A raft of changes to safety rules for swimming pools will save lives, the Government says - but some are not convinced.

The cost of medicinal cannabis is set to tumble after Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne approved a Canadian pain relief product.

COMMENT: Australia has cleared the way for medical cannabis to be grown and distributed and it must only be a matter of time before NZ do the same.

Having the choice was what mattered to Lecretia.

Telecommunications companies are concerned about a proposal which will allow companies to volunteer suspicious information about their customers to spying agencies.

COMMENT: The Government's proposed reforms to our child protection laws are regressive, myopic and likely to have unfortunate outcomes for children.

COMMENT: Almost every country has a written constitution, whereas New Zealand has only 'scraps of legislation' uncodified and largely unintelligible.