The owners of Auckland's Palace Hotel could be prosecuted after the release of a damning report identifying severe damage to the heritage building before it was knocked down.

The Palace Hotel was moving by up to 5mm an hour towards the street when the decision was made to knock it down, the Auckland Council said today.

Structural engineers should work with conservation architects and architectural historians to ensure that no quake-damaged heritage buildings in Christchurch are demolished in haste, a heritage campaigner says.

As much as we hate to admit it, I suppose we have to face the inevitability that there will be a general election this year. I mean they've even announced a date and everything, so I guess there's no going back, dang it.

The Ombudsman has launched an investigation into whether an Auckland councillor knew she already had another job when she received a redundancy payout of more than $200,000.

Hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent rebuilding Eden Park.

Aucklanders could be penalised for not recycling as part of a move to streamline how the city's waste is collected.

The Maori Party today continued to hound Local Government Minister Rodney Hide over his attitude to Auckland Council's Maori Statutory Board, asking in Parliament what he meant when he said yesterday it was "inherently divisive".

Conflict over funding for Auckland Council's Maori board shows why it should never have been legally required, Local Government Minister Rodney Hide says, after Dr Pita Sharples called for his resignation.