The Health and Disability Commissioner has suggested that access to publicly-funded health services depends on where patients live.

Simon Power orders a law review after three men successfully used a "greater good" defence to justify extensively damaging the Waihopai spybase.

A girl was pinned under a quad bike with her dying mother after the bike stalled on a steep track, rolled and plummeted 7m into a creek bed.

Three activists are welcoming news the Crown may try to sue them for $1.1 million, despite the saboteurs having around $1000 between them.

A man in his 40s has been charged with two counts of murder and will appear in the Greymouth District Court tomorrow.

Severe gales powerful enough to damage trees and power lines are set to lash the east coast of the South Island and the parts of the North Island.

The decision to acquit the Waihopai saboteurs surprised Prime Minister John Key who is not ruling out a law change.

The oldest son of a mother-of-five killed by a woman fleeing a police check point says it's time to crush drink-drivers' cars.

Blenheim police say a suspected drunk driver who killed another motorist after crashing last night was not being chased.

No defendant is likely to succeed with a "greater good" defence again, following the publicity surrounding the spy base case, a law expert says.

Other defendants may consider using the same "greater good" defence as three activists who damaged the Waihopai spy base, a legal expert says.

Fire crews are continuing to put out hot spots after a forest blaze forced the evacuation of more than 30 people.

A severe weather warning has been issued for the South Island after gales battered Wellington today.