The highest earning households in New Zealand are in the electorate the Prime Minister lives in, according to Census figures.

A construction worker who claims to have failed a workplace drug test due to eating cupcakes he did not realise were laced with cannabis has failed to have his job reinstated.

A man in his 20s is dead after a tree rolled onto him near Nelson this morning.

A sawmilling company "completely misused" their drug and alcohol policy to drug test 190 staff after cannabis plants were found on company grounds, a union says.

Parts of the West Coast landscape has been drastically altered, with whole forests flattened and the main tramping tracks rendered impassable by last week's huge storm.

A mad scramble is underway on the West Coast after the unprecedented windstorm that cut a trail of damage over 400km from Karamea to Fox Glacier.

Kayakers who rescued a man who fell over a waterfall near Nelson Lakes National Park today have been praised by police for their bravery.

Geoff Cumming finds he has plenty of time to think on one of New Zealand's Great Walks.

A man in his 60s was airlifted this morning by the Nelson Marlborough Rescue Helicopter after injuring his leg negotiating uneven terrain.

Expert alpine searchers have found a body in the Nelson Lakes National Park area while searching for missing British tramper Andrew Ian Wyatt.

A captain of a fishing vessel in Nelson was making more than $100,000 a year and living in a state house, Housing Minister Nick Smith said last night.